Heading to water. Chipeta is showing her age (she’s at least 20 now), but she still looks beautiful, especially under that dramatic sky. 🙂
Drama
7 09 2025Comments : 10 Comments »
Categories : McKenna Peak, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Temple Butte
Racin’ the rain
6 09 2025Cue the angels:
As I was wandering the desert (seriously), hoping that tonight (which was last night) would be the night the clouds would part and I would get to see the moon rise … the clouds DID part, and a rainbow DID shine! I ask you: How does that happen!?!? 🙂 I’m not complaining, mind you, but Mother Nature is a wondrous, mysterious creature.
And then, this:
My desert wandering paid off!
If I ever get those glorious scenes with a gorgeous mustang right in my foreground, I’m going to keel right over without being able to hit the shutter even once, probably. 😉
This was the last night to get the moon rising with the sun only very recently set. When the moon is actually full on Sunday (happy lunar eclipse if you’re on the other side of our world from North America!), it’ll be rising in a dark sky.
But last night, as I walked away (OK, I might have been doing as much of an Olympic race-walk as I possibly could with a camera pack on my back, binoculars in the case on my front and carrying a monopod that really is not a hiking stick), THIS was hustling me along (and yes, there was lightning):
See the moon rising above Temple Butte and McKenna Peak and submarine ridge at lower right?
Conclusion: Sometimes the rainbows come and go well before the post-sunset rain. 🙂 (And I think the valley got fairly widespread (though light) rain!)
Happy, happy!
Comments : 13 Comments »
Categories : Colorado, Disappointment Valley, McKenna Peak, Moon, Rain, Rainbow, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Temple Butte
Streaking
5 09 2025
Rain – or perhaps more likely, virga – catching the western light over the southern ridge of Disappointment Valley from about mid(ish)-Spring Creek Basin. None of that for us yesterday, but we have chances today and Saturday.
How often do you get the rising moon and a rainbow (and not a moonbow!) in the same image? I actually don’t know, but both are visible in this pic … though both are extremely faint and hard to see. The rainbow is nearly impossible to see – at the right side of the pic, nearly vertical – and it was suuuuuuuper faint in reality, too. But as I was nearly stumped (again!) by clouds to see the moonrise, I shot it anyway. 🙂
But the MOST crazy pic of last night:
I’d love to say I planned the above image … but I didn’t! I was taking pix of the moon, high in the sky, between cloud layers (! can’t we have some rain, please, with those clouds??), and the plane photobombed my moon!!!! HA! The dark streak behind it is its contrail. I’m astounded that the moon is as sharp as it is because I’d only aimed and started hitting the shutter when the plane zoomed by.
The world is a wondrous place. 🙂 Especially with mustangs … not pictured, but always there.
Comments : 17 Comments »
Categories : Colorado, Disappointment Valley, McKenna Peak, Moon, Rain, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Temple Butte
Waiting for a sign
4 09 2025
Seneca and Chipeta wait to be notified of an “all clear” message enroute to a water source. Another band was there first, but the hierarchy of Seneca’s band was higher than that of the first band, and they all got to drink while the other band moseyed off to graze.
Comments : 7 Comments »
Categories : Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Flexible
3 09 2025
The softer side of Flash; he’s checking on his mares, who were scanning the land below the hill where they were grazing. He’s quick to protect when needed, but in a lot of cases, he lets them do the scanning while he concentrates on his groceries.
Comments : 8 Comments »
Categories : Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Greenery
2 09 2025
Where there’s tamarisk (aka salt cedar/saltcedar), there’s usually water (even if it’s mostly underground). Unfortunately, tamarisk is massively invasive and, with its ginormous taproot, sucks up horrible amounts of water. In the West, where we’re always worried about drought and lack of or limited water, tamarisk = bad. (Though I’ve read and heard that some bird species are starting to use tamarisk for nesting, making it … notasbad?)
Buttttttttt … add a pretty mesteño (Aiyanna), and the feathery leaves creates a sort of magical view at her beautiful self.
And yes, there was a lovely longish stretch of water there for the whole band.
Comments : 8 Comments »
Categories : Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Mud baby
1 09 2025
It makes my heart happy to know that there’s enough water in Spring Creek Basin to make mud for Maia to enjoy a good, coating roll. 🙂
Comments : 6 Comments »
Categories : Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Wish
31 08 2025
Be kind.
Comments : 12 Comments »
Categories : Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs
Nature for the win
30 08 2025
That’s rain beyond Tenaz. 🙂
It wasn’t in the forecast. Of the previous six days that had rain chances, we got rain only one of those days. The rain yesterday was *wildly* variable, even just over Spring Creek Basin. Some places didn’t anything; some got something.
We’ll take anything, anytime. 🙂
Comments : 12 Comments »
Categories : McKenna Peak, Rain, Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Temple Butte
Untouched by drama
29 08 2025
This pic of Dundee was taken before the rain. She was very calm, almost napping, watching some drama below between a couple of stallions. It makes you wonder what the mares are actually thinking when they watch the boys. … And most boys think *girls* are dramatic. 😉
Comments : 8 Comments »
Categories : Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, Spring Creek Basin mustangs, Spring Creek canyon
Spring Creek Basin Mustangs 