Golden Cottonwoods

We ride toward the painted hills on the rim of Diamond Plateau, 2500 feet above our starting point on the Green River in Dinosaur National Monument.

Cottonwood gold makes water sources easy to find this time of year.  In this case, the strip of gold grows along an aptly named Cottonwood Springs.

Coco enjoys his water, even when there's not much to be had.

At Boone Springs, he greedily slurps his fill from an old cow trough.

Mature deer don't grow very big in this dry country, judging by the size of these antlers.

A photo stitch taken from an overlook shows the Green River meandering through Island Park.  This two square mile horseshoe shaped curve of the river was first named by the Wesley Powell Expedition that passed through this area in the late 1860's.  Island Park is a popular launch location for rafters beginning a float through Split Mountain.
Poor Daisy had to stay home.  No dogs are allowed in the National Monument, more's the pity.

Spring on Split Mountain

Split Mountain, located in Dinosaur National Monument, makes a great spring ride. 
The above photo stitch marks the trailhead and the mountaintop.  Round trip, it's about 12 miles and 2200 feet altitude gain and loss. 

The horses had a nice grass break about halfway up. 

This twin bladderpod (physaria, of the mustard family)  camouflaged a butterfly so well that we almost missed it. 

Phlox was in bloom,

and a few barrel cactus sported their yellow flowers.

A couple of horned lizards scurried through the junipers.  We assumed they were a couple contemplating a spring fling.  Females are larger than the males in this species.

A lot of these pesky critters buzzed around us and sucked a little blood whenever they had a chance.  Unfortunately, we weren't expecting flies and didn't spray the horses beforehand.

At the top of Split Mountain, we paused to take in the panorama of Green River's path through a deep gorge directly below the peak to its lazy bends in the basin beyond.

On the way down, the expansive view encompasses the desert floor,  red hills, and the snow-covered Uinta Mountains, about 40 miles away.
 Daisy report: No dogs allowed in the monument :(  And since there was no water on the ride, she couldn't have made the distance anyway.

Blair Spring Trail

Leaving from the Island Park Road near Blair Draw, we rode the horses north toward Blair Spring, which flows from the ground near the Diamond Rim (northeast of Vernal).  We followed an old jeep trail most of the way.

I really liked the panorama view of the gold-dusted hills. 

Looking south, you can see through Horse Canyon to the opposite side of Split Mountain.

The wildflowers were blooming at 6000 feet. 

Camping Relaxation

Ah, there's nothing like morning at camp. 

A deer skull provides the ultimate treat.

Coco roams free on the grassland.  (He won't go far without Boss.)

Boss likes to wander, so we secure him with a tether. 

We sometimes tie him to a log, but none were available, so Steve had the brilliant idea to use his Handyman Jack!  (Here it is standing up, but we laid it down after the photo so it wouldn't fall on anyone.)  The Handyman is heavy. 
Boss can haul it a few inches at a time, but he won't be taking any freedom runs dragging that piece of steel.

First Light

The best thing about trailer camping between rides is the morning light.
The horses, tied on a highline, get restless just before dawn. 

The birds start to sing.  And we climb out of our gooseneck bed to see the sunrise.

Some days the clouds reflect more color, but always it's glorious.

On the mountains, light inches down from the peaks. 

In the canyons, dusk gives way to morning.

Boone Spring

We left the Diamond Rim Road (about 7300 ft) following an old trail toward Boone Spring.  The notch in the mountain in the distance is Split Mountain.  We have 10 miles to go to reach the trailer, near the base of those distant mountains. 

Boone Spring is at 6900 ft.  Ranchers have troughed the spring, which was convenient for us.  You can see the trickle of spring water coming into the tank through a pipe.  This represents a big spring for arid country.
Daisy asked permission to enter the tank.

Then she splashed in for a swim.  The photo caught her bow wake as she plopped into the water.

Everyone enjoyed a good long drink. 
The loop ride ended up being 30 miles and a whopping 6000 feet of elevation gain and loss, because of all the ups and downs in the canyons.  We were glad to see the trailer after 6.5 hours of riding time.

Boone Ridge Loop

The BLM land near Dinosaur National Monument is a treasure trove of two-tracks and game trails, just waiting for the intrepid explorer.  We started out on the Wagon Road Bench and road north on a sandy two track. 

We wound our way through several deep sandstone canyons,

going over Boone Ridge and through Graveyard Draw. 

We rode around the White Sage Flats by way of these red hills. 

Finally we reached the Diamond Rim Road, a high and rugged track that has views in all directions.

We continued along the Diamond Rim for several miles.  Much to Daisy's delight, we found some snow at about 7300 feet elevation.  Boss and Coco enjoyed a horsey snow cone before we started downhill for the second half of the loop.  We had already gone 20 miles that day, and had 10 more to go!

Split Mountain Views

Split Mountain is located within Dinosaur National Monument near Vernal, Utah.  We ride to the top (about 7600 feet) at least once every year. 

Google Earth provides a view of our trail (in blue).  As you can see, the mountain is split by the Green River passing through. 

The photo above, taken from the top, looks down on the river as it passes through the split. 

We ran into snow patches in the Ponderosa pine forest that starts a few hundred feet from the summit.  We forged ahead.

To the northwest, the Uintas loomed.

The view to the northeast looks down on the meandering path of the Green River after it passes through the mountain and into the Uinta Basin. 

Here's a panorama of the scene to the east, looking toward the mountains of Colorado. 
We had a great ride, about 14 miles with 2700 feet of elevation gain and loss, completed in about 2.5 hours of working time.  We were moving fast, but the horses are in great condition and didn't seem to mind.  Daisy had to stay home, poor girl.  No dogs are allowed in the Monument.

Boone Spring

Sometimes more than one ride is required to find the perfect route, and such was the case with our transit to the top of Boone Ridge and on to Boone Spring. 

As you can see, our "trail" went around and through some rugged country:

Last trip, we never made it to the spring because we ran into a cliff band, had to resort to Plan B, then ran out of time.  

This time, we tried a different route and also ran into a cliff band.  We found a way around it, but while we were leading Boss and Coco over hill and dale, Coco escaped and ran off for a couple of hundred yards. That provided some excitement. 
He was easily recaptured, and the rest of our journey went more or less according to plan. (I won't say which plan.  Not A or B.) 
The area is remote and a bit desolate, so we were surprised to find that hunters had been there at some time in the past, leaving behind what looked like 2 deer skulls with the horns sawed off:

We even saw a small herd of elk along the way. If you enlarge the photo, maybe you can see them, too:

Yes, we made it to the spring:

This fenced off area is probably where Boone Spring originates, although no water comes to the surface there:

Springs are often enclosed, I assume to prevent cows from trampling the water source.  In this case, someone must have tapped into the water flow below ground and directed it into this tank: 

Boone Springs is at just under 7000 feet, a little low for much snow accumulation at this time of year. The day was cool, but that didn't stop Daisy from taking a dip in the tank, which also provided the horses with a drink.

All the animals were refreshed for the ride back:

Upon our return, the sun shone on the limestone cliffs on the south side of the Green River: 

I doubt we'll be exploring that side unless we can teach the horses to use technical climbing gear!