Bringin’ the sky-magic

12 07 2023

For the last very long – days and days and days and weeks and days and weeks – we’ve had solid blue skies. Every. Single. Day.

We finally got some clouds. And when Disappointment Valley does clouds, boy, does it do spectacular clouds.

In order of appearance from around 5:30 or close to 6 p.m. to after sunset:

Looking west.

Mustangs grazing and napping under the relief of clouds.

Silver linings.

Do you see the rainbow?

Rain – or at least virga – to the west.

More mustangs. More napping.

When I left the bands pictured above, I thought I might have a chance at any late surprise light with the bands pictured higher above. But they had moved quite a bit, and the clouds were heavy, and sunset was imminent. But as I left Spring Creek Basin, rain was drifting eastish along the southern ridges of Disappointment Valley. Then I dropped below the rimrocks (the basin’s western boundary), and holy rainbow! You’ll have to take my word for it that it was SUPER intense, and the photo above doesn’t do it justice.

By the time I got to the main road, that “surprise” light was glowing, and the rain had moved away from the southern ridges.

Meanwhile, to the west … this!

Bit closer view of the mountains.

Back to the southeastish, rain was actually falling over the southern/southeastern part of Spring Creek Basin.

And THIS happened. I’m not sure I’ve ever been so glad and grateful to have a cell phone that doubles as a very wide-angle camera.

We ended the day with some post-sunset magic.

And 0.01 inch of rain. 🙂 Enough to make part of the road … actually … WET!





July super buck moon

3 07 2023

The moon is actually full at 5:39 a.m. Mountain Daylight Time, but I’ll tell you what, it definitely looked SUPER coming up at 8:49 last night!

The first of four supermoons to rise in 2023, July’s lunar display will appear to be brighter in the night sky than any other full moon event that has occurred this year.

Nearly a hundred years ago, the Maine Farmer’s Almanac began referring to this particular moon as the ‘Buck Moon.’ They attributed this moniker to the Algonquin peoples of the northeastern United States.

I hope it shines brightly for you, wherever you are. It’s as gorgeous as fireworks … and quite a lot more peaceful. 🙂





Ready for the rest

2 07 2023

Buckeye and his band leave the main water catchment on a nice – though buggy – evening in Spring Creek Basin. I don’t think we have fire haze here … but there’s definitely a lot of dust in the air with the recent weeks of strong winds.





Some green, some purple

30 06 2023

Despite a nice hike with fabulous views, I didn’t find any horses along the route I took. But I DID find fabulous grass, and I thought that might just as well make a nice subject for a post, especially during these hot, dry, windy days (did I mention hot, dry and windy!?).

Looking northwestish toward Filly Peak with Utah’s La Sal Mountains on the horizon. Grass in the foreground is a mix of Indian ricegrass and galleta.

From the same spot as the above pic, this is looking eastish – more of the same Indian ricegrass and galleta. If it looks lush, it kinda is. It’s amazing, given the (hot, dry, windy!) conditions, but there ya go!

And some bonus images:

Reader Sue Story and her husband, Denny, were out to the basin last week (great to see ya’ll!), and after their visit, Sue alerted me to some luscious 4 o’clock plants in the north/northwestern part of Spring Creek Basin. The wind has scoured many of the plants growing in the open and along the roads, but a couple, growing within the protection of juniper trees, still look fabulous.

Right?! Thanks to Sue and Denny for the tip!





Bizzy buzzer

16 06 2023

Just a bitty bee, doing what buzzy spring bees do!





All those layers

13 06 2023

Some more photo-geekiness for you all: The horses were a LONG way away from me when I saw this scene unfolding. If the best camera is the one you have in your hand, the best composition is what you have in your viewfinder, at any distance.

Buckeye’s band watches a band led by Lieutenant Tenaz up a ridge. Buckeye’s had already been to water and had left, and Tenaz and family were on their way to water.

All the layers of canyon rimrocks and ridges of northern Disappointment Valley and all the way to Utah’s La Sal Mountains look compressed and so *right there* because of my long lens.

That’s a lotta-lotta country … the most magical, of course, the closest at hand. 🙂





Little dinosaur

2 06 2023

I *think* this is a collared lizard, but its coloration is so different that I’m not completely sure. Maybe it’s a female? It has a touch of turquoise at its throat, and the size is the same as other collared lizards I’ve seen, but it’s certainly unique.

After skittering out from under my hiking feet, it rested in the shade of a juniper tree for a fair bit of time and allowed me several moments of clicking with the hope of getting at least one in-focus image. This is a vertical crop of a horizontal original frame, and with the long lens, I was well back from it.

It cannot be said that I know a thing about reptiles, but I adore these lizards as much as our little “horned” friends!





Desert lilies

31 05 2023

The sego lilies are blooming! Every spring, I eagerly await the blooming of these delicate desert bloomers, and every spring, I try to capture their particular beauty. Good thing there are numerous opportunities while following the mustangs!

I kid you not: This year, they started blooming on Memorial Day.





Not forgotten

29 05 2023

This wasn’t my first welcome back to Spring Creek Basin after my return from Texas, but it was maybe the third. Pretty nice of Buckeye and his ladies and baby girl to greet me at the west boundary.

Today, Memorial Day, is more than a start-of-summer celebratory holiday and third day of the three-day weekend. It’s the day we as a nation remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice in defending America’s freedoms. A hope is that it can be also a day to put aside political and ideological differences and remember what unites us all: love of independence, freedom and family, our unique way of life. Our service men and women who died protecting the freedoms of this country, our diversity and pride in what makes us Americans, made their personal sacrifices so we can enjoy all of the above.

As we celebrate, don’t forget those sacrifices … and what unites these United States.





Delayed but just as beautiful

28 05 2023

It’s taking me a bit to get back in the groove after a Mother’s Day/week visit to my folks’ place in Texas. When I got back, I was ASTOUNDED to see how green it was – after an absence of just a week! And the wildflowers, which certainly had started coming up a bit in places, are now somewhat profuse (all things are relative).

A bit of snow is still visible in the highest of high reaches visible from Spring Creek Basin, and if you can discern the greener-green on the very farthest ridges, that’s aspen, finally leafed out and fluttering in the spring breezes.

While these images highlight the prince’s plume and globemallow, a variety of wildflowers are providing a colorful palette currently … mostly requiring a bit closer look than these long-view pix.

Quite a welcome home. 🙂