Another 2.5 inches of snow (at least) fell overnight and Sunday morning in Disappointment Valley, bringing more much-needed moisture. Lots of melting happened Saturday, and the temperature is hovering right at freezing, so lots of melting is happenING.
Interestingly, snowshoes work pretty well when mud is close to the surface under the mud by doing the same thing as on snow: spreading weight over a surface. Of course, the mud isn’t as easy to knock off, but your boots are happier.
This is Temple on Friday evening:
This is Temple on Saturday afternoon:
Oh, what a difference a day (less than 24 hours) makes. 🙂
We got at least 3.5 inches of snow, so the pic taken Saturday afternoon shows a considerable amount of melting – which means water in the ground.
Placing one’s hooves and feet takes feats of strength and endurance in the mud. Killian appears to be taking extra care in that department.
It’s not that Corazon is vain, he’s just completely comfortable with his exceptional handsomeness.
Sundance and his band came to drink in an arroyo.
Sundance had a chat with another stallion whose band was first to the arroyo.
Sundance’s band got to the *water* in the arroyo first (by the luck of direction of approach).
Sundance rejoined them after his chat with the other stallion.
The other band and his stallion waited their turn. Peace was preserved.
Shadow is another little old lady of the basin (though not nearly as old as Houdini) who’d rather not bother with two-legged interlopers, thank you very much. Just because the rest of the band doesn’t seem to be bothered, Shadow knows what she knows, and no one will convince her otherwise … even during lovely naps on lovely, sunny, not-quite-spring days. 🙂
Technically speaking, these aren’t mud boots; they’re my hiking boots. They’re just muddy because, well, I was hiking in them, and the ground on which I hiked is more mud than dirt at the moment.
But to find even the teeniest bits of this (and it IS teeny; my phone is about an inch away from the superb greenery), not to mention seeing wild, still-fluffy-because-it’s-still-technically-winter ponies, it’s SO worth it.
Tell that to anyone who has to hike through it! Or feel it thaw and get messy underhoof as sun and temperature rise each day.
For the ground and for the horses, we are grateful.
Temple seems to be issuing an invitation to enter her wild world. It’s not still quite that white … but it’s still wonderfully wet.
