12 from 2023

31 12 2023

As usual, it’s hard to believe that another year has come to an end and another is starting.

As usual, there’s been good news and bad. … Much of the time, it seems like bad news is all the news that is news.

We need to know what’s going on in the world – from our local communities to the wider global community – but the constant onslaught very often has the effect of hurting the heart (as an understatement). Wouldn’t it be crazy if good news so dominated the headlines that bad news was relegated to the “inside pages” – or not at all? A good kinda crazy, for sure.

With this blog, I strive (in part) to provide a positive counter to the negativity that’s so easily found. If you’re here, reading, you’re looking for that positivity, and I’m so glad you’ve found it with our Spring Creek Basin mustangs. 🙂 If you get to visit the basin for yourself, so much the better. There’s truth in the phrase that the outside of a horse is good for the inside of a … let’s say human.

What follows is one photo for each month of the past year. Some have been on the blog previously; others have not. All pix were taken in the month they represent. Onward.


January

While photographing Flash and some bachelor pals, snow started floating through the air while the sunshine illuminated every single flake. I mean, GORGEOUS! The bachelor boys are famous for mostly ignoring me, but that light and those flakes demanded photographic proof. Fortunately, Flash paused his grazing – and chewing – just long enough to look at his pals, and I snapped the shutter on a magical moment. The snow ended very soon after I did so – or maybe it was the light on the snow.

*****


February

In February, we welcomed a long-awaited addition: Hollywood’s and Shane’s son, Odin. He was at least a week old when I found him and just as cute and fuzzy and stout as I could have hoped. He is growing so well and is as cute and stout – and fuzzy, again! – as can be! Hollywood no longer has his band, but his legacy continues in his son. This is still one of my very favorite pix of Odin and Shane.

*****


March

I couldn’t have been more thrilled when Dundee, one of the three introduced mares from Sand Wash Basin, had her very big first colt by Buckeye: Ranger. A couple of weeks later, Aiyanna delivered her delicate little filly – also by Buckeye – Bia. Unfortunately, we lost Ranger at about a month and a half old to unknown circumstances. Bia continues to do very well and is growing into a very lovely filly. She’s the spitting image of her mama – though she’s bay and mama is dun. She is adored by her entire band.

*****


April

As I remember, we had a nice, lingering spring. As spring was springing, love was in the air. Above, one of our young(ish) stallions, Zeb, was flirting with one of his mares. Really, who can resist his handsomeness or the flirty swish of his tail?!

*****


May

With the decent winter, we had a nice wildflower season, but it sure took its sweet time in arriving (or so I thought at the time, being, as usual, impatient). I visited my parents for Mother’s Day and left Disappointment Valley still brown and drab. When I returned, holy green! And then came the wildflowers. And once again, Flash proved a fabulous model among the larkspur (it was a bad larkspur year for the cattle folk), globemallow, wild onion and other lovelies. And the grass, of course. Green is my favorite color. 🙂

*****


June

That light! That grass! Those pinto girls! I saw Reya’s band only rarely this year, but they make every visit worthwhile. Mama and daughter Chuska: lookalike girls!

*****


July

That. LIGHT! Terra and her stallion, Venture, enjoyed a quiet moment during the height of summer. I think he adores her, and I think this moment in time illustrates that perfectly.

*****


August

Oh, this was another of those beautiful evenings in Spring Creek Basin. Buckeye’s band was napping on a hillside in an area that wasn’t usual for them. Another band was grazing down in a little cove among the hills. I walked up to take advantage of the view, then waited. Baby Bia had been napping between her auntie Rowan and mama Aiyanna. My waiting paid off when Bia ducked under mama’s neck on her way to nurse, and Aiyanna gave her a quick little casual “hug” as she did. Click went the shutter on one of those moments you never forget.

*****


September

On a stormy evening that didn’t bring rain (to us), Buckeye was guarding his band from a nearby band on the flanks of Filly Peak. (He appears to be napping, but he was alert, I assure you.) His band is to my left – and they really were napping, secure in his watchfulness. Beyond him is his mother, Winona. Her band was mostly out of sight in a little low place between here and there. The photo for this month was a tossup between this one and another photo from that same evening. Quiet, peaceful, lovely.

*****

October

Young stallion Cheveyo was in just the right place at just the right time for the very low sun to highlight him against the far, shadowed, hill and turn the foreground grasses to dancing flames of light. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: I adore backlighting!

