Mountain Wildflowers

Spring has come to the mountains.  Up on the ridges, above 10,000 feet, some snow remains.

A couple of young bucks hang out along Co-op creek. They are mule-deer, so named because of their big ears.

Daisy loves the high country because she can oversee plenty of territory.  It's fun to be queen of the mountain.

Bluebells

Spring Beauty

Coco and Steve in a field of Buttercups

The earliest wildflowers are in bloom.  After the snow melts, spring beauty, buttercups, and bluebells appear.

Glacier lilies plus Daisy

Glacier lilies are one of the first to bloom.  Daisy accidentally photobombed this glacier lily photo.

Later, we'll see a profusion of  penstemon, lupine, paintbrush, geraniums, and many others, as shown in this photo from a June 20 of several years ago.

Hill and Dale

A new favorite ride is a loop from the Strawberry River turnoff, following Willow Creek, then Co-op Creek, with cross country game trails in between. 

We see plenty of healthy aspen groves with a mix of old and new trees. The horses enjoy the tall grass that grows in the groves.

Sometimes they bare their teeth to avoid the prickles and bite off a thistle flower for dessert.

We have views of Strawberry Reservoir,

and an occasional glimpse of Timpanogas in the Wasatch Range.

The lush valley shown above was formed from a series of silted-in beaver dams. 

Along Co-op Creek, many beaver dams remain active.  This beaver lodge has fresh sticks on top with greenery still intact.  The beaver have been busy.

Soaring with Raptors

On a windy, warm day at the end of September, raptors soar on the thermals over the mountains. 

A hawk glides over aspens.

And then there are 3. 

No matter where I point the camera, an abundance of birds are playing in the wind.

Finally I see this hawk land.  I only have my 4X zoom, but I sneak close enough to get a photo before he flies.

For more camera critters, click here.

Golden Days

Last weekend, the aspens were near their peak autumn colors. We rode the horses from a trailhead at 8800 feet (2700 m) to a viewpoint at 10,100 feet (3100 m).

The air was hazy, perhaps due to smoke from a fire somewhere, but you can see the Wasatch mountains in the distance.  You can see patches of aspen gold on the hills.  (Click to enlarge.)

We saw the occasional maple tree, dressed in red.

Perhaps 75 % of the aspen above 9000 feet have turned gold.

This little pond provided a nice swim for Daisy.

Between the trees, you can see Currant Creek Peak.

We explored 10 miles of territory.  Spirits brightened by color and beauty, we followed Daisy...

...all the way back to the trailer, also wreathed in gold.

For views from other worlds, click here.

Over Low Pass to Vat Creek Ridge

This past weekend, we again visited the area north of Strawberry Reservoir. On Saturday morning, we drove up Co-op Creek road about 12 miles to Roundy Basin, at the northwest foot of Current Creek Peak. We arrived about 10 AM and were ready to ride by 11. We heard gunshots coming from not too far from the trailer and assumed the hunters were out siting in their guns before hunting season starts. Coyotes yipped in the distance, perhaps disturbed by, or protesting against, the guns.
The plan was to ride northwest to Red Creek Mountain, about 10 miles away. Our map showed a 4 wheel drive road we planned to travel. Unfortunately, mucho Jeeps, 4 wheelers, and other SUVs including a Hummer planned the same thing. We saw one caravan of 4 wheelers that must have had a dozen vehicles. On the plus side, the riders all stayed on the road, were polite, safe and friendly. Our horses are fine with vehicles, so we really had no problems, other than more noise and dust than we’d bargained for.

