Finding a Nest

 

On yesterday's ride in the foothills of Pole Creek Mountain, our first clue was the wood chips on the ground beneath a dead aspen snag.  Had someone been using a chain saw out here, at least a mile off any beaten path?

Then we saw a cavity in the tree.

A head poked out

and a bird few away.

We rigged up a makeshift ladder,

and Steve used his compass mirror and a light to look inside.  The dug out chamber was more than a foot deep, and dark as a cave. 

And then he set the camera on manual, adjusted the F-stop to 8, the shutter speed to 1000th of a second, and tucked the camera into the hole for a flash shot.

Yes, there were eggs!  7 of them.  *

As soon as we moved away from the tree, Mr. Red-Shafted Flicker was back.  He had eggs to tend until Mrs. Flicker arrived for her shift.
*The cavity nest is built by both male and female and takes 1-2 weeks to build.  The male does most of the excavating, but the female prefers to do the detailing work herself.  (Gee, that sounds a lot like how projects go at our house!) They prefer to build their own nest, but will sometimes refurbish and re-use an abandoned nest.

How Thirsty Are You?

The snow level is at about 9000 feet now, but we can still ride in the lower elevations. 

These are the rolling hills of lower Pole Creek Mountain where the Neola Fire swept across the landscape in 2007:

You can see the burned pinyon and juniper, with the bare spots now filled in with grass.  The earth has healed.

We didn't ride long because the temperature up there was in the 30's, and the wind picked up to about 10 mph.  Chilly!
We passed a couple of springs:

The sign on this one says "Colt Spring Trough No.l.  Water not tested for Culinary Use.  (Duh. Believe me, I was not tempted, although Steve insists that water coming directly out of the pipe that taps into the spring is probably fine.) Colt Spring is in Wild Horse Draw, which seems appropriate.

Here's the other spring, which is piped into a giant tire trough:

Snake John Cabin Spring also has the disclaimer that it's not tested for culinary use.  Daisy tested it.  She seemed to do okay.  Think we should go back and fill up our water bottles? 

We didn't see any sign of a cabin.  Snake John?  The name has a sinister ring. I assume the cabin owner wasn't the friendliest guy around. 

 More snow is predicted for the weekend.  By next week, this area may be covered in a foot of snow.

Ghost Pass

The West Fork of the Whiterocks trailhead, on the south side of the Uintas, is about 40 miles NE of our home in Roosevelt, Utah. We set out early one August morning.

The trail along the lakes was well-watered, and beautiful. We saw 3 people, all on horseback, in the course of the day. This was a huge crowd by our usual standards.

Mischief found this Forest Service sign a little confusing, but fortunately, a wise traveler has corrected the beaurocratic mistake.

This unnamed lake, one of many in the area, was the perfect reflection pool.

About 4 miles from the trailhead, we took off into unmarked territory. We were seeking a trail an old-timer had told us about, directly north of Cleveland Lake leading to an unnamed pass that was supposedly easier for horses (less rocky/steep) than the standard trail over Fox Queant Pass. Both passes lead into the High Uintas Wilderness Area.

We traveled through deep forest and marshy meadows, finding a few game trails, but no markers of any kind. Finally we came out of the forest and saw a pass. Squinting, we saw the ghost of a trail leading up the pass, still about a mile away. The "trail" was steep, and rocky, but no alternative presented itself. We led the horses as we followed it, because the footing was poor on the loose rock.

Soon Mischief and I needed a rest. After all, we were approaching 11,400 feet (3500 m), and the "trail" wasn't what anyone (except maybe Steve) would call an easy walk.

We finally "passed out", as Steve likes to call reaching the top of the pass. No one lost consciousness, fortunately. I gave my favorite steed a much deserved treat.
We looked down into Painter Basin (around 11,000 feet, 3400 m) and on toward the peaks that reach 13, 500 feet (4100 m). We could have admired the spectacular scenery all afternoon, but the sky had turned forbidding. One doesn't want to be caught in a high open place during a thunderstorm. On the way back, we had this view:
Only a few raindrops fell before we completed our 16 mile ride. I'm not sure this "new, improved" route has any advantage over the usual path over Fox Queant Pass, but we have at least satisfied our curiosity.

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Lightning Killed Bull

Would you believe that's the name of a spring?
Yes, here is the pond formed by Lightning Killed Bull Spring, and we can easily imagine what happened here just before the spring took on its name.
Just above the spring, we rode past a burned area, part of the Neola North Fire of 2 years ago.

