Thunder Mountain

Thunder Mountain is a popular bike and horseback riding trail in Red Canyon.

It has many beautiful red-orange rock formation,

and pinnacles similar to those found in Bryce Canyon National Park.
Although it's dry land with relatively sparse vegetation, a lot of tree varieties grow there.

Limber Pine

Bristlecone Pine

Besides limber and bristlecone pines that grow on dry, windy passes at about 8000 feet, there are also Ponderosa and pinyon pine.

This Gray Jay, also known as a Camp Robber Jay, is resting on a limber pine in a high pass.  These birds are known for hovering around camps, looking for crumbs, sometimes snatching them right out of a person's hand.

In a spot with hitching rails, designed for riders to take a break, we found this tourist outhouse.  The lack of door seems a bit inconvenient.

The great views made our 9 mile round trip well worth the effort.  

Red Canyon Trail

In mid-May, we made a 2 day trip down to Red Canyon, near Bryce Canyon National Park, just in time to see new leaves on the aspens.

Almost a trail

Steve had a new trail mapped out.  It was clear on the topo maps, but mostly hidden by trees on Google Earth, so we weren't sure how it would go.  Much of the trail was invisible, but as long as the forest undergrowth was clear, we were able to go in the right direction.

We finally climbed above the forest and reached a plateau.

Up high, the few trees grew sideways, a sign of a persistent wind.  From the plateau we headed toward Casto Butte, then found a forest trail traveling around it and down the other side.

There were a few obstacles that required some workarounds.

Judd Spring

The horses were glad to reach Judd Spring for a cool drink.

We encountered a few spots where the trail was blocked, but we were able to find a way around.  

Looking back after passing all the timber and reaching a civilized two-track, we could see Casto Butte in the distance.  We had traveled up one side, around it, and down the other side for about a 20 mile ride.

Corner Canyon

There are several Corner Canyon trailheads within a few miles of our house.  We go there for a training ride along upper Corner Canyon road, about 12 miles and 2400 feet of elevation gain.
You can see the "road" above. It's rutted and rocky in places and would be challenging for a 4 wheeler.  We've never seen a vehicle up there, although we usually see bikers and sometimes hikers.

At first the horses were scared of bikes, but they have adapted to a more urban environment and all that goes with trails near the city.

At the upper end of our ride, we looked out across the mountain vista and saw some white dots. 

With the camera zoom, a small herd of mountain goats became visible.  

Closer still, and you can see the goat's horns.

Salsa is sporting her new saddle as she looks out over the scenery.

Behind Steve and Salsa is the 11000 ft Box Elder Peak, still snow-covered down to about 9000 feet.

Spring in February?

2500 feet above our trailhead in Corner Canyon

Even though I haven't been posting, we haven't stopped riding.  We rode in the neighborhood and in Dimple Dell through most of the winter.  Steve has a new horse, Salsa, shown above. Salsa is wearing Easyboot Gloves, which are like running boots for a horse.

Mt. Timpanogas in the background

For the past couple of weeks, we've been riding Corner Canyon, gradually increasing our altitude as the snow melts.  As of today, the trails are snow-free up to 6900 feet on the southwest facing slopes.  That allows us to make a 12 mile round trip with a total altitude gain and loss of about 2500 feet.  A fine workout!

Utah Lake in background

It has been a great winter for riding😊, but maybe not so great for skiing. 😕

Zazo in Training

We have a new horse, a 6 year old Arab.  He's still in the learning and conditioning phase.

He's coming along well.  At the Strawberry Fields Endurance Ride, he completed 25 mile events two days in a row, no problem.  He'll be ready for 50 mile events soon.  He's a tall boy, so he'll be Steve's ride.

Sugar also completed 25's at Strawberry.  She loves to go, and she's already proven she can do 50 mile events.

While training on a mountain near home, we saw this rare white bitterroot.  There were only a few of them in a big meadow at about 8000 feet.

In the early spring, we saw a lot of Balsamroot, with their bright yellow flowers.

A week ago, Zazo discovered chicory in bloom.  He liked it.

On the Yellow Fork trail, an animal hid in the brush.  Can you spot her?

