Fall Colors

A week ago, the first aspen leaves were turning at 9000 feet. 

Now, a few groves have changed completely. 

Most are bright gold, but some have a reddish tint.

Steve and Boss ride through sage, past an old corral.  The willows along an aptly named Willow Creek are below them.  Aspens, some gold and others still green, decorate the hills above.

Along Willow Creek, only a few purple thistle still bloom.

Yellow Daisy stands beside a yellow serviceberry bush, with a big gray hornet's nest in its branches.  We rode right past that nest.  It's low enough to be a real hazard. Fortunately, it doesn't appear to be active. Note Daisy's orange neckerchief.  We all wear orange from mid-August until the snow falls.  We want the hunters to see us, even if we don't see them!

A Prickly Treat

Coco loves thistle. 

Notice how he bares his teeth so his lips won't touch the prickles!  Those flowers must taste really good to be worth the effort.

Hill and Dale

A new favorite ride is a loop from the Strawberry River turnoff, following Willow Creek, then Co-op Creek, with cross country game trails in between. 

We see plenty of healthy aspen groves with a mix of old and new trees. The horses enjoy the tall grass that grows in the groves.

Sometimes they bare their teeth to avoid the prickles and bite off a thistle flower for dessert.

We have views of Strawberry Reservoir,

and an occasional glimpse of Timpanogas in the Wasatch Range.

The lush valley shown above was formed from a series of silted-in beaver dams. 

Along Co-op Creek, many beaver dams remain active.  This beaver lodge has fresh sticks on top with greenery still intact.  The beaver have been busy.

Bringing In the Cows

Last Thursday, we enjoyed one more day on the slopes of Currant Creek Peak. 

I rode Boss, and Steve rode Coco.  Boss's ears pricked when he saw cows, especially distant cows on the hillside that he thought might be ... (oh, no!)  ... sheep: 

Coco didn't mind the cows at all, and Boss was fine with them once he was sure they were, indeed, cows. 

This cow and calf were giving us the once-over: 

Maybe they were worried that we were Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, or their human-like monster of choice.

We rode down into Willow Creek Canyon and noted that there aren't many willows growing along the creek any more:

The area has been/is overgrazed.  An exclosure, placed by the forest service, shows that an area without grazing grows willows just fine:

The aspens were still lovely:

Back at the trailhead, we saw an abundance of campers moving in for hunting:

The ranchers had been hard at work bringing the cows in off the range, putting them in corrals until they were all gathered and could be transported to lower altitude grazing: 

Good idea.  Otherwise, with so many hunters roaming the hills, those cows might be mistaken for deer or elk!

A Sheepish Boss

At the beginning of our ride, we have distant views of the Wasatch Range.  Notice how fresh and alert Daisy looks.  She knows big excitement is coming.

We start riding down into Buffalo Canyon: 

At the lower reaches, we travel along a trail with bike tracks.  We don't see any bikers, but we do see a bow hunter, which makes me glad I am wearing orange. 

I am riding Boss, giving Mischief a rest. 
We encounter a herd of sheep:

Notice how Daisy is crouched down, trying to sneak up on them.  You may be able to see a mounted sheepherder on the left side of the photo.  Steve talks to two of the herders, communicating through his limited Spanish and their limited English.  The herders are from Peru. 

Boss, unfortunately, is terrified of sheep.  Yes, I know this makes no sense.  He's a big strong horse, but the baaa-ing turns him into a nervous wreck.  Or maybe it's the sheep scent that drives him nutty.  Whatever the reason, it is a challenge to ride him through the sheep and on down the trail to Willow Creek: 

This beaver dam appears to be active.  We ride down the creek until we came to some nice pools.

There, Steve wants to fish.  We get off and tie the horses for safekeeping, but about that time a dozen or so sheep appear on the mountainside and begin their baaa-ing routine. 
Boss is not a happy camper.  He pulls hard on his rope and dances around the trees.  When he can't escape, he hides in the brush as well as he can.  The sheep don't attack him.  I don't think they even notice him. 

Steve, undeterred, catches a few cutthroat trout.  This trout and the others in the stream are paler than most cutthroats we see.  Maybe they've evolved that way because the stream bottom is very light-colored in Willow Creek.

The aspens are golden in some places, and green in others:

We will have to wait another week or so for the maximum gold in the mountains.