Did I mention that it was REALLY windy that day, up on that ridge? I may have forgotten that part; here, wind in the spring is such a usual occurrence, it’s as normal and regular as sunshine.
By the time I moved away from Hollywood and closer to Sundance’s and Storm’s bands, Sundance’s were on their way down another little finger ridge. But when he stopped to pose as only Sundance can (!), the wind had its artful way with his mane and tail!
(From 8 this morning until midnight, pretty much all of western Colorado is under a high wind warning. I’m predicting NON-pretty dusty air by the end of the day.)
From that amazing ridge in far southeastern Spring Creek Basin, Hollywood’s path down another little finger ridge gave me some of the most dramatic pix I’ve ever taken of a mustang in the basin. You’ll likely be seeing some more pix of Hollywood in the near future … because he didn’t just go down that ridge and disappear over the edge. He came back up. I’m not sure why, but you’d better believe that I took photographic advantage.
To give a little more range to the views on (of? from?) my route to the top of (and back down off of) a remote ridge in Spring Creek Basin the other day, here are a few more pix (because you don’t mind the views, do you?!):
This was taken on my way back to where I’d left my vehicle at the end of the day (note the very warm, golden light and hefty shadows). On my way out (I took a different route to get there than I did coming back), I could see the horses almost the entire time (except Hollywood; I didn’t see him until I got to the top), but I didn’t take any pix because I didn’t want to take the time to get my camera out of the pack, take pix, put it back in the pack and continue on. I thought the horses might wait for me (grazing) to get closer so I could show them in their awesome related-to-mountain-goats locations. They didn’t. 🙂
In the above pic, the pinkish arrows show where Storm’s band went up (left) and where Sundance’s band went up (right). Those look steep enough, eh?! The yellow arrow at left shows the shale-y little “rimrock” I climbed up and then crawled along for several yards (it doesn’t show how narrow it is, even if you zoom in). The blue arrow at left is the general location of a diagonal trail the horses and deer have that goes up and over – or over and down, depending on their direction of travel. By the time I got to the top of the ridge on my way up, the horses were at the far end – closest to Brumley Point. There’s a little seep over the other (south – right from this view) side of that ridge, there’s a seep kind of at the base of that little “cove,” and from my location taking this pic, there’s a seep in the arroyo right below me.
I’ve been up there before, but I can’t quite remember how I went up (or which band I was visiting then), and I’m still not entirely sure how I went down then. Instead of going down the horses’ trail from that little saddle (blue arrow), I think I went on up that hump of a hill (steeper than it looks from here) and then down onto the ridge just visible at the far right side of the pic, which descends to a lower and slightly rounded-top ridge along and above part of the arroyo.
In the above pic, I’m back on my narrow finger ridge looking back down as I was on my way up; this gives a better view of the broad arroyo that has the couple of seeps. The yellow arrow at far left shows my starting point at rollercoaster ridge.
Now I’m on my way back down after my visit with the horses. I’m at the top of the ridge above that little “cove” – above and to the right of the left pink arrow in the first pic at the top of this post – looking back at the way I came up (yellow arrow) and the way Storm’s band came up (pink arrow). It’s hard to tell here, but those are different ridgelines; they’re more easily seen in the first pic.
This shows the other side of the “cove” (I’m taking the pic from the same spot as the pic just above but now slightly to my left) with the blue arrow indicating the general location of the trail I took back down. (For those of you who’ve been to the basin, that’s Round Top at far left.)
The trail at the far west end finger ridge down to the saddle and the bigger hump hill (which is slightly to my right); I’m taking this pic from the same place as the previous two pix. Perfectly wide enough for upright two- and four-legged travel. 🙂
And the “trail” where Sundance’s band came up from their grazing on the steep side of the “cove.” When I say that mustangs are relatives of mountain goats, I’m not even kidding!
I’m nearly back to the beginning of my “trail” on rollercoaster ridge, looking northwest to Utah’s La Sal Mountains across the lovely shadowed expanse of Spring Creek Basin and lower Disappointment Valley beyond. If I could bottle the peace in this magical, extraordinary place, there’d be no more war or strife or violence anywhere ever.
The very last light over Spring Creek Basin and my epic adventure. That’s the pond below rollercoaster ridge shining like a mirror in the middle ground.
Epic? … Really, just another day in mustang paradise. 🙂 (I do promise to feature mustangs again tomorrow. They are the very foundation of the magic of this wondrous place.)
If you’re afraid of heights, you’d have had a hard time hiking with me to this spot … because I had to crawl, on hands and knees, hoping the wind wasn’t stronger than my body weight (no chance of that –ha!) because the width of the finger of shale I crawled up on to get to where I’m sitting on the ground to take this pic (below what you can see) was not much wider than my four-square hands and knees. Let’s just say that I didn’t take in the view – or the drop to either side – until I got to this point and shimmied around onto my derrière!
What. A. VIEW!
If I say that frequently about Spring Creek Basin, who could blame me – or argue? 🙂
Bonus: It’s starting to look a little green, eh? … Just a little?!
Bonus No. 2:
I knew I was going to find Sundance’s and Storm’s band up top (you think I did a death-defying hands-and-knees crawl for my health!?), but I also found Mr. Hollywood! This pic can’t begin to do justice to this view: It’s still a ridge, though it’s (much) wider than where I crawled up. The horses had already moseyed to the far end by the time I crawled and walked up to this point, which is just above and behind my spot in the first pic. You might have to zoom in to see them.
The horses take me to all the very BEST places! 🙂 There will be pix of them to come in future posts.
Oh, and I forgot to mention that although the horses didn’t follow my route UP (!!!!), they had been DOWN that little ridge – at least to the end – by the existence of desiccated manure. (Really, you find it in the craziest places!)
My brother, Jeff, is 50 years old today! He’s not big on birthdays (a trait we share), but 50 is a big milestone, and because this is my blog, I get to mark it.
Happy big 5-oh, little brother! 🙂
(Pic is of Buckeye, himself a younger brother and a particular favorite of mine. :))
I love meadowlarks. Ever since I lived in Montana and became aware of their distinctive liquid-gold trill of a spring song, I’ve loved these bright little birds. They also practically beg to be photographed! And yet, I am *not* a bird photographer, and though they’re bright, they’re also fast! I got this pic, another pic, then this pic:
And the next-to-last pic was one where I cut off the bird’s beak as s/he flew … and then one of the empty post. 🙂
I love meadowlarks. 🙂
(These pix were taken from my Jeep, through my passenger window. I heard its trill first, then spotted it on the fence post as I drove into Spring Creek Basin.)
As I was leaving the basin a couple of days ago, horses were just above the road near the western boundary. Maiku prepared to defend his band (he’s a lieutenant), looking quite handsome in the process.
It MUST be spring – the prince’s plume is flowering. 🙂
And the bees also are very happy about that:
And … drum roll, please … WE GOT RAIN LAST NIGHT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The first actual rain – and yes, the ground got more-than-damp wet – since April 6. It will put some water in the catchments and give the vegetation a nice, lovely drink of moisture.
How lucky was I to be in the right place at the right time as Buckeye’s band and another band converged on their way to drink at Spring Creek canyon? 🙂
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 