French Hollow

We began at the French Hollow trailhead (8400 ft) south of Strawberry Reservoir.  The path travels through budding aspen, past an old trough,

and ends up at Willow Creek.  Instead of following the creek, as we have before, we found a new trail that heads up to Willow Creek Ridge (about 10,000 ft) 
We saw some interesting insects:

western swallowtails

Western tailed Blue

Is it a fly or a bee?

Primrose, wild strawberry, violets, and larkspur were blooming along the way.

evening primrose

wild strawberry

Daisy liked taking a dip below a series of cascades. 

A few hundred feet higher, she found patches of snow to cool her belly.

Someone has done a lot of clearing on the forest path, which made the route easy.  When we reached open terrain near the ridge, we spotted a coyote scampering away.
Up top, the views were magnificent in every direction.  

View toward the Wasatch Range, 40 miles away

View of Strawberry Reservoir and the snow-covered Uintas, 60 miles away

A lot of trails connect to this one, so we will certainly return to explore other possibilities.

Spring in the High Country

Spring has arrived, even in the mountains.  The aspens are just beginning to leaf out at 9000 feet. 

The north facing slopes still have some snow, but it's fading fast. 

We ride to the top of Coyote Ridge, at nearly 10,000 ft. 

A dirt road travels along the crest. We follow it for a while to take in the Uinta views. 

A pair of kestrels perch in a tree.  When we approach for a closer photo, they fly away.

A white-crowned sparrow stays put for the camera. 

We also see a coyote bound through the sage.  A photo attempt is unsuccessful.
Daisy tries to keep up with a half dozen elk that run ahead of us, but elk are notoriously uncooperative.  A couple of sandhill cranes are hanging out near some old beaver dams.  They lift off as we approach.