Deep partial lunar eclipse

28 08 2026

Last night (Aug. 27-28), “the full Sturgeon Moon slipped into Earth’s shadow, creating a stunning “almost blood moon” as up to 96.2% of the lunar surface disappears into the darkest part of our planet’s shadow, the umbra.”

The full moon rising over Temple Butte, from the base of Round Top in Spring Creek Basin.

The sun had set by the time the moon rose, and I wish I knew all the techy bits to get the moon exposed correctly and Temple Butte exposed correctly, but you’ll have to take my word for it: It was glorious (as it always is).

While most of this image looks black, that’s actually Temple Butte beneath the rising full moon! 🙂 And the eclipse was already starting when the moon rose over Spring Creek Basin.

You can really see the progression of the shadow taking over in the above two pix. All of the above images were taken from the base of Round Top in Spring Creek Basin. Then, I figured I should head out of the basin while the moon and Earth were doing their thing … and I’d pick it up from farther out in Disappointment Valley as the peak of the eclipse neared.

This was taken at 9:55 p.m.

And this was taken at 10:20 p.m. The “peak” of the eclipse for us in Southwest Colorado was at 10:12 p.m.

Just cool. 🙂 I hope you all got to see it, wherever you live!


Comments : 16 Comments »

Categories : Colorado, Disappointment Valley, Lunar eclipse, McKenna Peak, Night sky, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Temple Butte

All the colors

27 08 2026

On this evening, the sky to the *east*/southeast at sunset was spectacular. That’s Spring Creek Basin at far left.

Still no rain, but the sky is putting on evening shows that are phenomenal! One day, it will rain.


Comments : 3 Comments »

Categories : Brumley Point, Colorado, Disappointment Valley, McKenna Peak, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Sunset, Temple Butte

Raise the curtain (let it rain)

25 08 2026

Temple on a dramatic evening a couple of nights ago. A curtain of rain was passing to the northwest over or in front of (our Colorado side of) Utah’s La Sal Mountains.

Shafts of sunlight were finding the mountains as the rain edged past to the north.

Whatever land was getting that glorious rainfall under the path of the curtain is fortunate, indeed. For our part of Disappointment Valley, after a crazy “front” of wind, rain finally came briefly after dark. Still not much, but it was wonderful while it lasted.

I even managed to capture a tiny bolt of lightning in the clouds. The ponies were not at all concerned, but shortly after, I hit the road!


Comments : 6 Comments »

Categories : Colorado, La Sal Mountains, Rain, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Spring Creek canyon, Utah

Super sighting

18 08 2026

What a cool surprise to find along the highway near Slick Rock, just west of Disappointment Valley above the Dolores River.

**Belated mistake correction: I did just a quick search before I started processing the pix … and after I’d typed “Slick Rock Canyon” on all the below images, I did a better search and realized that this area, while very close to Slick Rock, making it a *canyon near Slick Rock*, it is NOT Slick Rock Canyon. Slick Rock Canyon actually is downriver from Big Gypsum Valley, which is farther downriver from Slick Rock (which used to host a post office and cafe; now consists of a bunk house and corrals). Rather than go back and re-edit all the pix, I’m gonna live with the mistake … just so you know!

It’s a good thing that Colorado Highway 141 is lightly traveled. By the time I got my phone turned on after spotting a small group of desert bighorn sheep, they had moved a bit higher into the rocks.

I found a place to pull off the asphalt. Sorry to the guy who slowed to pass me in the opposite direction as I had my vehicle’s flashers flashing, probably wondering what the heck I was looking at. … Not really that sorry. 🙂

Two big rams were with the few ewes. I think there were six bighorns total.

You start to see why bighorns are so adapted to rocky habitats.

Note “queen of the hill” at right. 🙂

Wow, I wish I’d had my big camera and lens. I rarely see bighorn sheep in this stretch; the last time I saw a group, they were across the river (which is horribly, terrifyingly low now). Some people are lucky to see the bighorns more often through this area; any time I see them, I count it as a lucky sighting!


Comments : 10 Comments »

Categories : Colorado, Desert bighorn sheep, Wildlife

Friendlies

15 08 2026

Some beautiful light over Buckeye’s band on a recent evening, looking southeast. Buckeye at left, Aiyanna at center, Rowan at right and … see if you can spot Dundee behind the tree at far right. No rain, but the temps have dropped, and the cloud cover has been an absolute relief.

Bonus:

Met this teeny tiny little friend on a hike in a different part of Disappointment Valley.

Super itty bitty! Catching its movement is the only way I saw it. That’s some good camo!


Comments : 9 Comments »

Categories : Brumley Point, Colorado, Disappointment Valley, Horned lizard, McKenna Peak, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Temple Butte, Wildlife

Happy birthday, Colorado

1 08 2026

Today marks Colorado’s official 150th birthday, “celebrated as the sesquicentennial of the Centennial State joining the Union in 1876.” (Interestingly, for this Aggie, also the year of the founding that October of Texas A&M University, known then as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas. Yes, I know that has nothing to do with anything, but I *am* a Texas Aggie living in the Centennial State (and for much longer now than I lived in Texas).)

