Quartz Claims

   A beautifully bound piece of Idaho history stacked in an ancient safe in the Boise County Offices in Idaho City.  The offices reside in what used to be the Miner's Exchange bar.  The staff is proud of the collection and if they are not busy, they are happy to show them to you.

        Entered in these books are page after page of quartz claims, all penned in the florished hand of some long forgotten recorder.  Each a piece of history... a piece of art.

Sun Dog

 One of many beautiful Idaho winter evenings.... A sun dog appeared over the Owyhees just after sunset on December 6th.  They are created by the refraction of light in ice crystals in the upper atmosphere.

The Road to Silver City

Yellow aspen and silver juniper poles lashed together with rusted spikes, barbed wire and blue plastic twine.  Can snow be far behind in the high country?

Spike Camp

Snow Storm's End

Cold, numb and stiff, I shoulder into the wind.  Snowflakes drift collecting on the brim of my hat and catching in my lashes.  In the dusk the only sound is the muted step of the horses and the jingle of tack.  The air is filled with the smell of saddle leather and pine.  I shiver.

 

Above, a thin eggshell moon creeps in and out of fringed clouds.  As the trail steepens, we continue, silent into dark silhouettes of rock outcrops and evergreens.  We left the river three hours ago and are making our way through the Frank Church to spike camp another hour distant.

 

The cold digs in beneath lap blankets and my mind drifts between the stumbles my horse makes more and more often.  As we mount a rise in a dark, icy gust, three canvass wall tents flare bright yellow, illuminated by gas lanterns.  Hounds bound into the halo of light.  Light and the warmth of favorite hunting dogs chesting through deep snow, push back the dark chill of one icy night when I could still ride and the hounds were still young.

 

Stonebreaker Barn

This stately old barn is typical of many found in Long Valley and Round Valley.

Spring Camas

  On cold spring days right after the snow has melted and left the grasses and sedges to push up green in the marshes, the flags of blue camas wave goodbye to winter.

Snowstorm Along the Boise

This morning's bright dawn light was swept away by a fast moving front.  It was brushed east by wind like rough strokes across linen canvas. Sleet, hail then snow.....and finally sunshine.  Can spring be far behind?