*****


November

This was the first snowfall of the season, and I was happy to find Remy’s band grazing in the western part of the basin. The sun was flirting with the clouds. A great wave of light would sweep across Disappointment Valley, followed quickly by the greyer light – the kind of light that keeps photographers hopping (and hoping). Light snow also was falling and stopping and drifting and stopping and floating and stopping. A small band of young bachelors was nearby, but they weren’t too interested in Remy’s girls. Remy took his band to water in Spring Creek canyon (the rimrocks are seen in the background), and I called it a (beautiful) day.

*****


December

Our Hollywood, beloved and storied elder stallion, rounds out the year. This was the second snowfall of the season (and our last to date, as it happens). The snow was a little deeper, and it stayed pristine a little longer, than the first. The day was glorious for a hike, and that’s how I found Hollywood – originally drinking at a nearby pond. Here, he’d walked away from the pond before he stopped for a nap. As hard as it is to see the aging process at work on him, and missing his loyal mares, it’s always good to see this wonderful wild stallion.

*****


Bonus

Taken from very far away, I love all the layers in this image of Buckeye’s band – with prince’s plume! – and Tenaz and the band he escorts. A dear friend was with me at the time, and the enjoyment was doubled to have her along for the visit.

*****

Happy New Year’s Eve, everyone! Best wishes to you all for a happy, healthy and positive 2024!


Comments : 25 Comments »

Categories : Advocacy, Brumley Point, Colorado, Disappointment Valley, Education, La Sal Mountains, McKenna Peak, Mustangs, Partnership, Snow, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Spring Creek canyon, Temple Butte, Tres Rios Field Office, Wild flowers

Season’s blessings

25 12 2023

Merry Christmas and happiest of holidays to all you loyal readers and admirers of Spring Creek Basin’s beautiful and beloved mustangs!

Our very dry winter (so far) and just lack of a particular image that said to me “Merry Christmas” mean that this year’s greeting “card” shows fuzzy ponies and the nearest snow on the peaks of Utah’s La Sal Mountains. (OK, maybe not quite the nearest … say, the most photogenic.)

From our herd to yours – four- and two-legged all – we wish you all the blessings of this special season! 🙂


Comments : 8 Comments »

Categories : Advocacy, La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Spring Creek canyon

Here’s looking at you

9 10 2023

Last week, some folks visited Disappointment Valley from Ohio and Colorado’s Front Range, respectively. It was wonderful to show them the mustangs and a little bit of what I do in this great wide wonderful yonder. For two, it was their first visit. It was the second visit for the third, but because of very damp weather last time, we didn’t have the opportunity to get into Spring Creek Basin to see the mustangs.

Not only did we get in the basin this time, we had a wonderful visit with one of the bands.

As photographers do, we ended up photographing each other with the horses in the background. I will say that he did a much better job of catching me with the horses than I did of catching *him* with the horses (mostly because I was photographing the horses, and only when I swung my lens over did I catch him looking at/photographing me!).

Probably not many readers have any idea who this person is who’s photographing these mustangs and writing the (few) words for this blog, so with gratitude to friend James, here’s me:

The second pic, of course, captures the better subjects. 🙂


Comments : 8 Comments »

Categories : Advocacy, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Spring Creek canyon

12 from 2022

31 12 2022

Looking back helps us look forward (*when* it helps? sometimes I think looking forward is the only way to go … though I’m not very good at this myself). I think this is the third year of the (admittedly borrowed, in my case) tradition of posting 12 pix at the end of the year that represent each of the previous months. It has been a good year in Spring Creek Basin. After another less-than-positive winter and a dry spring, we had a second-in-a-row summer monsoon season and a relatively rainy early fall. Then things got dry again before we finally started to get snow a couple of weeks before Christmas.

Our excellent BLM partners – Mike Jensen, Garth Nelson and Daniel Chavez – put their enviable skills to work and built a second water catchment in the basin, starting in early summer and finishing in the fall. It’s another (our fourth) such project to catch and store liquid gold and bank it against continuing drought conditions; with the newest catchment, we have the storage capacity for 50,500 gallons of water. That’s really quite enormous (!). (Of course, we need Mother Nature’s continuing help in the form of snow and rain!)

