And then … this

7 08 2025

Note: Images are from Tuesday, Aug. 5. Yes, I’m in Spring Creek Basin for the below (cell-phone) images, and yes, the fire is fairly close as the eagle soars (the next county south, which is Dolores County; the basin is mostly in San Miguel County but does extend south into northern Dolores County). However, the horses are not in danger; there’s actually a lotta country between there and and the basin.

If you’ve visited Spring Creek Basin, you’ll recognize this cattle guard at the intersection of Road 19Q (Disappointment Road) and Road K20E. What you most likely and very fortunately have NOT seen as you head east toward Spring Creek Basin is a giant, nuclear-cloud-looking smoke plume. 😦 That’s the newly started Stoner Mesa Fire. (This is the Durango Herald link; you may hit a paywall, or you may get a free read of three articles (?).)

I won’t lie; I nearly had a heart attack when I saw that plume. Back in 2002, I was working at the aforementioned Durango Herald, and when I drove to work each afternoon (copy editor/page designer shift of 3 p.m. to midnight), the nuclear-plume of smoke from the Missionary Ridge Fire greeted me with heart-stopping awesomeness (and not in a good way) every time I topped Hesperus Hill to descend toward Durango.

This is from the area we call Chrome’s Point in western Spring Creek Basin, looking east-southeast. Yes, those dark-and-white spots at far left, left of the main/original water catchment aprons (looks like a tennis court) and tank are mustangs. Thankfully, they seemed completely and totally oblivious. The air was hot and smoky: Dragon Bravo Fire, Sharp Canyon Fire, Turner Gulch Fire (smoke still visible from it, too), Waters Canyon Fire … and who knows what other fires contributing to our air dis-quality (!?)) – more hazy than seems apparent from these images.

Moonrise over McKenna Peak and Temple Butte from farther north in the basin. Most of the smoke was blocked by the eastern horizon of ridges from this perspective.

Sunset through smoke. Pretty … but it is violently, dangerously dry out there.

This is a hot, bad, dry (and very-bad-dry) summer, folks. Please be mindful of anything that could spark a flame, stay safe, and support your firefighters … local, regional, state and national. And rain dances are *ALWAYS* appreciated. 🙂

(I went with my phone pix for this post, but I may have some from my big camera in coming days. … May …)


Comments : 13 Comments »

Categories : Brumley Point, Colorado, Disappointment Valley, La Sal Mountains, McKenna Peak, McKenna Peak Wilderness Study Area, San Juan National Forest, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Tres Rios Field Office, Wildfire

Season of fire ‘n smoke

6 08 2025

Uh oh. Another new fire (!), the Sharp Canyon Fire, started two days ago south-southwest of Disappointment Valley, north of the community of Cahone, and the plume was visible beyond the south valley ridge. I was in Spring Creek Basin when I saw the above-pictured air tanker fly over. It dropped out of sight toward the fire before I got to see it drop its load of slurry.

The Watch Duty app (which I just recently learned about and is *awesome*) alert showed the fire at 35 acres, but that was a BIG plume. Yesterday morning, it had been updated to 400 acres. As the eagle soars, it’s by far the closest current fire to Disappointment Valley and Spring Creek Basin, but it’s south of the Dolores River in its deep canyon, so the fire itself isn’t likely to endanger the mustangs. The pic is looking southish from the middle-ish (!) of Spring Creek Basin. Filly Peak at lower right is within the basin; the heavily treed ridge in the background is beyond the basin. Land goes from BLM to San Juan National Forest to private the farther south that eagle flies.

And the tanker flying back northeast over the basin to its base … possibly Montrose (?).

I looked up this handy website to identify the tanker, and it looks like it was a DC-10, or a VLAT! That’s a Very Large Air Tanker, and it was. From the website: “These airtankers, also referred to as VLATs, can deliver thousands of gallons of fire retardant at one time. Because of their size, they are less maneuverable than smaller airtankers. VLATs drop fire retardant at least 250 feet above the top of the vegetation.  

“The DC-10, which can be used to support wildland firefighters on the ground, can deliver up to 9,400 gallons of fire retardant at one time. The U.S. Forest Service is responsible for managing the VLAT contracts.”

With hope, the fire will be contained soon, but it is DRY out there – which is everywhere here. We’ve been under red-flag/fire-weather warnings/watches/advisories multiple days this summer (and are in a run of such days currently).

Huge support to all those engaged in fighting these wildfires across the West (and for our neighbors in Canada, too!), from the land and from the sky.


Comments : 12 Comments »

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

Solar

30 07 2025

That’s the sun, sinking through a mixture of smoke and dust. The rim of earth is Spring Creek Basin’s western rimrock boundary.

The sky? Well, that was just Mother Nature showing off. 🙂

Mustangs were below … but I couldn’t fit them in the image.


Comments : 13 Comments »

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

Smokin’

27 07 2025

This was (fortunately) several days ago now.

That was yucky.

I thought it was wildfire smoke from (at least) the Deer Creek (western Colorado and eastern Utah; northwest of Disappointment Valley at the base of Utah’s La Sal Mountains and above Colorado’s Paradox Valley) and Turner Gulch (northeast of Gateway, Colorado) fires because the wind was out of the north/northwest/west, but I read that it was from the Arizona fires (Dragon Bravo and White Sage). Look at a fire map of the western United States, and you’ll see that we’re likely getting smoke from … any/everywhere. 😦

Skywalker on the flyby to give me a bit of a checkout as he moseyed with the band.

Several days now after the above images (I really couldn’t bear to post them at the time), our sky has returned to glorious Colorado-turquoise. The unfortunate part there is that we’d like to have some clouds. 🙂 For shade relief, let alone rain. … Never quite happy, are we? 🙂 (Please, please, please rain!!!!)


