When a wild pony poses, you generally have about 2.7 seconds to either take the shot or get into position to take the shot … or you don’t get the shot because wild ponies don’t generally hang about posing for paparazzi.
Flash did me a super solid and posed for probably at least 12.8 seconds before he moseyed on after his mares.
Plenty ‘o time. 🙂
That’s snow in the background, swirling and whirling with the wind between us and McKenna Peak and Temple Butte. It snowed in the morning, too, but other than the far eastern ridges of Spring Creek Basin, it left nothing behind. … And by the time I took this pic in the evening, most of what had stuck to those ridges was gone again.
Keep trying, Mother Nature. We need that moisture badly (and that makes me think of the terrible wildfires in California, where I read they’ve had just 0.16 inch of moisture since May … ouch. THAT is just astoundingly dry). Keep trying, Mother Nature. …
Forget the goats. Join the mustangs for a little stretching session. 🙂
That’s McKenna Peak in the background, still under foggy snow. We got a skiff of snow that morning (Tuesday morning), but it didn’t last long. Nor did it make the ground any kind of damp when it was gone. Our need for snow is getting a bit desperate.
Tenaz was napping on semi-alert about halfway between his band and the following band, and I took full advantage of the handsome background beyond his handsome self. 🙂
We need a bit of winter white to match her fuzzy coat, or we’re going to be looking that brown when we don’t want to be looking that brown – and way too hot to boot – later in the year. We don’t have any moisture in the forecast … hopefully that will change sooner than later!
(That white on the shady side of McKenna Peak IS residual snow, not melting on the north-facing, shady side of the peak. But we still need a lot more, covering a lot more ground.)
I was just thinking the other day that sweet Madison hadn’t featured on a blog post recently, which is really a travesty because she’s soooo pretty. And here she is!
The horses were mostly on or along one of the roads in the basin, so I dropped below the road to get McKenna Peak and Temple Butte looming large in the background.
They were semi-browsing, semi-napping and not in any hurry to get anywhere in particular. Kinda summed up the first day of the year perfectly. 🙂
When I was a young Coloradan, newly moved to Durango from Texas, my then-co-workers at The Durango Herald can attest to the fact that the first time snow fell that winter, I went a little bonkers with excitement.
Not much has changed, 22-plus years later. 🙂
We had another great (rain to) snowfall overnight, and it was a wonderland of white this morning – and muddymuddymuddy underneath. The snow is nearly all melted – at least down-valley – now, but rather than wait for tomorrow, here’s a peek at the Thanksgiving-Eve bounty in Spring Creek Basin:
Shortly after sunrise, Chrome’s Point, looking south-southeastish. Flat Top and Round Top are at left in the distance, and Filly Peak is at right.
Looking back north-northwestish, the difference in light is dramatic (this was maybe only 10-15 minutes after the first pic?) as the clouds linger at the higher elevations south and east of Spring Creek Basin and have started clearing to the west and north (though the mountains were engulfed in clouds the whole time I was out).
Holy heavenly light. If I’d been able to see that spotlight of light, with my own eyeballs, at the time, I would have brought out the big gun (these are all from my phone – handy little pocket cam that it is). Wow. Knife Edge is ahead to the left; Brumley Point is visible at far right. Temple Butte and McKenna Peak are still completely within the clouds.
Round Top – aka Saucer (as in flying) Hill – with snow still pouring from the moisture-laden clouds to the southern ridges of Disappointment Valley and beyond to the Glade.
I was just below the base of Knife Edge with mustangs when Temple Butte and McKenna Peak were starting to emerge from the still-billowing clouds. Dramatic much?!?
Heading back to my buggy and the road, looking upstream at the Spring Creek arroyo toward its source at McKenna Peak … Temple Butte behind it … submarine ridge to the right … Brumley Point straight ahead (it sits right on the basin’s southeast boundary) … Round Top at far right. Water WAS trickling through the bed of the arroyo in some places (like where I crossed).
From the ridge at the main/original water catchment (oh, how I hope this snow provided lots and lots of water for our catchments!), looking eastish across the basin. I mean … who DOESN’T get giddy at the sight of snow?! 🙂 Knife Edge is the ridge at far left with the top rim just barely free of snow. See the trees at the base of the ridge at almost farthest left? That’s where the ponies are (the ones I visited, anyway).
This one’s a little out of order, but it sums it all up. 🙂 I love mustangs; I love snow; I love Spring Creek Basin and its mustangs in the snow!
That’s our water. Our moisture. Our lifeblood for growing things.
So, so, so, SOOOOO grateful this Thanksgiving Eve. Happy gratitude to all you wonderful readers and your families on this, my very favorite holiday. Hope you all get to spend it with those you love, in places you love. 🙂
Juniper is sporting her own unique braids these days.
There’s been a shakeup. Storm is no longer with any of his mares, and the mares are split into two groups, each headed by a young stallion. I don’t know where Storm is, but I hope he’s OK.
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 