We lost some horses (as we do every year), and we had some foals (as we do every year), and the herd and the range are in excellent and very good condition overall. In September, we celebrated our 11th anniversary since the last roundup. Fertility-control treatments continue apace, and because of the efficacy of the native PZP that we use, and the aforementioned good condition of horses and range, there’s (thankfully) nothing (no removals) on the horizon.

Without further ado, as 2022 comes to an end, let’s remember some scenes of Spring Creek Basin and its fabulous mustangs to carry us ahead into 2023 (some have been previously published here; others are new to the blog):

Tenaz (showing off his rarely-seen generous star with wind whipping aside his forelock) and the mustangs rang in the first day of 2022 with fresh snow! A handsome bay mustang does look rich and supremely healthy in new snow. I know I write that a lot with regard to bay mustangs, but really, have you ever seen a better color combination!? OK, OK … all of the other equine colors look pretty fabulous, too. 🙂

******

Even baby horses like Lluvia love to catch fluttering snowflakes on their lips! They do make me laugh, these ponies (see yesterday’s post about laughing with friends!). 🙂 With their thick, insulating coats, mustangs are well adapted to winters in high desert areas such as Spring Creek Basin. Our winters are fairly mild, though we do have some frigid days … and snow!

******

Dundee, Rowan and Aiyanna came from Sand Wash Basin in September 2021 and were welcomed here with monsoon-grown grasses. They filled out nicely that fall, but by March, they were a bit on the lean side. I think that had to do with their youth: Dundee was 2, and Rowan and Aiyanna were yearlings – all three still growing. They all blossomed throughout this year, as you’ve seen from recent pix of the girls. On this particular evening, they were high on a ridge on the west side of Filly Peak when another band appeared below, sending them into a gallop that I was thrilled to “capture” in that glorious golden light!

******

We may not have gotten much snow last winter and not much rain in the spring, but because of the previous summer’s monsoon rains – which, after a period of tense waiting, filled all the ponds – we came through winter and into spring with full ponds, which meant fantastic water in April. One of the greatest joys of watching mustangs is seeing them splash and play in water in nearly-belly-deep ponds – and then drink long, thirst-quenching draughts. Again, these ponies do make me laugh!

******

Corazon works his classic mustang-silhouette-at-sunset pose. He has really come into his own as a steady band stallion these last few years, and his son and daughter adore him. His son, in particular, is a mini-me who inherited both his black-and-white coat and his flank heart. Though Corazon’s namesake heart isn’t visible in this image, I think it’s one that does cause one’s heart to soar, just to see a mustang free in the wild, the glowing horizons fading into infinity.

******

You’d never know it to look at them, but these sprightly creatures are sisters! Their mama was lovely Tesora, whom we sadly lost in February. She lives on in their spirit and beauty. Lluvia sticks close to big sister TaylorK, whom she knows more as an auntie. Family is – always – everything. (As they run, do you see the soaring bird in the pattern on Lluvia’s shoulder? She has another on her right shoulder.)

******

With green all around him as the summer days advanced through July, Sundance made clear to another stallion, who was a bit closer than Sundance thought was appropriate, that his proximity was NOT appropriate. He does look rather intimidating, doesn’t he? Sundance is one of the most laid-back stallions out there (and really, they’re all fairly easy going, most of the time), and he’s also very protective – just like all of them. All it usually takes is a bit of posturing, sometimes some sniffing and nudging and squealing, and points are made! Successful conversation … without a word spoken.

******

Speaking of proximity issues … ! These two boys are former longtime BFFs, with the sorrel previously the lieutenant of the grey. But then those roles reversed, and sorrel Braveheart wasn’t so generous as to allow Pitch to be HIS lieutenant. The more things change … eh?! Our bands are generally very stable, but the horses are wild, after all, and young stallions do grow up and seek families of their own – as do the fillies.

******

Stepdaddy Braveheart is quite proud of and protective of his family of Winona and Reuben. (Remember that amazing grass this fall after the monsoon rains?!) This was a beautiful, warm evening when a few bands had gathered together (but not *too* close together), and I moseyed along with them as they grazed and moved from the northwest valley toward Spring Creek canyon. When the little threesome paused in the most photogenic spot possible, with iconic McKenna Peak and Temple Butte in the background, I couldn’t press the shutter fast or long enough! This is the photo I gave Connie Clementson upon her retirement as manager of Tres Rios Field Office in Dolores.

