Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

Agendas. Who needs ’em? Experience has taught me to chuck out any idea of an agenda when visiting the wild ones, and my latest visit was no exception. I had two goals: Find Jif (belly watch) and find the pintos (check the mares). Well, I found the pintos!

Lovelies

First pony sighting (I drove in the herd area first) was Duke, Raven and Corona up on a hill by the second intersection, but first close pony sighting was Kreacher and the girls, right by Filly Peak.

Dun and grey and blue

From the road, looking southeastish.

Earth and sky

Mona, Kootenai and Kreacher – always love to see them!

Spotted Steeldust’s band – with Aspen, Hook and Chrome – way up in the northwest valley by the road. Hollywood and his mob were on the flats north of the first Spring Creek crossing (dry as a bone). (Pond by the road to the old trap site still has a bit of water.) Duke and the girls a little higher on the hill beyond the second intersection.

Closing in on the Wildcat Spring area, I looked over to find Bounce and family near the road – coming from water there?

Alegre, Whisper and Gaia

Prepare yourselves for an overabundance of cute-Whisper images.

Daddy and his boy

Look how light his face is already becoming.

Little brother, big sister

The youngsters.

Now, prepare thee for chuckles!

Silly face

Whisper trying to get Gaia’s attention – caught in mid-bite.

Nya nya

Whisper shows what he thinks of the photographer. 🙂 What a personality this little mister has!

Shade tree

Daddy used this tree for shade and to get away from the gnats (beware: they’re back), and Whisper kept going back to see what Daddy found so interesting about it.

More lovelies

Only sweet bright-penny Gaia missing from this shot.

Sleepy

Cropped in – sorry Bounce.

How much cuteness can you stand? I finally left the ponies and continued on.

Seven and his family were very calm back beyond the east-pocket pond. Darkish clouds were rising to the west, so I didn’t stop to check the status of that pond; presume it still dry. No Grey, nowhere. Cinch and Bruiser (!) on the crest on the eastern end of the east-west hill. Kreacher and the gals had moved to the very slope at the middle of Filly Peak as I drove out. There were two “columns” of rain up in the Disappointment, but what really looked threatening was coming over the western hills. As it turned out, those columns – which looked so innocent and were not my main incentive to driving out of the basin – turned to full waves of rain all along the northwestern, northern, eastern and southeastern length of the basin!

Shut out on my goal of finding Grey/Traveler, I was hoping to see the pintos from the road to have a better shot at hiking in right to them as opposed to hiking in and wandering around trying to find them. I was thinking about last year, when I could almost always count on them being on or near their “favorite” hill, and how that hasn’t been the case this year … when I found them on the slope of their favorite hill! I saw the baby right away through the binoculars, so I parked at dysfunction junction and hit the dirt, rain jacket in my backpack (I remembered), just in case. I never needed it, but it did sprinkle on us while I was waiting for Mesa to pick his one spot clean and join the others. I never knew whether they saw me … have to think they did? Took some long shots and headed back to the Jeep – in full sunshine.

In line

Kiowa and the baby leading, Spook, then Chipeta (check out that belly), Copper and Corazon. Reya was right behind them, and Ty and Mesa brought up the rear.

Wide-angle zig zag

Same basic composition as in the previous post, but baby is so little, she kinda gets lost in this shot.

Happy Independence Day, everyone. Hope you all have a safe weekend!