I took a spur on the moment drive to Horseshoe Bend as I haven’t been there in a few months. Discovered Rocky Road and Horseshoe Bend Mill Pond.
Horseshoe Bend Mill Pond
Category: Idaho
Succor Creek State Natural Area – Oregon
Succor Creek State Natural Area is about 60 miles from Boise just across the border into Oregon. The last 15 miles is on a dirt and gravel road that at times wasn’t easy to discern from the surrounding area. When I traveled November 6th the gravel was very loose, meaning my car could slide around a bit if I accelerated or turned too sharply. I was driving a 2013 Kia Soul. I strongly suggest you drive something larger, such as a all 4 X 4 truck or some other vehicle designed for off road work. However, my Kia Soul performed splendidly in getting me from point A to point B, despite the road vanishing at times.
Please note that should you venture down this 15 mile stretch you should be prepared to take care of yourself should you somehow become stranded. Cell service was non-existent. Fellow travelers rare. So, bring along emergency food, water, blankets, fire arms and maybe even a day or two’s worth of prescriptions. Honestly, since driving a few miles outside of Boise i almost any direction can place you in a remote area, you should always have these supplies with you.
This is a map showing how far it is from Boise.
My photographs from the day’s drive is in the gallery below.
Dart
Sunflowers!
Linder’s Farms in Meridian Idaho has a ten acre sunflower farm. Visited them yesterday to take photos during one of their market days. I love yelow and blue, so this was made for me.
Lucky Peak Drive
The wife and I drove out to the Lucky Peak area today to capture some pics. I was looking specifically for a male Goldfinch, and we found that right away. The rest was just more fun.
Quick Drive to Blacks Creek Road
The sky was totally devoid of any hint of clouds today, so we decided to take a quick ride east of town.
A nice short drive is to Blacks Creek Road near Bonneville Point.About 27 miles from our house. We take I-84 out there and usually come back following Blacks Creek Road south of I-84. 
We like it because we can get out to true wilderness quickly. One can remain on Blacks Creek Road north of I-84 and eventually wind up in the town of Prairie, Idaho. That is a stupendous drive!
But we only desired a quick drive and about a mile or so passed Bonneville Point is a nice patch of trees and some water where birds are known to hang out.
My goal was the Bullock’s Oriole. They were not cooperating much as it was about high noon and the sun’s rays were like laser beams.
I also managed to capture an image of a Pale Swallowtail butterfly.
The field across the street was littered with White Powder Puff flowers.
Two A-10 Thunderbirds, fully armed, flew over but were right in the sun so my photographs did not come out well. A few other aircraft flew over too, as we are not that far from the approach to Boise International Airport.
We got back at 2 PM, so a nice short ride.
F-15 Strike Eagles & A-10 Thunderbolts
To honor health care workers in the Treasure Valley two F-15E Strike Eagles from the 366th Fighter Wing and two 124th Fighter Wing A-10 Thunderbolts flew in a tight formation across the valley today, soaring over all of the hospitals one at a time. I found a parking garage that had a top floor open to the air and it was full of medical workers and local residents waving and cheering as the four aircraft flew over. It was heart warming.
I caught a couple of images, one of them here. Click on photo to see larger image.
Shaw Mountain Road
On the spur of the moment we decided to drive Shaw Mountain Road from Boise through the mountains to Highway 21, just past Luck Peek. The road itself was mostly in my imagination, but we made it.
Pandemic Drive to Emmett, Idaho
Idaho is still on lock down, but we managed to escape for a few hours to drive through Emmett, Idaho capturing on digital film whatever we could. We did not come within 100 yards of any other human being.
