Bia is all relaxation as she naps on a “warmish” day that had a lot of the snow soaking into the desert ground and hopefully giving all those roots a good slurp.
Sunshine ‘n snow
7 12 2025Comments : 7 Comments »
Categories : La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Clearing
24 11 2025
Wowza.
Storm clearing over southeastern Utah’s La Sal Mountains from Spring Creek Basin looking over/past/beyond the north wall of Spring Creek canyon.
Pretty gorgeous!
Comments : 8 Comments »
Categories : Disappointment Valley, La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek canyon
Rituals
14 11 2025
A nap, a drink, an evening mosey.
Ah, the life. 🙂
Comments : 9 Comments »
Categories : La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Spring Creek canyon
A lot ta love
5 11 2025
Buckeye doing what Buckeye does: Looking handsome in his wild, high-desert home. 🙂
Comments : 10 Comments »
Categories : Disappointment Valley, La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Fall gloriana
28 10 2025
Happy birthday to my own strong, fearless, alpha-mare mom, Nancy!
I love you, Mom! 🙂
Comments : 7 Comments »
Categories : Colorado, Disappointment Valley, La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Utah
And then … this
7 08 2025Note: 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
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
Seeing the sights
9 05 2025
Skywalker, who has been wandering mostly on his own, sometimes with a couple of bachelor pals, most recently has been back with his former band (still as a bachelor) and buddy (maybe not quite anymore) Sancho.
He seemed fairly grumpy, but I finally caught him looking mildly interested as he looked up from snoozing, saw me sitting nearby … and went back to sleep. Nothing to see here!
But everything to see *there*!
We had rain Sunday and Monday, and we had great storm clouds Tuesday and Wednesday. Unfortunately, we got only a trickle-drip of “rain” from those clouds those days, but the light has been incredible.
Most unfortunately, I had already hiked down from the hill and the band by the time sunset and THIS happened (a couple of hours later):
Those mountains, in all three pix, are southeastern Utah’s La Sal Mountains.
Absolutely, breathtakingly spectacular. Scenery and mustangs brought to you by Mother Nature’s magic. 🙂
Comments : 6 Comments »
Categories : Colorado, Disappointment Valley, La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Utah
On the hunt
27 04 2025
The mustangs are chasing the growing green things (fairly limited this year) all over the basin, and you never know where they’re going to show up. I hiked way out on a hill in the southern part of the basin on a just-to-see mission, and it wasn’t until I turned around to head back that I spotted one horse in a little drainage. A little investigation soon found the band, tucked out of sight below another little hill, but they – like all the bands – are not interested in anything but *the green*, so the best thing to do is to sit quietly and wait for them to notice other band members coming over another little hill then snap the moment when they’re looking and/or shifting position toward another green patch. 🙂
You can see the dusty haze on the horizon toward Utah, but with the soft light, it was another lovely evening in Spring Creek Basin with Temple and her family. And any time with the mustangs is the best time.
Comments : 8 Comments »
Categories : Filly Peak, La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 