Our second day in the San Rafael Desert began with golden light shining on a sturdy corral, our horses' accommodations for the night.
An antelope trotted past on a nearby hillside.
After alfalfa cubes and oats for the horses, oatmeal and hot chocolate for the humans, and a scoop of dog food for Daisy, we drove to Granary Springs.
There, we saddled up and rode to Red Nub. Red Nub is aptly named, being red and kind of short and rounded. Names in the area came from cowboys or outlaws and tend to be simple and descriptive. Long Draw is ... well, long. Deadman Hill is where an unfortunate horse thief died of acute lead poisoning. Big Spring is big, at least for that part of the country. North Spring is to the north. Etc.
We headed across the red desert sand on an old ghost road, barely visible as a path through the pinyon-junipers.
As we reached Horseshoe Canyon, we had a view of the Henry Mountains rising above sandstone domes. The country is dry, rugged, and forbidding, but the amazing views keep us coming back year after year.
