The Big 4-0!

Thursday September 13 2012

There are few dates during the year that are as momentous as the threshold just crossed: after a loooooong summer, the temperature finally fell below 40° at night. (39° bottom left was the low!)

I recently marked a few other exciting historic dates on my Owyhee calendar: the day it finally didn't reach 90° (August 30); the night it fell below 50° (September 2), the first yellow leaf sighting (!!)(September 7), and last night, the night it fell below the Big 4-0 degrees.

It was another long and brutally hot (my opinion) Owyhee summer, with too much sweat, too much suffering (whine!), too many flies, too many night bugs, too many rattlesnakes… but now there is hope.

Blankets can be piled on the bed to be burrowed under at night. Fleece can be unpacked. Gloves might even be worn on an early morning ride.

The sun has started its magical golden slant, with that tint and angle you only get in the fall and early winter in the northwest. 

I know for sure that once again, coffee will soon steam from its cup in the mornings, coats will grow thicker and longer, steam will curl out of nostrils… and the Ice Princess will be thrilled.

We've turned the corner. My next momentous occasions will be the Big 2-0, and the Big "S" word, but I won't scare you winter weenies with that just yet!

Color

Sunday November 13 2011

It's one of the best treats of autumn - besides the deliciously welcome cool weather: the fall colors that festoon the earth with otherworldly colors.

In the Owyhee desert, the canyons are usually embellished with bright yellow cottonwood trees and maroon quailbush. This year, though, the fall colors have been drab. Half the trees' leaves turned brown before fall ever got here. The colors that did show were short-lived. Maybe it was the abundant rain that fell in the spring and early summer, and the excess growth that couldn't be sustained in the late summer and fall. (My theory, anyway).

So, for a brief intoxicating immersion of autumn, I migrated further northwest, where the rain falls, the moss grows thick, and the colors are in full stunning swing.

City of Rocks: Gold in Them Thar Hills

Monday October 24 2011

There's just something special about riding through Gold.

Gold means the air is crisp and cool. Gold means the light is soft and angled, which only accentuates Nature's artwork. 

Golden aspen leaves on the trees quake and shimmer a welcoming path through the forest.



Fallen golden leaves carpet the paths underfoot,


and sprinkle the creeks with golden glitter.


We had more trails to scout in the City of Rocks National Reserve, where Steph is putting on a 4-day endurance ride next year. Conveniently, it was the peak of the turning of the aspens.

15 miles on Friday led us along paths of gold, through City of Rocks, climbing above the Circle Creek valley


and into the lower reaches of the Albion Mountains. Snow patches from the early winter snowstorm that moved through the Northwest on October 5-6 still basked on sun-sheltered crags to the north, and it had only recently melted in the fir forest we climbed to.

Woman and beast alike savored the scenic ride through the Gold of Autumn.

[slide show here]

Golden

Saturday October 23 2010

It's that time in Owyhee: the leaves are transforming to gold, the autumn sun lavishes its golden beams on the horses.

The Perfect Taste of Fall

Monday October 26 2009

It's a national pastime, isn't it? Going out for a drive to see the fall colors.

Here in Owyhee, to get your taste of fall, saddle up your beloved horse on the perfect October autumn day, and take a ride.

Up on the flats toward the Owyhee mountains;

down into Pickett Creek canyon where the cottonwoods are golden and the quail bush shouts in red, crimson, scarlet, maroon, sangria, burnt orange, rust.

Your horse cruises along, stops to pick at new green grass from last month's rainstorm; cool autumn breezes hinting of winter finger through your hair and tickle your nose.

Nature sightseeing on a perfect cool fall day in a beautiful country on a most beautiful horse (and, first post-busted-rib ride) - the perfect taste of fall.