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.

Warm before Storm

With a storm in the forecast, we took advantage of a beautiful Saturday to ride Antelope Island.
We started at White Rocks Bay and rode a 27 mile loop around the island, with 3100 feet of altitude gain and loss.

We saw a small herd of bighorn sheep.  We knew the sheep live on the island, but we had not seen them before.

Salsa was on high alert, looking at those sheep. She was convinced that they were about to attack at any moment.

On the east side of the island, we passed rock formations that have been shaped and smoothed by thousands of years of erosion caused by wind, sand, and perhaps wave action from the lake. The rocks are at least 100 yards from the shoreline now.

The lake level has been as much as 20 feet higher in the records kept since the Mormon pioneers arrived in 1847.  The Great Salt Lake volume is down about 50% over 180 years.  Today, 50% of the water that used to feed the lake is now diverted for agricultural irrigation, of which about 10% is used for watering lawns and other human use. Some of the decrease may be due to global warming and less rainfall. In any case, one wonders what will be left in another 100 years.

The Sentry is the name of the mountain behind Steve and Salsa.  It does seem to be standing guard.  The snow-capped peaks in the distance are the Oquirrh Range, which runs N-S on the western side of the Salt Lake valley.

As we completed the loop on the other side of the island, we saw quite a few buffalo in small groups, grazing on the winter grass. When we were within sight of our trailer, 2 buffalo crossed the parking lot, weaving through cars and trailers.  They acted like the owned the place -- and they can feel pretty confident that no horse or human will challenge their rights.
It was a great day for all critters everywhere.

We chose a good day, because the next morning, this was the view out the kitchen window!

On Trails, High and Low

There's nothing Daisy loves better than a spring fishing trip on the Green River.  Look, she caught a trout!

A ride to the top of Split Mountain provides sensational views of the Green River  (about 3000 ft below) running through Dinosaur National Monument.

Craggy peaks loom over the split in the mountain.

Yesterday we rode in Tabby Mountain Wildlife Management Area.  The above photo looks down on Red Creek Reservoir.

The best thing about riding on Tabby is sighting the abundant elk and deer populations.

Yes, that's a golden eagle soaring over a scampering deer herd.

It's tough to get a good photo of a soaring eagle, especially while on horseback, but this time, we got one!  The white in his tail feathers indicates it is a subadult.

Tabby Mountain Wildlife

While riding on Tabby, a herd of perhaps a hundred elk was proceeding us up the mountain.  We weren't trying to follow them, but they seemed to be taking the same path.

Steve took a video of the elk herd while mounted on Boss, which makes the viewing a bit unsteady.  He says in the video that the date is April 28, but it's really taken on March 28. 

You may be able to spot the herd of deer on the near hill.  They, too, were heading away from us.   

When we're not riding, we spend time with the grandkids on the Wasatch front.  Here's Steve with our youngest grandson, enjoying a day at the park.

Spring Training

We see plenty of wildlife on Tabby Mountain WMA (Wildlife Management Area).  The area, about 100 square miles, is gated and closed to vehicular traffic from December 1 to May 1. 

We often see large herds of deer and elk on Tabby.  

Last week we saw a moose nibbling on gambel oak leaf buds.  He was on a hillside only about 100 feet away.  

He saw us but didn't seem to care.  

Ouray Wildlife Refuge is another wide open place to ride.  

The sandhill cranes are back along the Green River.  Between the squawking cranes and the Canada geese, silence is in short supply.

Best Friends

Have you seen the "Puppy Love" superbowl ad?  It's sappy and adorable, and way too cute to miss!  If this doesn't make you smile, check your pulse.

Seeing this reminded me of a six week old Daisy interacting with Boss.

 Seven years later, the trust and friendship remains.

Below is a photo of a bald eagle, hanging out in a cottonwood tree near the creek, looking for lunch.  Alas, the creek was frozen, so the fishing was poor. After a few hours, he moved on.  We've seen several bald eagles in the area this year.

Last week, we had a spring-like ride on Tabby Mountain.  

No snow, dry trails, and temps near 50 at 7000 feet.  This week, we're getting much-needed snow.  Back to winter!  Maybe next month the weather will cooperate for a trip to southern Utah.

Lamar River

Last week, we were back in Yellowstone.  Above are the meadows along Soda Butte Creek, with peaks of the Beartooth Range rising in the background. 

Steve practiced his fishing skills again, mostly along the Lamar River.

Quite a few 14-18 inch cutthroat trout succumbed to the siren call of his homemade dry flies. 

Since our last trip, he has been busily tying a supply of simply irresistible dry flies, the exact identity of which he is unwilling to reveal here.  (Hint:  not a hopper pattern.  And absolutely no night crawlers. Also, he insists that I report that he did not stoop to nymphing.)

As usual, he released all trout to be caught another day. The cutthroat left a swirl of water and a trail of silt behind him as he scooted off, stage right. 
Yellowstone fishing rules now require the release of all trout with any cutthroat markings.

Numerous pronghorn antelope graze in the Lamar Valley.  (The buildings in the background are the old Buffalo Ranch, now called the Yellowstone Institute.)

These graceful creatures will take off running sometimes, apparently just for the fun of it.  A couple of tourists, excited to share, told us these were elk.  Sadly, we had to disillusion them.  They seemed just as happy to have spotted a couple of pronghorns.

A group of common mergansers floated along the river.

Here's the osprey nest we saw last trip.  The young osprey have fledged, but we saw a couple of them flying back to the nest, probably checking to see if mom and dad had brought any snacks home lately.

Along Slough Creek, we spotted this badger peeking out of his burrow.

Look at that bull bison shamelessly goosing a cow right in front of all the tourists.  Why, some of them might have been impressionable children!  How rude.

This calf decided it was lunch time.  Neither he nor mom cared if they stopped traffic while he enjoyed a long drink. 

Along the Streams of Yellowstone

Much of our Yellowstone trip was spent fishing - well, Steve was fishing, not me.  Above, Steve brings in a fish on Slough Creek. 

I took pictures of the reflections,

the frogs (about 2 inches long),

the forest service cabin,

and the wagons bringing tourists back and forth from the Silver Tip Dude Ranch, located in Montana, just outside the park border.  The old Slough Creek wagon road is still used to bring supplies and tourists to the ranch.

Here's an 18 inch cutthroat trout that Steve caught on Soda Butte Creek in Lamar Valley. 

After showing it off, he carefully returned it to the stream in good condition.
I took pictures of sandhill cranes,

green-wing Teals,

Canada geese hanging out on a placid oxbow,

bison,

and pronghorn antelope.  The hills were hazy due to smoke from the fires much of the time, but we had a good experience anyway.