The area was open enough that we were able to ride off-road , following the ridges in many places, which made for great views.
The wildflowers were every bit as spectacular as we had hoped. Geranium, lupine, penstemon, columbine, and sulphur paintbrush were predominant, with a few Indian paintbrush, wild roses, and monkshood, among others I can’t name. In many places, the flowers grew 2-3 feet high.
We ran into a herd of a couple of hundred sheep on the way up. Daisy chased them some, and even tried to jump on them and grab them by the neck as if they were rabbits. The sheep didn’t comply and lie down, so she gave up that plan. As I was approaching on Mischief, Daisy suddenly ran at the sheep from the opposite direction, moving them directly toward us. Mischief had been suspicious of the critters all along. When they charged toward him en masse, he freaked a little and attempted to whirl. I stopped him and he calmed down as soon as he saw the sheep weren’t really out to get him.
The two guard dogs with the herd appeared to be white labs. They came forth wagging their tails and making friends with Daisy. One of the dogs was missing a front foot. We assumed the dog must have been caught in a trap at some point to suffer that kind of injury. He limped along with the sheep and seemed to be doing his job in spite of his disability. A little farther along, we saw what appeared to be the sheepherders living quarters with one horse tied outside and a couple of other horses roaming free. No sheepherder was in sight.
Daisy was getting thirsty, so we sought out the Indian Springs we’d seen on the map. As we neared it, we came across a couple of guys in camouflage attire. They were very friendly and came up to talk, petting the horses, asking where we were from, where we were headed, how far we’d come (they seemed unusually curious, for guys), if we’d seen any elk (we had seen one with a big rack, just down the road) and if Steve had “drawn out.” Once Steve realized they were asking if he’d gotten an elk tag from the UDWR, he allowed as how he didn’t know anybody or work for any federal agency, so, no, he hadn’t drawn a tag and wasn’t likely to in the near future. The hunters seemed to relate to that. They hadn’t “drawn out” either. They told us they’d been trying with no luck for 10 years, but they were checking out the wildlife anyway. They said they’d been hearing elk bugling from their camp several mornings. When they learned we were looking for the springs, they pointed us down the hill.
We found some nice pools, watered Daisy and the horses, and moved on. A few miles down the road, when seeking the next spring (unnamed on the map), we heard gunshots. As we approached a woodsy part of the trail, Mischief became unusually nervous, acting as if he smelled danger. A few minutes later, a shot rang out, coming from those woods, uncomfortably close. Mischief jumped and tried to take off in the opposite direction. I stopped him before he made a full 180.
We went around those woods to an opening in the trees. Two trailers were parked there. As we approached, a man and two little boys, one carrying a gun, came out of the woods. They had stopped shooting when they saw us.

Again, the folks were friendly, pointing us in the direction of the spring. When we didn’t find a pool right away, they came up to show us the spot and stayed to chat. The man was from Heber and volunteered that his grandfather had had a cabin nearby in the 30’s, and his family had been coming there ever since. With his family ties to the area, we were pleasantly surprised that he wasn’t possessive, but quite willing to share information on the spring and the trails.
We did a lot of trotting and loping when the road was suitable, hoping to cover the distance in a reasonable period of time. However, as we’ve found before, Easy Boot Bares can come off at a lope. Our horses kicked off 3 of them on this ride, damaging the gaiters on all 3. Since we only carry one spare, we were down to going barefoot, at least in part. We have been trying to toughen up their feet lately, though. We have ridden parts of our last several rides barefoot and have been applying what we’ve learned from our reading on a good barefoot trim (see Natural Hoof Care by Jaime Jackson.) The ground wasn’t too rocky, so the horses did fine, even though we ended up traveling over 10 miles barefoot, much more than we’d attempted before.
Because of our wandering around looking for springs, following the crest of hills, and investigating the sheep, we had traveled 10 miles by the time we reached Vat Creek Ridge, elevation 10, 200 feet. Red Creek Mountain, our original destination, was still a couple of miles away. With no extra boots, we decided to turn back, figuring a 20 mile round trip would be plenty for the day.
Just before we reached the sheep herd, we saw an old man limping through the wildflowers toward us. He turned out to be the sheepherder, and he was muttering, with a heavy accent, about a stupid bay horse he couldn’t catch. He asked if he could take our picture, pulled out a disposable camera and snapped a couple of shots. He was Navaho, from New Mexico. Since Steve works with a Navaho nurse, he was able to exchange a few words in the man’s native tongue. The sheepherder then went on about the stupid horse, and how the stupid people who were supposed to supply him hadn’t brought any good ropes.
We offered to try to help him catch the horse. We saw one horse tied up, and two running loose, one of which was the bay in question. The man supplied a little grain. The bay came up to get it. I was able to pet him for a second, but the horse took off before I could touch him with my lead rope. We tried a few more times, but never could get a grip on him.
The sheepherder indicated that he needed to move the sheep, so we offered to head the herd his way while he saddled up his one tied horse. We had fun moving the sheep up the mountain a ways until the old man arrived. I guess he decided they had moved close enough to his residence, because he left the sheep and rode down with us. We thought maybe he intended to come to our camp. Again, we had run across a curious neighbor who asked where we were from and where we were going. In return, he, offered his opinions on cows (good) and sheep (bad, stupid, didn’t like them at all), bay horses (stupid), size two horseshoes (hard to put on – he liked smaller hooves better), and so on. As it turned out, his destination was a camp we’d passed on the way up. He said his dog was there. We didn’t understand the connection, but it didn’t matter. At least we didn’t have to worry about feeding him dinner when we all rode up to our horse trailer!
We arrived at our gooseneck “home” at about 7PM, starving and exhausted. The day’s ride was 20 miles, 3000 feet total elevation gain, in under 6 hours. Overall, an eventful, scenic, fun day.

