Sam's Mesa

On our trip to southern Utah, we explored Sam's Mesa.  The deep gorge to the left is Happy Canyon.  A branch of the Dirty Devil River flows through there.  Sam's Mesa is the flat tabletop land above the canyon.

Steve and Boss are standing at a fence gap.  At this choke point,10 posts and 30 feet of barbed wire can close the only entry to Sam's Mesa.  It's hard to appreciate in the photo, but on either side of the road, steep drop offs prevent taking an alternate route. 

Ahead of Steve, nature and time have carved deep valleys between the sandstone knolls. 

Here is some sandstone carving up close.  Steve is studying his GPS to determine our next move.  Daisy is checking out a possible bunny trail.

We found snow in the shadows.  Daisy enjoyed rolling in it.  The horses didn't have a watering hole along the trail, so they ate a little snow to cool off after a gallop.  The days were mild, in the 40's, and the nights were in the upper 20's.  Not bad for January! 
This was only the first afternoon's ride.  More will follow...

Ringing in the New

We had a fine holiday season,

sharing gifts,

listening to music,

partying with food and drink,

wrestling,

doing a little riding,

and a whole lot of relaxing. 
We hope all of you had a good Christmas and are ready for work and play in 2012! 
No snow here, and the weather is relatively mild.  We're off to southern Utah for a few days on the trails.