On a trail near Woodland, Utah, we found  the world's most pitiful excuse for a gate, shown above.  The feed bags are supposed to be a warning that wire is present, I presume.  The yellow sign says "Please close the gate".  The word "gate" must be someone's idea of a joke.

The mountains north of Strawberry Reservoir are at their wildflower peak in late July.  We took a lot of photos there.

With Zazo coming on board, we had to find places for Boss and Coco, who are both in the 18 to 20 year range, a little old for endurance, but still a good age for 4-H or general trail riding. Fortunately, we were able to find good homes for both of them.  Mischief is 27 now and doing great for his age.  We hope he'll be giving rides to the grandchildren for many years to come.

Almost Spring in the Grand Canyon

Steve wanted to ride along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon before the summer heat.  Our trip on May 4-6 may have jumped the gun a little.  Since the road from Jacob Lake to the North Rim is closed until May 15, we had to enter by back roads, which still had both snow and some fallen timber blocking the way. 

Steve was prepared with his chain saw, so that took care of clearing the roads of trees, but we did have to stop earlier than planned due to snow. We camped about 3 miles from the Grand Canyon border.  From there, we rode along a dirt roadway through the forested Kaibab Plateau. 

The park entrance, above, was blocked by a gate to prevent cars from entering.  Horses are allowed in at any time of year, and going around the gate was no problem. 

We encountered a lot of snow and more fallen logs, but most obstacles were easy to go over or bypass. 

The horses were able to walk on top of the compacted snow in the morning.  By the afternoon, they often sunk into the snowbanks up to their knees. 

We saw several Kaibab squirrels scampering in the trees beside the road.  The silhouette of one is shown in the photo above.  They have an all-white tail, cute little ear tufts, and live only on the Kaibab Plateau on the North Rim, in an area of about 20 by 40 square miles.  They are a sub-species of the Abert squirrels found on the South Rim, which are similar but do not have the distinctive tail.  The Kaibab squirrels became isolated on the Plateau after the last Ice Age.  This squirrel is uniquely adapted to living in the Ponderosa pine forest, since its most significant food source is the seeds within the Ponderosa pine cones. 

The Ponderosas are huge trees, as you can see in comparison to Steve and Sugar standing beneath one (I inadvertently cut off the top!)  The tallest one recorded is 235 feet in height.

We passed by this little waterfall below Kanabownits Spring,

then stopped to give the horses a grass and water break at a pool downstream.  The aspen trees in the background have not leafed out yet, but much of the grass is already green.  This is at about 7400 feet.

The above viewpoint looks into Crystal Amphitheatre. 

Nearby, a big yucca plant grows amongst the sage and pinon pine.

We rode to Point Sublime, 18 miles from our campsite, a 36 mile ride round trip.  The view was well worth the travel. This is one of two places Wesley Powell, early canyon explorer, took landscape artist Thomas Moran to paint the canyon.  He presented a composite of the views in his famous painting, "Grand Canyon of the Colorado".

Right on the rim, this claret cup cactus displayed its beauty.

5000 feet below and 5 miles distant, one can see Crystal Creek Rapids, one of the most challenging rapids for summertime Colorado River rafters.

On the horizon, well past the canyon, we spotted the San Francisco Mountains located north of Flagstaff, AZ and 70 miles from this viewpoint.  Seeing them is the hallmark of an exceptionally clear day. 
On the way back to camp, we trotted up on a small bison herd.  All but one ran away.  One young one was lying in the road.  We thought he must be sick or injured.  We tried to tippy-hoof past him, since steep banks and forest made a circuitous route impossible.  To our surprise, causing the horses to nearly jump out of their hides, the lone bison leaped to his feet and ran away as soon as we had cleared him by a few feet.  Fortunately, he had no interest in charging us.  The bison in the Kaibab are really beefalo, heavily interbred with cattle, so they are neither as large nor as wild as the bison in Yellowstone. Still, that was a bit closer encounter than was comfortable. 

On the way home the next day, we stopped to let the horses stretch their legs on a byway marked as the Old Spanish Trail.  The spot was so lovely, it deserved a photo. The horses enjoyed a few extra minutes snacking on rich grass and dandelions.