Piedra is a couple of years older than Kestrel, and they have known each other literally all of Kestrel’s life. Even when they were in different bands, with different stallions, their bands were close to each other. They were two of the first to teach me why some bands travel together (it’s the mares).
It’s amazing to me to see that level of dedicated friendship.
Mustangs are amazing.
Piedra and Kestrel both were named by me at the beginning of my documentation of the herd. Piedra was young and the brown-grey of a young horse born brown or bay and turning grey. I don’t remember the exact steps of thoughts I went through, but I loved the name of the Piedra River that flows out of the San Juan Mountains near Pagosa Springs. She had a simple star on her forehead, and I found that “piedra” means stone in English (“for example, una piedra preciosa means ‘a precious stone'”). That was good enough for me, and precious Piedra was named. 🙂
Kestrel was a weanling filly, still with her mother, Luna, after the 2007 roundup, and I have a particular love for kestrels, fierce small falcons that are abundant in Disappointment Valley. Basically, I just wanted to name a mustang “Kestrel,” and she was beautiful and deserving, and it stuck!
Warm days? Here’s another one. With the warm days have come a lot of wind. It’s already dry; why the drying wind?!
But you know the horses don’t mind, and they don’t look ahead and worry. So for them, some warm days in the middle of winter probably feel pretty nice.
Mysterium and her band surely seemed to be enjoying the sunny, warm grazing, and I mostly lounged along with them as they grazed.
Mysterium was born in 2011, the year of the last roundup. Her mother was Kootenai, one of the mares introduced in 2008. We didn’t know the timing of her due date, so I decided to have a blog-wide “guess “contest” about it. People submitted guesses, and I think there were two that were closest – one on either side of her August birthday. I wrote the names on slips of paper and then had a friend draw one out of a hat. The winner was a 14-year-old girl from Canada who was a reader at the time! The prize was to name the foal, and she chose Mysterium because of the mystery around her timing of her birth. (We were able to talk to both BLM and the contractor about the month-old foal at the time of the roundup, and he avoided targeting them, which was good because I think at least two of the three mares were still together, and they wouldn’t have been removed anyway.)
While the rest of Colorado (yes, we’re actually in Colorado) is complaining about their snow and ice and vehicle wrecks (OK, that part is never good), we’re dusty damn dry here in the southwestern corner of the state. The pronghorns maybe don’t mind the lack of snow; it’s easier to move, and they don’t have to paw under the snow for their food. Only we who look ahead are scared about the coming summer. There’s nothing we can do about it, for better or worse, of course, but we humans love to complain about the future. 🙂
This is the same group of 14 pronghorns that have made themselves right at home in the western part of Spring Creek Basin lately. They were very calm about me moving slowly past them, stopping a few times to take some pix as I went.
That’s the north rim of Spring Creek canyon in the background. It’s hard to tell, but I’m on the south side, facing north.
The temp hit at least 51F yesterday. As desperate as we are for snow, I have to say that temp felt awfully nice after several days of frigid cold (which, yes, is normal in January in Colorado!).
Mariah graciously stayed in place while I approached closer across the hills and drainages to get another pic with a different perspective. That’s the south side of Spring Creek canyon behind her.
While I was photographing Buckeye, walking up the hill with Temple Butte and McKenna Peak in the background, I looked in the opposite direction (always a great idea, no matter where you’re shooting) and found that we were being watched. 🙂
That’s looking west-ish, with Spring Creek’s namesake canyon – north and south rims – behind Mariah. Some of the cottonwoods lining Disappointment Creek are visible in the low background, and the southwestern ridges of Disappointment Valley stretch into the distance. The widest, most open and very lowest parts of the valley are off to the right, beyond Spring Creek Basin’s rimrocks.
Mariah was named by good friend Roy G., who will celebrate his 92nd birthday this summer. He grew up with his family in Disappointment Valley, and he returns twice a year to see the mustangs. I love to meet up with him and his significant other, Donna, in their camper overlooking Disappointment Creek and hear about how he rides his bike more than I ride mine. 🙂 It was a windy day when he spotted Mariah as a spindly-legged baby, and he called her Mariah, as “They Call the Wind Mariah.” (The original was spelled “Maria”; here’s an explanation of the pronunciation via Wikipedia.)
The day I took the pic fortunately was not windy, but the day before and the day after were sharply windy and cold!
Fuzzy Winona-girl is going to need that fluff the next few days as temps plunge with the incoming Arctic blast. Not as cold as elsewhere in Colorado – or even northern parts of the country! – but cold enough. Brrrrr! Stay warm!
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. 🙂
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 