Canyon Country Burros

The wild beauty of the San Rafael Desert never grows old.  This view of the Henry Mountains and red rock formations is a favorite.

On our first afternoon ride in Canyon Country, Daisy meets this wild fellow.  He hee-haws at her vigorously and gives us the evil eye.
That's our first burro sighting, but not the last.

 A handsome burro pair gawks at us from a meadow.

 Later, and miles farther from camp, we spot this trio, one of which appears to be a youngster.

 This is our camp, with Steve and the horses settling in.

 Daisy settles in, too.  She enjoys her Dinty Moore beef stew.  (She gets the can to lick after we eat most of it for our supper.)
At night, we hear coyotes howl.  Toward morning, we hear the burros hee-hawing loudly and close by, perhaps urging us to come out and explore.

And the next day, that's what we do.
To be continued...

Winter Rides

For the last couple of months, we've been riding in Dimple Dell Nature Park.  A 200 foot deep gulch defines the center of the park, which runs east-west for about 8 miles.  It's easily accessible from our house, with no trailering required.  All winter long, even with a foot of snow, the trails are easily followed.

Above is a view from one of the trails, facing east toward the Wasatch Mountain range.

Here's a view from a Dimple Dell trail facing west, toward the Oquirrh Mountains.

Up along the canyon rim, a barked trail has great footing in all weather conditions, as well as beautiful views.

About midway down nto the gulch, another level of trails is mostly sandy.  At the lowest level, Dry Creek flows intermittently, and many trees provide good shade in summer.

 Above is a Cooper's hawk perched above the creek trail.

A family of Great Horned Owls live near a spring that feeds into the dry creek bed.  This wise old fellow has his eyes closed, trying to get his afternoon nap.

 He seems completely undisturbed by my interest and attempt at photography.
Bikers and hikers frequent these trails, as well as quite a few horseback riders.  In winter, it's not unusual to see cross country skiers and sledders on the trail as well.  A Native American artifact site was discovered last year as the gas company did some pipeline work across the gulch.  Apparently even our distant predecessors enjoyed this area.

Dimple Dell is a unique treasure.  We're lucky that the citizens who lived here when the city of Sandy was first developed had the good sense to preserve this park in its natural state.