In between competitive events at the Moab Canyons Endurance Ride, we spent one day at a slower pace, adventuring. Above, Steve and Coco traverse the blackbrush desert.
We traveled past Navaho sandstone formations adorned with the bright yellow autumn leaves of single leaf ash.
Where the Green River carved a path 1000 feet below us, Coco and I looked down in awe. "Huh?" Coco was thinking. "I've jumped a few gullies, but do they really think I can jump this? Give me a break!"
Across the deep canyon, the peninsula of land is a point of the Spur, where we have ridden in previous years. The silted area on the inside of the oxbow is called Cottonwood Bottoms. You can see that some of the cottonwood trees, far, far below, have begun their autumn change. To the left of the oxboy, you can see Horsethief Trail, once used by outlaws, but now mostly a Jeep trail.
We encountered several unexpected pools of water, all very close to the overlook. These are called tanks, or potholes, or ephemeral pools. I like the latter name. It sounds more impressive. The horses didn't care what they were called, but they did enjoy a good long drink in each one.
This one had tall grass. Boss almost slipped off the sandstone into the pool as he stretched his neck to bite off every possible stem. He even stuck his nose underwater to get at more grass. It must've been pretty sweet stuff.
Another pool was especially deep, with vegetation around it.
The amazing thing about these pools was that they teemed with life.
In the above video, taken at the first pool, you can see fairy shrimp swimming around, and clam shrimp scuttling. These creatures lay eggs that are dormant when the pools dry up, then hatch when rain fills the pools. They have to mature and reproduce quickly, before the pools dry up again, or freeze during the winter months.
Fairy shrimp have a long fossil record, evolving over the last 500 million years. They are left over from the time when inland seas covered the Great Basin.
Fairy shrimp Anostraca with green eggs in egg sac
Clam Shrimp Conchostraca
This video, taken in the pool with the tall grass that Boss liked so much, shows a long tail tadpole shrimp Triops longicaudatus scurrying through the water.
"The longtail tadpole shrimp is considered a living fossil because its basic prehistoric morphology has changed little in the last 70 million years, exactly matching their ancient fossils. Triops longicaudatus is one of the oldest animal species still in existence." - Wikipedia With all of our desert riding, we had never seen any of these shrimp species before. There's always something new to be found if you look closely enough.
On the way back to camp, we stopped to let the boys munch some Indian rice grass. Coco seemed to want a little bit of loving.
'Twas a cool but beautiful day on the Green River, below Flaming Gorge Dam and above Little Hole.
Snow on the boardwalk never stops a fisherman determined to take advantage of the spring Baetis hatch.
Prepared with a #20 blue quill, about 1 size larger than the naturals, Steve and Daisy cast to a riser.
Fish on! "I'll bring it in," Daisy volunteers, her tense body pointing at the trout. "Just let me at it."
"I'm swimming as fast as I can! Which way did it go?"
"Ah, there it is. Can I touch it? Please? I'm sure it wants to play with me."
"It's so interesting and squirmy! I want it!"
Unfortunately for Daisy, no one kept the brown trout. Steve let it go to be caught another day. Unharmed from its brief time on the line, the trout immediately darted off into deep water.
We began and ended our Green River hike at Little Hole.
This spot was one of John Wesley Powell's campsites as he explored western river systems beginning in 1869. The Green River begins in the Wind River Range of Wyoming and eventually flows into the Colorado River in southern Utah near Moab.
tells all about Powell's 1869 trip, including his original journal entries.
Flaming Gorge Dam now controls the water flow, but the Green River's path still winds through narrow canyons with swift rapids (Canyon of Lodore, Desolation Canyon) and through many miles of wild and remote terrain.
To learn more of the fascinating history, natural history, and geology
of the Green River, read Ann Zwinger's Run, River, Run.
Wildlife is abundant along the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam.
Mergansers.
Mallards.
An osprey perched across the river. He was not an overly cooperative subject. In the second photo, his wings are raised. He's about to fly away. He swooped across the river several times. On one pass, he snatched a 10 inch trout. Too bad we weren't quick enough to get a picture of him lifting off with his dinner.
This rodent was about the size of a rat. Muskrat? Maybe. It's a good swimmer!
We came across a strange sight in the middle of the trail. Someone or something had killed a beaver.
I had never seen a tail close up. And the torn little paws made me sad. The pelt was gone.
One more species was on the river in greater numbers than usual. Can you identify these wild and crazy creatures?
A spring walk along the Green River below Flaming Gorge Dam is always enjoyable.
Daisy likes to swim,
or fetch,
or watch Steve rig up for fishing. She loves it when the fish splash.
Steve likes to stalk trout,
or beam over the handsome brown trout he brings in. Daisy really, really wants to lick the fish before Steve releases it back into the river.
Others float downstream on driftboats.
And I just like to walk along the water, under the looming cliffs, and listen for the unique descending trill of the canyon wren. This area is known as Red Canyon. The rocks are Precambrian quartzite of the Uinta Mountain Group, estimated to be about 1 billion years old.
To learn more of the fascinating history, natural history, and geology 
.
For more information on the geology of the area, see 
