Spring Creek Basin Mustangs

If you look closely, you can see a mustang grazing at upper left. If you look a bit closer, you might be able to see that this old juniper is growing out of a (crack in this) sandstone boulder.

This grandmother tree certainly made sure to send up many fingers through the available space(s).

This is the view from the other, downhill, side … and it’s the view that got me interested in walking up to investigate further. Bit of a grumpy-rock missing an eye, eh? And I looked, but no Excalibur did I find also buried within the stone.

Think of the seasons and years and heat and cold this tree and this stone have witnessed, together. And the stone likely thinks the tree is just a wee, youthful thing.

As a colorful bonus to this post …

This uber-handsome fellow was not in Spring Creek Basin – or even in Disappointment Valley. He was a good bit farther south (still in Colorado) and stopped to catch the rays along a bike trail where I stopped to gasp and puff … err, catch my breath. I couldn’t believe he stayed still long enough for me to fish out my phone and snap his portrait, but he did, and I was happy as I love these beasties at least as much as I love our horned lizards! It won’t be long, and we’ll be seeing our own Disappointment Valley-native collared lizards.

**Update: I saw my first Disappointment Valley-native collared lizard just yesterday – also while riding my bike, as it turned out. It was MUCH too quick for my full admiration, but temps are warming, and soon they’ll be sunning and lazy.