Canyon Water and Wildflowers

Water in the San Rafael Desert is not as rare as one might think.  We find many pools and water pockets in the sandstone canyons.  These water sources are not on any map, but many of them are reliable all year. 

One of the many small springs makes a handy place for a drink.  Some of these are on maps, but many are not.  Also, the maps are often inaccurate, sometimes placing a spring several miles away from the actual water source.

 Water that hides in the shade of a sandstone shelf will satisy a thirsty animal.  

Sometimes water can be found at the base of a cliff, a pour-off pool that gathers from melted snow and spring rain.

And of course green grass goes with water.  The horses love that!

The wildflowers are just getting started in mid-April. 

A claret cup cactus brightens up the rock and sand.

Milkvetch (purple)  and wallflowers (yellow) bloom between the scattered juniper trees.  

A Fremont's mahonia bush grows near a spring.

   Here is a closer view of the yellow flowers.

This one is my favorite, a Showy Stoneseed.  The lackluster name comes from the seed with an extremely hard, thick, impervious shell, which must allow survival of the species through winter cold and summer drought.  I think it's the prettiest of the desert flowers.

The Indian paintbrush is a close second for color and beauty. 

Into the Wild

Most of our San Rafael Desert rides are cross country, sometimes following the ghost of an old two track for part of the way.  Above is a distant view of the Head Spur (a triangular shaped peak) that makes a good landmark.   It's about 2 miles away in this photo.

Here's the Head Spur in a closer view.  The peak looms 400 feet above the desert floor and is about 1000 feet wide at the base.  Up top is a square formation that looks a bit like Stonehenge.  The top is unreachable by horse.  A climber might be able to get up there.

The going is rough in places.

And very rough in others.

Here's Coco taking a careful look down a break in the rock, 50 feet down the Moqui Creek pour-off.  Below is the Spur Fork of Horseshoe Canyon. Believe it or not, we found a way to get down, but NOT in that particular spot!

We stop at an ancient pictograph site that we have visited before.  It is located under a rock ledge where it has been protected from sun and weather through the centuries.

The dragonfly art is unique.

Three granaries are nearby, complete with rock lids.

We locate a few pot shards,

and some jaspar chippings.  Jaspar was used to make arrow points and other tools.  We leave our finds on the closest rocks.  Taking anything from an archeological site on public land (BLM in this case) is illegal.

Gathering storm clouds follow us back to camp, but only a few raindrops fall. 

Canyon Country Burros

The wild beauty of the San Rafael Desert never grows old.  This view of the Henry Mountains and red rock formations is a favorite.

On our first afternoon ride in Canyon Country, Daisy meets this wild fellow.  He hee-haws at her vigorously and gives us the evil eye.
That's our first burro sighting, but not the last.

 A handsome burro pair gawks at us from a meadow.

 Later, and miles farther from camp, we spot this trio, one of which appears to be a youngster.

 This is our camp, with Steve and the horses settling in.

 Daisy settles in, too.  She enjoys her Dinty Moore beef stew.  (She gets the can to lick after we eat most of it for our supper.)
At night, we hear coyotes howl.  Toward morning, we hear the burros hee-hawing loudly and close by, perhaps urging us to come out and explore.

And the next day, that's what we do.
To be continued...