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!
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 