Comments : 10 Comments »

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

Diffused

21 07 2025

Another image of the pink sunset landscape through wildfire smoke, this one of Flash.

Fortunately, we’ve been relatively smoke-free for a coupla-few days, though the fires are still burning.


Comments : 6 Comments »

Categories : Colorado, Disappointment Valley, McKenna Peak, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Temple Butte, Wildfire

Youngsters

16 07 2025

Caution: Fluffy wild cuteness ahead. You were warned! 🙂

While following a couple of bands of mustangs through the smoke while they grazed a few evenings ago, this little critter broke its camouflage to pose for me.

I think it’s young.

And I think that’s why it stayed put rather than galloping away.

Every time I thought to leave, taking more steps up the hill around its “hiding” spot among the lichen-covered boulders, taking another few pix of ever-increasing cuteness, I’d see another angle of even *more* cuteness!

Are you overloaded??

But wait! There’s more!!

Not long later, as I followed the mustangs uphill through the four-wing saltbush and sage, another young cutie broke camo to sit with me for a brief while.

S/he even had time for a quick little touchup to the whiskers. 🙂

Cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute!

I believe both Jack (Jacqueline?) rabbit and Peter (Petra?) cottontail were youngsters and that’s likely why they didn’t immediately leave when my blundering flushed them from their respective covers. Also, they both *looked* young. … Either that, or it was just too damn hot and smoky to move much for a harmless-looking two-legged who made just oohing and ahhing and clicking sounds. 😉


Comments : 14 Comments »

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

Where there’s smoke

15 07 2025

The Deer Creek Fire, burning at the southeastern base of Utah’s La Sal Mountains, just west of the state line with Colorado, is now at 10,000-plus acres with 0% containment. (Note: As of 10 p.m. Monday, it had grown to more than 11,000 acres.)

That’s the fire closest to us, and fires at Grand Canyon and Black Canyon of the Gunnison national parks have resulted in the destruction of the historic Grand Canyon Lodge (and other structures) and evacuations of visitors and National Park Service employees, not to mention people who live in affected areas nearby.

Many other fires are burning across the West’s drought-dry landscapes, as well as in Canada, while floods devastate other regions. My heart has a hard time taking it all in.

*****

I drafted the above post (showing Sancho in a very smoky Spring Creek Basin a few days ago) and scheduled it … and then I went out to Spring Creek Basin last night and saw that smoke from two more fires – Wright Draw and Turner Gulch fires near Gateway (about halfway-ish between Disappointment Valley and Grand Junction or about an hour and a half away as the vehicle motors) – is visible on our northern horizon. Argh.

Vantage point: above Spring Creek (mostly dry but with pockets of water from which at least a few bands of mustangs are drinking) in Spring Creek Basin looking north/northwest. The canyon is not far to my left. The obvious smoke starting at the left side of the image is from Utah’s Deer Creek Fire. Smoke from the Wright Draw and Turner Gulch fires shows as a yellowish line of smoke immediately above the bumpy-hills horizon just right of center.

Post-sunset from outside Spring Creek Basin. Utah’s La Sal Mountains are visible at left, and smoke from the Deer Creek Fire stretches across the entire horizon. … It looked like virga, which was completely wild and surreal.

We need “wetting rain” as I read recently. Hopefully it’s coming Friday/Saturday … along with thunderstorm chances (we do NOT need the lightning!!!). Please keep all those in the paths of the wildfires (everywhere), as well as those battling the blazes, in your prayers. And please, please, please, stay safe.


Comments : 15 Comments »

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

Deer Creek Fire

12 07 2025

The Deer Creek Fire started Thursday (cause is as yet unknown) at the base of Utah’s La Sal Mountains.

During the day, smoke settles over all of Disappointment Valley, and the mountains are obscured.

As evening settles, so does the smoke, and the mountains appear against the horizon … along with the smoke plume.

The above link lists the fire at 4,000 acres, but according to app Watch Duty, it has grown to 7,000 acres as of almost 10 p.m. Friday.

Be careful out there, folks, no matter where you live, work and/or recreate.


Comments : 15 Comments »

Categories : Colorado, Disappointment Valley, La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Utah, Wildfire

Pronghorn moon

10 07 2025

This handsome fellow is not the same handsome fellow from a couple of posts ago. He was near a small water source, and I happened upon him as he was walking away. Above, I *think* his attention was caught by a small band of mustangs away south and lower. He ended up turning all the way around to look at them, then watched them intently for several minutes before returning to his path away to nibble and browse.

A couple of hours later, this. 🙂

Hot, hot, hot. The temp hit 100 degrees in Spring Creek Basin yesterday. It’s not unusual as a summertime temp … but it’s still awfully miserable. There was some relief in the form of sunshine-blocking clouds, but not a drop of moisture did they produce.

By the time the moon rose, it was actually pleasant (if you don’t mention the gnats), and some little bird was singing its little heart out with a full medley of melody. I don’t know what it was, but it was a lovely serenade! 🙂


Comments : 7 Comments »

Categories : Colorado, Disappointment Valley, McKenna Peak, Moon, Pronghorn, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Temple Butte

Almost just about

9 07 2025

In the basin the night before last, I realized I might be able to catch the moon rising from the space between McKenna Peak and Temple Butte if I could get myself into the right position in Spring Creek Basin.

I didn’t, but it was still cool (as it always is?!) to watch the almost-full “Buck Moon” rising in the very warm (the mercury hit at least 98F) July sky last night over the basin.


Comments : 8 Comments »

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

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