Fireweed bloomed in the ashes. We also saw harebell, lupine, and numerous other flowers. We noticed some of the aspen looked unhealthy and seemed to be losing their leaves prematurely.

A fungus, Marssonina, causes the leaf spots, as far as I can tell from matching our pictures to ones posted by various state extension services. Apparently it doesn't kill the trees and is worse some years than others, depending on moisture.
As you can see, Boss is back in action, feeling good after 10 days off while his bruised sole healed.

Ahhh. It's great to be exploring on horseback once again under the generous Utah sky.

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Through A Horse's Ears

A view of the Uinta Mountains from Bennion Park (10,600 feet). This isn't your average city park. A vehicle can reach it by braving 10 miles of 4 wheel drive road. Or you can ride your horse up the dirt track, which is a lot more fun. No traffic to worry about. We rode for 6 hours and saw 2 vehicles. Elk and deer were far more plentiful!

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Beating the Moody Blues

The weatherman has predicted a 30-40% chance of rain every afternoon this week. We thought we might sneak in a high country ride by starting early. As we began a ride at 7800 feet, above the Uinta River on a road leading to Pole Creek Lake (7800 feet), the sky was still mostly blue.
We made good time, cantering much of the way along a not-too-rocky dirt road.

Our only stops were for the wildflowers.

We saw western wallflower, also known as prairie rocket,

western groundsel,

and skyrocket.

In Bennion Park, a long meadow at 10,300 feet, marsh marigolds bloomed in the snowmelt.

Hefty snowbanks remained in the trees.

We had seen one elk on the way up, and Daisy hunted for more. The territory looked perfect for them. They were probably hiding out, waiting for us to go away so they could return to their grazing on the rich spring grass.

By 11AM, the sky was looking gloomy, so the better part of valor suggested we start back.
When we reached the trailer, the clouds appeared ready to burst.
The first raindrops fell just as we loaded up and began our downhill drive.

We had hail, too.

but that didn't stop us from photographing the blooming chokecherries

and cliff rose along the way.

We rode sixteen lovely miles and didn't get wet. Now, that's good timing.

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Pole Creek Sink

With thunderstorm likelihood increasing with altitude for today, we opted for a relatively low ride starting at 7800 feet. We drove north from Neola, crossed the Lower Uinta Canal Bridge, and drove through Indian land until we crossed the Forest Service boundary. Just past there, we found a good pull-off for truck and trailer. Lupine and penstemon have turned the ground blue at that altitude, with the predominant yellow flowers of a few weeks ago fading away.
Our destination was Pole Creek Sink. We rode mostly on the road, giving Daisy a swim and the horses a drink when we first crossed Pole Creek after about 3 miles. The ride went through the Neola fire burn area, although the burned spots are patchy. Where the trees are blackened and dead, the grass is lush with wildflowers and new life. Grass grew over 2 feet high, columbines were in bloom, and we saw nice displays of lupine, mountain bluebells, and a whole area covered with western bistort.
We also noticed areas among the aspens where the ground was covered with what looked like cotton. We assume this cotton-like substance contains aspen seeds.
The sink was amazing. A couple of caves were above the water level, apparently where water used to go through when the level was higher. Now there is a deep pool into which much of the water flows for a tour underground. Above the sink, 3 branches of the creek cascade downward, joining as they enter the sink.
On the way back, we took a side path up Big Bend Hollow, adding a few hundred foot climb to the ride. The sky was turning progressively darker, with lightning and thunder in the distance.
Instead of following the road home, we rode mostly off the beaten path in the cover of aspen trees, where we found a series of beaver ponds we had missed on the way up. The creek (apparently fed to aboveground life again by springs below the sink) slowed as it went through these pools. One of a beaver pond’s functions is to hold the water so it can soak into the ground, nourishing the adjacent trees and flora.
We passed a campfire ring where campers had neatly thrown their beer cans and used shotgun shells, and another where campers had emptied the ring, throwing the empty glass cans and bottles outside the ring. Perhaps both groups were just trying to be environmentally correct. the first ones didn't leave their trash lying around. The second group thought leaving stuff in the campfire ring was tacky, so they just threw it out. Uhmm, okay. I guess both are acceptable in redneck camping etiquette.
In spite of the ominous-looking sky, we only felt a few raindrops.
We found a few thistle plants near the trailer for a special treat. Mischief and Boss bare their teeth to avoid the pricking their lips and just nip off the flowers. Strangely enough, they seem to favor thistle blooms, even over grass.
The ride was an easy 8.5 miles, about 1200 feet elevation gain.