Happy Canyon

As regular readers may have suspected, we've been back to the San Rafael Desert once again. 

 As soon as we arrived, we set out for a ride across Twin Corral Flats, shown above. The remains of one of the old corrals is in the foreground. The first two photos in this post are a little blurry (doggone it, the dial on the camera was on the wrong setting, and I didn't put it there, I swear!) but maybe the out-of-focus aura shows some of the magic of the scenes (hope so, because there's nothing I can do about it now.)

This is looking into Happy Canyon, which drains into the Dirty Devil, a tributary of the Colorado River.  I wish I knew the Happy Canyon name origin, but I have no idea.  Maybe it's happy because lots of cattle thrived there, since it has good water and grass?  Maybe it's because the canyon had a healthy herd of wild horses, and a cowboy could catch himself a good young colt there - a happy event, I'm sure. Or because outlaws went through it for a great and happy escape with their rustled/stolen goods?  Since no one really knows, your guess is as good as mine.

Again, Happy Canyon is in the distance, with the shot taken from a different point on the rim, and after I'd fixed the camera setting.
We rode about 12 miles across the desert that day.  Daisy ran with us, but I didn't get her in a photo.  She was a little too hot to chase the two huge jackrabbits we spotted.

As we set up camp and got the animals fed and settled, sunset provided another of the desert's mystical views.

Strawberry Fields Endurance

We've wanted to compete in the Strawberry Fields Forever Endurance Ride ever since we heard about it 5 years ago.  Last weekend, we finally did it.  We rode in a 25 mile event, which is wimpy compared to the 50 milers, but we felt pretty good about finishing anyway.  Here we are at the mid-ride vet check.  The trails were well chosen, and the event was very well organized.  And the horses, mostly Arabs, were beautiful.  

Another day, we had a lazy ride in the Cedars.  Well, Mischief and I were lazy.  Steve and Coco were way ahead.  Here, Steve shows off by acting like he had time for a nap while waiting for us.  So not true!

Today, we went back to the area north of Strawberry Reservoir to check out some new trails.  We rode on a ridge with beautiful views.  The wind was blowing almost hard enough to unseat us, but we managed to stay in the saddle and even keep our hats from skittering away.

We looked down on a valley through which the Little West Fork of the Duchesne runs.  We have riden there many times.

The wildflowers are just getting started, and may be a little stunted this year due to a poor snow and rainfall, but the butterflies are enjoying the ones that are out.  These butterflies seem to hang out in groups.  They're feeding on cow parsnip, a member of the carrot family.

A big fire 50 miles south of us has been making the air smoky, which paints the sunsets in yellow and orange.  The "Church Camp" fire, as it is called, has burned some summer cabins, but fortunately no year round houses or people are at risk.  Several other fires are burning in Utah, and some folks have lost their homes.  All over the west, fires are burning out of control from the effects of dry vegetation plus lots of heat and wind.

Daisy's First Fish

Steve bought a tribal fishing license today and we took a little jaunt to Rock Creek.
We identified a black hawthorn bush/tree, thorns and all. I noticed it when it snagged me as I got out of the truck. Steve caught a few brown trout. Daisy learned what fish are. After exploring a couple of catches, she wasn’t that interested.

Back at home, we chilled out and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.