Another blazing blue sky desert day called us to venture out to see what we could see.
There is water in the desert and it gleams in the sun.
This is the Salt River. It is the largest tributary of the Gila River.
It is beautiful out here. The colors change as the sun glides across the sky. It almost seems too perfect to be real.
It is January but the colors speak of fall.
The foliage is orangish-gold with touches of green.
The Salt River is about 200 miles long.
It is formed by the confluence of the White River and the Black River in the White Mountains north and east of Phoenix.
It is fed by perennial streams that start as springs along the Mogollon Rim and in the White Mountains. The Salt River runs year round until it gets to the Granite Reef Diversion Dam near Mesa. Then the water is diverted to the Arizona and South Canals serving metropolitan Phoenix with irrigation and drinking water. When you cross the Salt River in the Phoenix valley it is always dry unless there has just been a downpour of rain.
Our reason for exploring the area was twofold. One, to see it's beauty. Two, to search for wild horses.
The setting sun reflecting off the rugged cliffs turned them golden.
We drove the Bush Highway and took all the side roads we could find to see if we could locate a herd.
They say there are approximately 80 to 100 wild horses living near the Salt River.
We see a great deal of evidence ( warm & smelly) that the horses have been there recently.
The horses have been the subject of a great deal of controversy in the Valley. Apparently the US Forest Service considers them to be feral and polluting the river.
But the group that supports the horses investigated and found that the only pollution was from plastic bottles and trash left behind by humans.
Despite our diligent search we only found one lone horse who was too far in the brush for a photo. Leaves it open for another trip to keep on searching and to enjoy the desert. I think that the horses only add to the natural beauty of the area.
I love how the sunlight settled on the area where the desert meets the mountains in this photo. The glow in real life was soft and warm and made me want to head to that spot.
Evidence indicates that wild horses have been living on the lower Salt River since well before the Tonto National Forest was created in 1902.
It is believed that the herd is descended from the Spanish horses brought to Arizona by Spanish missionary Father Eusebio Kino in the 1600’s. They must be related to the wild horses we saw in Florida that are descendants of Spanish horses too.
The Salt River Wild Horse Management Group monitors the horses and has named each and every one of them.
The Salt River Wild Horse Management Group is a nonprofit that has been monitoring the herd for more than 17 years.
I am glad that there is a group of volunteers that protects the horses. I read about what they do and how many different opportunities there are to volunteer and if we set down roots in the future this will be on my list to volunteer for.
UPDATE. While I was in the office one afternoon Walt drove out to the Salt River and was able to watch a herd of 8 of the horses. No photos....he hadn't brought his phone. We'll be going out again soon and I am hoping for some photo ops.
Despite not seeing the horses that drew us out here this day the panoramic beauty of the desert dares to defy description and made me appreciate another wonderful day.