Strawberry Fields

The AERC (American Endurance Ride Conference) has an annual event in the Uinta National Forest north of Strawberry Reservoir in mid-June, called Strawberry Fields Forever. We have an interest in attending some year, maybe competing in a 25 mile ride, but we missed out again this summer. Since the ride photos looked spectacular, we decided to check out the area on our own.
This past Wednesday, we drove up Co-op Creek to the Sleepy Hollow trailhead (beginning just past where the gravel road passes over Co-op Creek) and began our exploration.

The trail was perfect. Not many rocks, so we were able to trot and canter much of the way. The path wound up and down hills, through an aspen forest graced with an abundance of wildflowers - knee high, in many places. The blooms were predominantly bluebells and forget me nots, with some columbines and, in areas along the creeks, yellow flowers I can’t put a name to covered the area to make the stream banks appear to be painted yellow. We continued past the 3 mile Sleepy Hollow trail to Red Ledge, a series of sheer rock cliffs. The trail there offered amazing views of both the Wasatch (Timpanogas and Twin Peaks were easily identifiable) and the Uintas.

We had plenty of water for Daisy and the horses, and some snowbanks up high for Daisy to wallow in. The only other person we saw was a lone motorcycle rider on the upper part of the trail – apparently that area allows ATV and motorcycle traffic. We returned to the trailer along the same beautiful path. The ride ended up being 12 miles, 2400 feet elevation gain, accomplished in under 3 hours riding time. According to the GPS, we travel at 3 to 3.5 mph at a walk, 7 or so at a trot, and 12-13 at a canter.
At the trailer, we allowed the horses to graze for a couple of hours while we hung out under the trees. We had found a reasonable campsite, but we decided to move to the area of the next day’s trailhead to save time in the morning. We went back to highway 40 and drove a few miles toward Heber, taking the Strawberry River turnoff to the north. From there, we drove maybe 5 miles along the gravel road to some corrals on the left. This is the campsite the AERC uses. The Strawberry River is easily accessible for horse water, there is adequate grass down along the creek, and the entire area is flat and large enough for many trailers. There was one other trailer parked by the corrals, but we pulled up a couple of hundred yards away.
Thursday morning, we rode the Mill B Flat trailhead. Again, the wildflowers were fantastic, thick and high all along the hilly aspen grove trail. We saw geraniums, columbine, and bluebells, forget me nots, and others. A couple of fallen tree trunks suitable for easy jumps lay across the trail we trotted and cantered along. We had a major glitch when one of Boss’s rear Easy Boot Bares came off and ripped the gaiter. It wasn’t completely ruined, so Steve stopped and sewed the gaiter back on with the trusty awl that he carries in his saddlebags. We tightened the rear boots a notch, hoping that would solve the problem. It did, until later when he threw a front boot. We tightened those, too, and were able to complete the ride without more problems. Boss had new boots, which tend to gradually loosen for the first few rides. We’ll keep a closer eye on boot fit from now on.
Continuing along the trail, we left the trees behind and climbed to alpine tundra. The view was great, with the Wasatch mountains even closer and clearer than on the Red Ledge ride. Our destination was Current Creek Peak, at about 10,500. The horses took us all but the last couple of hundred feet. There, it became too steep for them, so Steve and I tied them to convenient fence rails and walked up ourselves to shoot a few photos and admire the view. Down below, the grassy meadows looked as smooth and groomed as a golf course. And on the horizon, the mountains loomed.
