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.
Ready for the rest
2 07 2023Comments : 14 Comments »
Categories : Disappointment Valley, La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
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!
Comments : 8 Comments »
Categories : Disappointment Valley, La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area
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. 🙂
Comments : 16 Comments »
Categories : Disappointment Valley, La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Spring Creek canyon
Rain for dust
22 04 2023
As spring continues to lag and spring and lag and backslide slightly (temps below freezing and ice on water!) and green is slowly greening, the predictable spring winds are keeping dust and haze in the air. We’re looking for a renewal of moisture. Maybe that’ll be on our dusty horizon by Monday and/or Tuesday.
P.S. As Kat Wilder reminded me this morning: Happy Earth Day! Celebrate something – or many things! – wild today!
Comments : 7 Comments »
Categories : La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Behind back of beyond
10 03 2023
If any mustang knows better than Sundance (or at least as well!) how to find the best scenery in Spring Creek Basin, it’s Storm.
This handsome boy and his band have been very elusive most of the winter, and this day was almost no different. According to my GPS, I hiked nearly six miles in my quest to visit him and his family; they were so far beyond the back of beyond, it may as well have been *behind* the back of beyond!
Or maybe, it’s really the front door to the best place on Earth. 🙂
Who are we to argue?!
Comments : 15 Comments »
Categories : La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Uncategorized
Near to far …
2 03 2023
Fabulous!
Miss Chipeta with the long view to Utah – a little clouded but still grand. 🙂
At least 2 inches of snow greeted sunrise yesterday morning (such as it was, with snow blowing sideways nearly all day). By the end of the day, all that white had melted again, leaving us saturated with mud – again – and reveling in the awesome moisture.
Comments : 4 Comments »
Categories : La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Gleaming
28 02 2023
First thing in the morning, Utah’s La Sal Mountains shine with an almost otherworldly glow.
Flash seems to shine just about always. 🙂
Comments : 10 Comments »
Categories : La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Bold
18 02 2023
Could any mustangs or any mountains – or any mustangs before any mountains – be prettier than ours?! Even when those mountains are rooted in what we know as the state of Utah, by their view, they’re ours as surely as any.
And Skywalker … well, he is loved. 🙂
Comments : 15 Comments »
Categories : La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Spring Creek canyon
Wild watching wild
17 02 2023
Tenaz and Temple watch mule deer walk uphill across the snowy expanse of Spring Creek Basin from near the main/original water catchment area.
After a very cold morning (minus 5!) and a high only around 25 degrees, all that lovely snow is still pretty pristine … all the way to Utah’s shining La Sal Mountains!
Comments : 12 Comments »
Categories : La Sal Mountains, Mule deer, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Mid-winter slog
12 02 2023
Realistically, we’re probably closer to the latter end of winter than the middle, but we’re optimistic for more snow! This is a current view of Spring Creek Basin and Disappointment Valley beyond to Utah’s La Sal Mountains. It’s fabulous to see the peaks capped in pristine white. Those nearby patches of snow are keeping the basin pretty soggy, which is valuable for the soil and vegetation … and we’re hoping for another dose of white stuff this coming week.
Kestrel is plump and fuzzy and ready for whatever Mother Nature brings.
Comments : 8 Comments »
Categories : La Sal Mountains, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 