Owyhee River Sunrise

Warm morning light illuminates the intricate rock formations of Oregon’s Chalk Basin

The Owyhee River courses 280 miles from its headwaters in Northeastern Nevada to its confluence with the Snake River Snake River in the eastern Oregon’s Malheur County near the town of Nyssa. The Owyhee drains the remote high desert of Southeast Oregon as it flow northward towards the Oregon-Idaho border.

Owyhee River Drainage

In 1819, three men from Hawaii who were working for The Northwest Company, a Canadian fur trading business, were dispatched to what is now the Owyhee River Canyonlands. The three men never returned and in their honor, the river where these men lost their lives was named “Owyhee” which, at the time was a Hawaiian language spelling for the Islands of Hawaii.

This magical part of Oregon is not for the faint at heart. The roads to Chalk Basin were awful and really slow. At some point along our route, were were driving over 4 foot tall sage brush that were in the middle of the road. We brought lots of extra food and water as a full size spare tire and 10 extra gallons of gas. We had a flat tire during our trip which required us to nervously  amble to the nearest Les Schwab Tire center. If we had not brought a full size spare, we definitely would not have been able to drive out of the canyonlands, leaving us stranded for days or even weeks until the next vehicle happened upon us or we were able to walk over 40 miles to the nearest hint of civilization.

Owyhee River Sunrise- The landscape photograph

This gorgeous new print emphasizes the amazing textures of Chalk Basin’s unique rock formations which offer a wonderful

Chalk Basin Details

contrasted with the clean, curving flow-lines of the Owyhee River in the upper right hand of the image. My favorite aspect of this new landscape photo is the amazing detail in the large prints. It is simply packed with stunning details like the golden hoodoos seen to the right.  I cant wait to share this beautiful new image of Oregon’s amazing Owyhee River!