We descended the Peak, mounted up, and continued on around Current Creek Peak, picking up a trail on the other side. We planned on a loop ride, taking a parallel trail to the morning path, but a few miles farther north. That worked out fine until we came to some deep snowbanks with boggy areas around them. We went around whenever possible. The meadows were pretty, and we found a dirt road to travel part of the way, but that dwindled to a trail and then the trail petered out completely. We did find the pass we were supposed to go over, and discovered another trail that lasted for awhile. We were maybe 5 miles from our camp when we discovered that we were on the wrong side of Mill B Creek with a big gorge between us and where we needed to be. Uh-oh.
I wasn’t about to risk my Mischief’s safety going down that thing, so I was relieved when Steve didn’t seem too keen on making the transit, either. We went back the way we had come and found another route across that was much safer. Unfortunately, the trail still wasn’t apparent on the other side. The GPS said where a trail was supposed to be, but that went through a spruce forest with lots of blowdown and spruce limbs scratching up our limbs. Not fun.
We reversed course, went upstream a little ways, and found an aspen grove that was much easier to traverse. In one of the small meadows full of grass and bluebells, we spotted about 4 bull elk, with their antlers still in velvet, maybe a hundred yards away. They saw us and melted into the forest. Daisy, of course, tried to chase them but came back when we called.
With all of the greenery on the forest floor, it was hard for the horses to see what they were stepping on in the aspens, although we were able to follow an elk trail part of the way. We came into an open meadow. There, the damp greenery on rocks was sometimes slick.
I was getting a little worried that Steve didn’t know where he was going. My GPS had run out of battery juice, so I didn’t have any little arrows to follow. It was 4PM or later by then, and we were still wandering. I should have had more faith, I guess. We eventually met up with the trail we had started out on, only a few miles from our trailer. Whew. I was relieved. I’m pretty sure Steve was relieved. Mischief was loving being back on the trail. Steve rode Boss back into the forest once more, looking for where our loop trail was supposed to meet the one we were on, according to his map. He didn’t find even a sign of a trail. It must have once existed, since it was on a map, but those Topo! Maps are sometimes outdated. Apparently the forest service had decided that loop trail was too much trouble to maintain and has let it return to nature. As we saw, to a greater extent than was entirely pleasant.
Anyway, we know now. We might try a loop again, but we’ll choose our own trail, higher up, through mostly open meadows.
We got back to the trailer a little after 5, after 8 hours of travel, boot fixing, and picture taking. Overall, in spite of the glitches, it was a beautiful day. Total ride was 16 miles, with 3300 feet elevation gain.
Conclusion: We will definitely go back to this area at least once a month through fall. The wildflowers and views are unbeatable. Can’t wait to see what’s blooming next time. This place is like miles and miles of Albion Basin, the wildflower haven near Alta that attracts tourists from all over the world.