******

In October, BLM wildland firefighters along with some Forest Service (San Juan National Forest) partners from around the region (including a crew from Monticello, Utah (Manti-La Sal National Forest)), conducted a prescribed burn to help maintain wildlife habitat on the ridge south of Spring Creek Basin that forms part of the southern reach of Disappointment Valley. Because of the moisture we had earlier in the summer, the three-day burn moved slowly and was well monitored by at least 30 firefighters. I don’t know what the total acreage was, but it wasn’t a huge area, and it mainly consisted of burning piles of old, fallen pinon and juniper trees so grasses can grow. To clarify, the burn was NOT in the basin. But the slowly drifting smoke – which was visible from the basin but didn’t blow over the basin – made for some dramatic scenes. As I remember, it rained a couple of days after the end of the burning, and our sky returned to its usual clear turquoise.

******

Napping with pals is just about the best, most peaceful way to spend a lovely fall day in November. There were two bands and a group of young bachelors in fairly close proximity to each other when I hiked out to visit with them all, and it was such a soft, quiet, gentle evening among friends. The horses draw such comfort from each other … and I gain such amazing comfort from them. On these days, especially, I wish such peace was something that could be bottled and shot into space to rain down on people and places less fortunate than us.

******

In early December, we were still pretty dry in the basin, but we had this little cherub to brighten the days. 🙂 She’s a classic example of grey foals being born a color (sorrel, bay, black, etc. – my family even has a grey Quarter Horse mare that was born palomino) and *greying out* – though our grey foals don’t often grey out as fast as this little girl. Mama Echo was born black. I think I’ve mentioned before that grey is the dominant color among the mustangs of Spring Creek Basin. In that way, too, these two are classics. 🙂

******

As in years past, how about a bonus pic?

Winona and her son Reuben and one of the many amazing views from Spring Creek Basin, looking out across far lower Disappointment Valley to Utah’s La Sal Mountains, snowclad once again from fall onward. If that scene doesn’t scream (ever so quietly, of course) *peace*, I’m not sure what could. Their band and a couple of others had gathered at a pond, and they were walking away. I was trying to anticipate horses walking *across* that view, but mostly, they were lined straight out away from me as they left the water to return to their evening grazing. When I saw Winona – with confident baby Reuben leading the way – I was somewhat disappointed that they were so far away. … Then I realized that, to capture *that* view, my long lens needed the space of distance. Truly, sometimes it really *does* all come together!

******

Thank you all for reading about and enjoying our Spring Creek Basin mustangs this year. Many special thanks to those of you who faithfully come up with comments every day (sometimes, it must be nearly as hard as it is to come up with blog-post titles)!

Here’s to a coming year with plenty of moisture (!), and full ponds and catchments, and forage that grows ’em up strong and healthy. To take to heart a lesson from the mustangs and other wildlife: Be present in the moment! Some times (sometimes? many times?), that’s ever so much better than looking back or worrying about what’s ahead. 🙂

Happy New Year’s Eve!


Comments : 20 Comments »

Categories : Advocacy, Brumley Point, Colorado, Disappointment Valley, Education, La Sal Mountains, McKenna Peak, Mustangs, Partnership, Rain, Snow, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Spring Creek canyon, Temple Butte, Tres Rios Field Office, Water, Water catchment, Work projects

Merry Christmas!

25 12 2022

Merry Christmas to you all, and may the light and joy and peace of the season be with you now and throughout the coming year.

From our herd to yours, may many wild blessings shine on you and your families!

******

Update:

This – THIS – was Christmas morning sunrise over Disappointment Valley! 🙂

Pretty glorious on the day of Christmas magic. Blessings to you all!


Comments : 14 Comments »

Categories : Advocacy, Colorado, Disappointment Valley, Education, Mustangs, Partnership, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Wilderness

Water catchment 2 – phase 2, day 5

26 11 2022

As previously announced, our newest water-catchment project is finished! Now we just need snow (which, according to the forecast, is coming Monday night/Tuesday). And to continue the theme of gratitude this Thanksgiving weekend, we couldn’t be more grateful!

Last Thursday (exactly a week before Thanksgiving), this was about all that remained to finish the roof: Garth Nelson and Daniel Chavez had a few more purlins to weld to the I-beams, and Mike Jensen and I had a few more propanel roof sheets to screw down to the purlins.

