Another band had passed nearly silently through the trees below the open area where Flash and his ladies were grazing, and here he paused for just a moment in the lovely light, to check that the way was safe, before leading them on down the hill in the wake of that other band.
The Deer Creek Fire started Thursday (cause is as yet unknown) at the base of Utah’s La Sal Mountains.
During the day, smoke settles over all of Disappointment Valley, and the mountains are obscured.
As evening settles, so does the smoke, and the mountains appear against the horizon … along with the smoke plume.
The above link lists the fire at 4,000 acres, but according to app Watch Duty, it has grown to 7,000 acres as of almost 10 p.m. Friday.
Be careful out there, folks, no matter where you live, work and/or recreate.
The incomparable Kestrel: epitome of wild wisdom and grace. 🙂
This handsome fellow is not the same handsome fellow from a couple of posts ago. He was near a small water source, and I happened upon him as he was walking away. Above, I *think* his attention was caught by a small band of mustangs away south and lower. He ended up turning all the way around to look at them, then watched them intently for several minutes before returning to his path away to nibble and browse.
A couple of hours later, this. 🙂
Hot, hot, hot. The temp hit 100 degrees in Spring Creek Basin yesterday. It’s not unusual as a summertime temp … but it’s still awfully miserable. There was some relief in the form of sunshine-blocking clouds, but not a drop of moisture did they produce.
By the time the moon rose, it was actually pleasant (if you don’t mention the gnats), and some little bird was singing its little heart out with a full medley of melody. I don’t know what it was, but it was a lovely serenade! 🙂
In the basin the night before last, I realized I might be able to catch the moon rising from the space between McKenna Peak and Temple Butte if I could get myself into the right position in Spring Creek Basin.
I didn’t, but it was still cool (as it always is?!) to watch the almost-full “Buck Moon” rising in the very warm (the mercury hit at least 98F) July sky last night over the basin.
The pronghorn buck Chipeta and the other mustangs were very interested in. Here, he’s literally right at the rimrock’s edge (a band of rimrock cliffs forms most of Spring Creek Basin’s western boundary). I spotted him first, from the far side of a little hump of ground. Then he spotted me and decided that the mustangs must be warned of the “stranger” in their midst! Fortunately, though I was a stranger to him, I am not a stranger to *them*.
If this pic looks similar to the one of the pronghorn buck a few posts ago, it’s because she’s watching him head down the hill from very near where he stood to “pose” for the pic.
Pronghorns – in Spring Creek Basin at least – try very hard to warn their mustang cousins about the dangers of the two-legged in their midst with a “bark” or more strident “huff” sound than what the mustangs make as a warning snort. … But really, it just makes the mustangs more curious about their pronghorn cousin and what all the fuss is about. 🙂
Buckeye and Aiyanna settle into nap mode on a windy-windy day at the western edge of Spring Creek Basin.
A bit less wind, a LOT more rain, please?
As a bachelor lieutenant stallion, one of Skywalker’s duties is to protect the band as a whole from unwanted incursions by *other* bachelor stallions. When he’s not harassing the main stallion, Skywalker takes that pretty seriously.
Happy actual Fourth of July (blame WordPress for the recent posting weirdness) from wild, wide-open, freedom-embracing Spring Creek Basin. 🙂
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 