Sadly, today also marks the start of the roundup in Piceance-East Douglas Herd Management Area (needed but still incredibly sad that so many mustangs will be removed in the antiquated cycle of round-up-and-remove) and West Douglas Herd Area. More than 1,000 mustangs will be removed from these ranges, followed by nearly 250 more next month from Sand Wash Basin Herd Management Area. Please don’t make negative comments about this; it just needed to be noted. The advocates are intimately involved and working to ensure the safety and best treatment of those mustangs. Fertility-control programs hopefully will be stepped up, especially in Piceance-East Douglas, and I might have more information about that in the future.

In all the ways that Colorado’s statehood birthday is being celebrated, I haven’t seen anything about celebrating its mustangs, which, in my opinion, is a missed opportunity to uplift these remarkable animals and the giant roles they have played in this country as a whole, as well as the wilds of Colorado. So we’ll just have to do it ourselves. 🙂

I am thankful that we HAVE mustangs, still, in Colorado. And with hope and better management, they’ll be here another 150 years.


Comments : 8 Comments »

Categories : Advocacy, Colorado, Disappointment Valley, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs

Rain’s a’comin’!

29 07 2026

Apologies for the late post this morning; last night’s storms took out my electricity! Very glad of the rain … shown above making its way into Disappointment Valley southeast of southeastern Spring Creek Basin. Seneca really didn’t think she wanted to help show off the view and the rain, but she did an amazing job of it, of course. 🙂

The great thing about the rain is that it wasn’t even in the forecast, so it was a *very* pleasant (understatement) surprise!


Comments : 8 Comments »

Categories : Brumley Point, Colorado, Disappointment Valley, McKenna Peak, Rain, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Temple Butte, The Glade, Water catchment

Variety is the spice of life

23 07 2026

I treat badgers like I treat rattlesnakes: carefully and with respect.

Pretty little ball of energy. Does anyone know what kind of hummingbird this is?

Rufous hummingbird? That orange! When it turned its (his?) head even slightly away, that glittering orange completely disappeared.

Did someone mention rattlesnakes? … Carefully … and with respect. 🙂

Not all from the same day or same areas of Disappointment Valley.

In big news: We’ve had rain! Finally, Mother Nature is shedding some tears of pity over us, and Tuesday night, there was (I think) pretty widespread rain over the valley. Because of intermittent rain throughout the day (!), I didn’t make it into Spring Creek Basin, but I look forward to soon documenting the run of water through Spring Creek. Hallelujah!


Comments : 8 Comments »

Categories : Badger, Colorado, Disappointment Valley, Wild birds, Wildlife

Lifeblood

22 07 2026

These pix are a poor representation of the ASTOUNDING sunset Monday as rain moved across Disappointment Valley’s western/northwestern horizon at sunset. It was one of the most amazing sunsets I think I’ve ever seen (and I’ve been blessed to see a lot of those).

Rain = literally, the lifeblood of the desert.

The cottonwoods in the near(ish) foreground line (dry) Disappointment Creek. This is looking northwestish toward neighbor Utah’s La Sal Mountains. You can just barely see one of the shoulders of one of the mountains through the rain. Actual sunset is at far left.

Amazing view a little closer/zoomed. I HOPE that rain was actually finding soil.

Backed out again, and you can see a bit more of the mountains through the curtain of rain.

The LIGHT!!! Kept getting getting better as the sun neared the horizon and even disappeared (from my perspective).

Sheer luck: That downpour is lit up by a lightning strike!

Tuesday afternoon and evening, Disappointment Valley is getting multiple little waves of rain. Super grateful.

There have been multiple road closures because of mudslides in the region (pretty much all of western Colorado). Be careful out there!


Comments : 6 Comments »

Categories : Colorado, Disappointment Valley, La Sal Mountains, Rain, Sunset, Utah, Virga

Smoke to storm

18 07 2026

We don’t do things by halves here in Colorado.

Smoke from wildfires? Unfortunately.

Spectacular sky from incoming storm days later? You betcha.

From Spring Creek Basin’s western rimrock boundary looking southeast at the very end of yesterday.

Looking east from the same place. The storm was to the north – our left as we’re looking out over the basin here.

One of the most spectacular jags of lightning I’ve ever seen lit up that northern sky (not close, not nearly far enough away), and I took that as my sign to hit the road, which was still a bit of a hike down to the right. As I headed down the hill, so did the ponies I’d been visiting with. No fools, they (or me!).


Comments : 6 Comments »

Categories : Colorado, Disappointment Valley, Filly Peak, McKenna Peak, Rain, Rainbow, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Temple Butte

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