One reason I love to highlight these work projects our BLM guys do in Spring Creek Basin is, of course, to highlight the work they do for our mustangs. Another, related, big reason, is to highlight our partnership in doing so. … And because these three guys – Mike, Garth and Daniel – work as well or better together than any three people I know. It’s pretty amazing to be around their creativity and can-do attitudes. So my photographer’s heart was really stoked when a particular purlin required Garth (right) and Daniel to literally put their heads together to get it welded to the I-beam.

Again, you really can’t beat our “office” scenery.

The unmasking. 🙂

All three guys working together. 🙂 After we finished the roof, it was time to put the gutter up along the front of the structure!

When the gutter was in place all along the front of the structure and secured, we switched up our pairings: Mike and Garth got to work on measuring and cutting and gluing the pipes from holes drilled in the bottom of the gutter to each of the tanks, and Daniel and I worked to put more spacers and long screws through the gutter to the front beam (Daniel handled the measuring and drilling; I did the handing of spacers and screws … and photo documentation :)). I didn’t take a pic of those “spacers,” but they were about 6-inch long pieces of small-diameter metal tubing, through which the screws ran, the function of which was to keep the sides of the gutter from collapsing when the screws were run through the gutter.

Gotta make sure all the pieces fit together tightly!

I didn’t get Mike’s face in this one with Garth and Daniel because he was holding the part of the fitting inside the gutter while Garth tightens it at the underside of the gutter, but I still like this shot of all the guys working together. Mike and Garth were working from the northwest to the southeast side of the gutter and tanks, and after we got the gutter up with a minimum number of spacers and screws, Daniel and I were working back from southeast to northwest – this is where we met “in the middle.”

Measuring the pipes before gluing.

Great work in the foreground. Great scenery in the background. 🙂

Moving toward conclusion.

The gutter comes in pieces that overlap, so Mike and Garth caulked each seam as well as under the fittings for the pipes inside the gutter.

And they also used a spray-on sealant along the outer seams of the gutter pieces and to coat the outer parts of the pipes. That will help protect the PVC pipe as well as give it a little more help in absorbing the sun’s warming rays during the winter.

The green things seen in front of each tank are two pieces: One is a ring that goes around the top, exposed part of the culverts that protect the below-ground valves for each tank, and the other (see it leaning against the farthest tank?) is the lid to keep critters (like snakes) out of the holes.

One final piece to show you readers (in two pix):

Garth welded his name onto the top of one of the I-beams, and …

… Daniel welded “2022,” “TJ,” “MLJ” and “D. Chavez” into the southeast-end beam of the structure. 🙂 Last year, he welded “BLM 2021” into one of the end-facing pipes.

When we finished the new water catchment, before we left Spring Creek Basin, we went over to last year’s new catchment and welded that little walk-through gate to the pipe (see the post about the previous day of work). Until then, it was secured with wires and didn’t swing. Now, access is as easy as unchaining the gate and swinging it open. Panels like those pictured eventually will enclose the newest structure to keep the horses from rubbing on the tanks or messing with the culvert caps.

Best of all, this pic of Garth, Mike and Daniel shows some hard-working BLM guys who put a lot of thought and effort into ensuring that our mustangs have good water (quantity and quality) in Spring Creek Basin! With the addition of these two new water catchments in the last two years, our ability to store water that is clean (not salty or silty) and not subject to evaporation increases from 24,000 gallons (two 12,000-gallon tanks for each of the other two catchments) to 50,500 gallons!

This Thanksgiving weekend, especially, we are SO thankful. 🙂 Thanks to our amazing BLM partners for all they do for our mustangs!


Comments : 15 Comments »

Categories : Advocacy, Education, McKenna Peak, Partnership, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Temple Butte, Tres Rios Field Office, Water catchment, Work projects

Water catchment 2 – phase 2, day 4

21 11 2022

It’s finished!

In terms of pix and storytelling, that’s jumping the gun a bit, but I am so excited and proud of this project (as I am of all the projects we do in Spring Creek Basin for our mustangs), that it seemed appropriate to start with the best part of the news.

What follows – in this post and one more future post – are pix of the last two days of work that take this water-catchment project from nearly done to ready to catch snow and rain!

Early last week, Garth Nelson and Daniel Chavez sneaked out to the basin with the purlins needed to weld onto the I-beams and got started welding them into place. Wednesday – the day featured in these images – Mike Jensen and I joined them to start putting the propanel (metal) roof sheets into place and screwing them into place atop the purlins. Above, Mike puts the first screws in place to hold the first sheet down!

