Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

Baby Odin leads the way (following a pair that hangs out with his band) to water at Spring Creek, just about in the middle of Spring Creek Basin, with that fabulous, fantastic, recognizable-anywhere backdrop of eastern boundary behind them.

We haven’t had a spit of rain since the very first couple of days of the month, so it’s pretty dusty out there. Fortunately, most of the ponds still have water, the catchments are good water sources, and there are seeps in the arroyos that still have water. We’ve had another absolutely gorgeous autumn, and now the temps are about to start dropping, with our first really cold nights/mornings coming very soon.

Whooooooeeeee!

From her vantage point on a slight rise, Reya was in the perfect post from which to observe the comings and goings (OK, mostly also nappings) of her fellow ponies (another band and a lone, wandering bachelor).

I’m loving her mud coat and her fairy-knotted braids.

Doesn’t Maiku look healthy and well-fed?! Such is the bounty of autumn in Spring Creek Basin. 😉

Auntie Maia keeps baby Odin company as he naps. He didn’t move a muscle, even as she moved on to graze. No matter the species, babies rely on their adults to keep them safe while they nap the sleep of innocents (not to mention innocence). 🙂

A crazy ol’ wind blew in some stormy weather above Disappointment Valley on Saturday. Our biggest color change down here in the lower valley so far is flowering rabbitbrush and snake weed. But lookie: Up high, the aspen are going gold.

We didn’t get any rain in the mid- to lower valley or Spring Creek Basin (beyond, maybe, a handful of windblown drops). See Benchmark Lookout atop the Glade, right under the curtain of rain? Check out this short PBS video about fire lookouts Rick and Linda Freimuth, who staff the tower during fire season. Bonus points if you pick out Spring Creek Basin icons. 🙂 (And yes, we ARE very thankful for their observations!)

No rain, but it sure left some beauty in its wake before the hole in the clouds over the western horizon closed for the night.

The pic I wanted to show on yesterday’s blog post. 🙂

They were napping, which was good (because their heads were up, not eyeball deep in grass), but there was a little arroyo between me and Piedra and Kestrel, and along the edges of the arroyo, right where I needed to be to aim the camera at and over the mares where the moon was actually rising, greasewood, right in front of and nearly obscuring Kestrel. … Best laid plans. 🙂

Some day, the horses and I and the moon will align with Temple Butte and/or McKenna Peak, and it won’t rise faint and immediately into the cloud hovering JUST “above” it.

A few days ago, a few bands were fairly close together right along one of the basin’s roads, which allowed many photo opportunities. Miss Temple is never one to squander a good photo op. 🙂

A storm was passing to the southeast, but all we got was great light (earlier) and a bit more wind.

(Answer: No. No, she could not possibly be any more lovely. Mud or no. :))

Have I mentioned the grass?? It really is tremendous right now, and we’ve gotten another couple of little grass-watering events (aka rain) to help keep it lush.

Tenaz and the members of his extended family (there are quite a few between two bands and a bachelor pair) are gobbling it up while the days are still warm and the night temps are dipping into the 50s. Ooooh, I just love fall. And I love seeing the ponies – plump and shiny – with plenty to eat and plenty to drink. 🙂