Even Shadow ponies seek shade on hot, dry, smoky days when the haze blunts the sunshine … though not the heat.
There’s a ridge in the background of this photo – beyond the big juniper tree (with multiple trunks). Can you see it? Admittedly, it’s difficult to see, though it’s probably only a mile or two as the mustang trots.
The smoke is bad. I talked to someone in Grand Junction (the Pine Gulch Fire is burning about 18 miles north of that city) the day before yesterday, and he said, “We’re in the belly of the beast.” … How much more terrible and awful must it be there, when we can barely see our local landmarks here?? (Grand Junction is about three hours north of Disappointment Valley as the vehicle drives.)
The La Sals (to the northwest) have been invisible for a week; even Temple Butte and McKenna Peak (to the east) are getting really hard to see.
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 
That’s a smart horse ! What a crazy summer. Even NW Wyoming is terribly smokey from the California fires. No mtn biking for you for a while…stay safe 🙂
Fire smoke, low to little visibility to zero of the mountains by Ridgway are worrisome. I think of the mustangs & feel concern for them.
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I can’t imagine being “in the belly of the beast.” It is SO bad here everyday – for 5 straight days now – that it boggles the mind to think about being in the midst of something worse, and yet there is worse. We all keep praying for the firefighters, for those directly impacted, and for deliverance – abundant rain.
Stay safe!
Prayers for moisture to abate the fires for all of Western friends and wild ones.