Garth and Mike align the front edges of the roof sheets – which will just overhang the gutter – and screw them into place while Daniel watches.

As the first roof sheets were laid down, Daniel and Garth returned to their partnership of setting the purlins in place and welding them to the I-beams.

Mike and I got the roof sheets up and screwed down pretty quickly and then would wait while Garth and Daniel methodically welded each purlin in place.

Mike had the yellow drill, and I had the red. … I was pretty fond of that little tool over the two days. 🙂 Note how the purlins face in different directions. Garth and Daniel did that on purpose. Because the purlins had some “bend” to them, they reasoned that alternating the directions of the purlins would increase stability. Mike and I, walking about and drilling on that roof, can attest to the stability!

The purlins met atop the I-beams, to which Daniel and Garth welded them.

As Daniel welded, Garth held his end of the purlin in place, and vice versa, as you can see a couple of pix above.

As always, the guys used their portable welder on the back of the truck. The propanel roof sheets were on the flatbed trailer, and Mike and I would lift a few of those to the roof at a time, then climb back up on the roof (using their second truck as our “ladder”) and screw them down.

Closing in on the end of the roof!

I was happy to grab photos while Mike and I waited for Garth and Daniel to weld their purlins.

And we found ways to fill our time and stay busy. That little walk-through gate will eventually allow us to access the “interior” of the water catchment – under the roof – to do any maintenance or attend to valves at the tanks, etc. The panel “fencing” will go up later. How do you attach hinges to round steel pipe?

The welders weld the hinges to the pipe, of course!

And so the ends wouldn’t stick out to catch an unwary mustang, Mike sawed them off. 🙂 Always thinking about the horses, these guys!

This view is from up the hill, “behind” the water catchment, looking down the hill. You can juuuuust see the trough at far right behind Daniel.

And about here is where Wednesday’s work ended.

Our weather has been sunny and cold (teens) in the early mornings, followed by highs in the 40s or so – warm enough when you’re working! And among the benefits, remember: No gnats! 😉

As Paul Harvey used to say – at the end of the story – “the rest of the story” will be coming soon!


Comments : 6 Comments »

Categories : Advocacy, Education, McKenna Peak, Partnership, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Temple Butte, Tres Rios Field Office, Water catchment, Work projects

Water catchment 2 – phase 2, day 3

16 11 2022

We may not have snow, but the temps are telling us that winter is nigh! Garth Nelson and Daniel Chavez were in the basin this week, working in the cold wind to get the first batch of purlins in place and welded to the I-beams. They said they saw more vehicles in the basin the last two days than in the last year. … Have I mentioned that third rifle season here is like Grand Central Station? … Fortunately, not for much longer; it’s over half an hour after sunset Friday.

Every little bit brings the project closer to completion!


Comments : 7 Comments »

Categories : Advocacy, Education, McKenna Peak, Partnership, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Temple Butte, Water catchment, Work projects

Water catchment – phase 2, day 2 (more)

14 11 2022

As promised a few days ago, here are some more pix of the work on the newest water catchment in Spring Creek Basin. 🙂

You won’t ever catch our BLM guys sitting down on the job! As I mentioned in the last post about the project, the guys started by setting up the laser level to mark the heights of the steel pipes that will hold the I-beams, which will support the purlins, which will be topped by the roof, which will catch the rain and snow to fill the tanks to water the mustangs! So here, Garth Nelson is setting the laser in a place where it will be high enough to shoot over the tops of the tanks so the pipes can all be marked. Not sitting down so much as getting the eyeball view!

While Garth set up the laser level, Daniel Chavez held the little doohickey that caught the laser at the right height at all the pipes and marked the appropriate levels.

Measure many times and many ways before the final cut, goes the saying? Garth and Mike Jensen also ran string lines to ensure the levels.

Most of the pipes required a fair bit to be cut off, but this one needed just a little sliver. … It also was the pipe that started to alert the guys that something was amiss with the blade(s) on their nifty little saw – and this pic of Daniel using it gives a little better glimpse of that tool.

For those of you interested in such things, here’s another angle of one of the guys’ favorite tools. The “blade” is a band that goes around those black wheels on the underside of the tool. Usually, it saws through heavy “stem pipe” almost like a hot knife through butter (a bit slower, but steel is, after all, steel!), but the first couple-few blades they tried – brand new out of the package – were just dulling the teeth on the blades within minutes. NOT working. That’s what led to the double-tool whammy of using the grinder tool as well as this tool – and then finding the blade that worked, which worked for all the rest of the pipes.

