BULLS 3 - US 0

Those evasive bulls beat us again. We trailered out to the far side of Owyhee Reservoir, drove up a tiny dirt road and set up the catch pen where Cherry Creek drains down. Joe knew where the bulls were so he rode Thunder with Josette & Joey and they headed up the creek canyon. Meanwhile Linda rode up Indian Creek Rd to scout off the hillside and look for the bulls. I watched the gate - hey it's a tough job. :-) Linda came back and said that she had spotted one of the bulls up around the bend. But Joe and company came back later without anything. He and the dogs had traveled much of the creek bed and nothing moved out. The thick brush conceals the creek, much of the grass and anything that wants to live in there. Including two Angus bulls and a rattlesnake that we didn't stop to make friends with. So after failing at bringing them in and loading the panels back in the trailer, Linda and I decided to ride back to the ranch. Yup it's a long way, yup it's going to get dark, but we didn't care.
Linda and I rode up Indian Creek Road with Owyhee Reservoir behind us. The Reservoir is 25 miles long through the Owyhee Range and attracts many boaters, fisherman and campers. It's a 5 mile pull to the cattle guard up near the top of the hill. The horses were busy eating grass and we were eyeing the gorgeous wildflowers ranging from a neon Blue to pink to bright yellow. We saw a nice little doe and as we climbed higher and could look down into the Cherry and Birch Creek confluence, there was a bull. Yup, Linda had spotted one earlier and then when they came back empty thought maybe she'd just seen a big rock. But this was no rock, definitely a bull. Now out in the open, uphill from the creek and the brush, laughing at us. The trailers and all were gone so we continued on our way, enjoying the ride, the view and watching for more snakes.
As it began to get dark the moon rose up and between it and mother nature's fireworks, lightening down south towards Three Fingers, we had a decent amount of light. Not enough to stay on the faint brushy trail along Alkali Creek that would take us over near Blackjack Butte though. We weren't lost, we just weren't where we needed to be. We knew where to go, but we couldn't get there from where we were. From the hilltop we could see all the city lights from miles away, from Ontario down to Homedale and across to Boise and bogus Basin. What a sight. But our landmarks that we see in the daylight, the Snake River, the canal, roads and the bridge, were all hidden in darkness. So we worked our way back towards the powerlines, knowing those would take us down to Succor Creek Road. It was warm and beautiful and the moonlight. We'd trot where the footing was good but that wasn't a lot. Pretty rocky country out there. As we got closer to the powerlines we sent Joe a text message that read "powerline p u". It took about a mile till we got a strong enough signal for it to send but he knew what we meant. And he picked us up where the powerlines meet up with Succor Creek Rd. He even got there just a few minutes after we did. It was 11:45 PM. My goal is to be home by midnight - missed it by just a bit this time. But what a fabulous ride we had!! Hey we're ready to ride in the dark on that 100 miler now!!