Using the tractor to carry the heavy I-beams to set atop the pipes.

While Daniel got started welding the first I-beam to the pipes in the middle of the catchment structure, Garth finished cutting the pipes to height/length.

The welding process fascinates me …!

The A-team!

Sparks flying – another good reason to wait till cooler weather for the completion of the project. 🙂

Garth holds the I-beam steady and level while Daniel makes the first weld to hold it in place.

Garth finished the welding on the last beam.

Working in Spring Creek Basin does have the perks of fabulous scenery. 🙂

Next up should be welding the purlins atop the I-beams!


Comments : 15 Comments »

Categories : Advocacy, Education, McKenna Peak, Partnership, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Temple Butte, Tres Rios Field Office, Water catchment, Work projects

Water catchment – phase 2, day 2

12 11 2022

Work resumed this week on the water catchment in Spring Creek Basin’s northwest valley. We were ahead of the snow that came Wednesday, and although we had an absolutely beautiful day, it was windy. We joked that Wyomingites would consider it merely *breezy*. We did gratefully note that there were no gnats. 😉 By Wednesday (and even Tuesday afternoon as we left the basin), I thought maybe we shouldn’t have joked about the wind, as it got *really* strong. … But … no gnats. There’s always a silver lining!

Once we got out to the site, the guys used the laser level to start measuring the heights of the steel pipes to ensure they would level length-wise (across the hill) and sloping width-wise (down the hill). We all converged to mark them by laser level, string and tape-measure methods at the appropriate heights, then Daniel Chavez (front right) and Garth Nelson (on the step stool) started cutting while Mike Jensen (left) and I stood by to help. … But shortly, they realized there was a problem with the nifty cutting tool that Garth is using in the pic above: The blade wasn’t really getting the job done. And I’ll be the first to tell you that THAT tool is one of their favorite tools for the *usual* ease with which it cuts through that heavy steel pipe.

One of the greatest things about Spring Creek Basin is, of course, its distance off the beaten path. But that also makes it a far distance from things such as, say, shops that sell tools – including new/sharp saw blades that don’t go dull within moments!

But our guys are as resilient as they are creative and engineering-minded and hard working! One of the other tools they had was a grinder-type of thing. While it wasn’t quite the tool for the job, they did have a cutting disc that could slice into the pipes, to be followed by the bigger saw. So they did that for several pipes … changing blades on the bigger saw a few times. Then, finally, the last blade was the ticket. Garth still cut into each pipe at the appropriate mark, and Daniel finished them off.

Here, they worked together: Daniel had gotten most of the way through one of the pipes, and Garth returned with the grinder tool to get through the last little bit … and then …

Look out below!

When all the pipes were cut to the right length/height, it was time to bring in the little orange muscle – the tractor! Last year, you’ll remember that the guys welded the purlins to the pipes, then screwed down the roof sheets onto those. This time, they brought out five I-beams. Those are the step between the pipes and the purlins the guys added to this year’s project. The I-beams will give them a wider and steadier base on which to set/weld the purlins in the near future. But those suckers are much heavier than the purlins, so some mechanized muscle was needed.

The first beam went to the middle, then we worked outward from either end.

With the beam supported by the tractor, the guys were able to get the beam(s) in place atop the pipes. Then it was just a matter of shoving (!) the beams forward to the mark(s) Mike and I made so each had an overhang of a foot from the front pipes. Along the front of the tanks, just below the roof – soon – we’ll run the gutter.

Once the beams were in place atop the pipes, and the level and slope checked, Daniel welded them in place.

Daniel did most of the welding, but he had to leave early, so Garth donned the welding gear and finished the job. (How great is it to have not one handy welder but two!)

The day’s work started with some camera issues (in addition to those tool issues mentioned above), so I used my phone … then (fortunately) checked my camera again and noticed and corrected a couple of settings. The above are all from my phone (which did a respectable job!). I’ll process some of those camera pix to post soon – just because I love to highlight the good work our BLM guys do in support of our mustangs!

In the meantime …

From last week’s work ^ – note the pipes …

… to this week’s progress ^ – note the beams atop the pipes!

It’s all coming together. 🙂


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Categories : Advocacy, Education, McKenna Peak, Partnership, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Temple Butte, Water catchment, Work projects

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