Monterey

On a cool foggy morning at Whiskey Creek Farms, a new foal greeted her first day.

I was alone at the barn and just beginning the morning feeding routine. I went to get Kodak, our two-year-old stallion, to bring him in to the barn. As a stallion, he naturally tends toward the wild side, but today he was insane. He ignored me as I entered his paddock, standing at the opposite end of the enclosure and staring intently into an adjacent field. He was obsessed and screaming. I followed his gaze into the foggy field and saw the object of his attention. It was a new foal.

Normally when a mare is about to foal she gives some signs. She will wax up on her nipples. Her udder will fill with milk and tighten. Her entire back end may even shift and relax. This mare, Stella, was due May 15 which meant it could be any time now, but she didn’t show any of the telltale signs that she was about to foal so we didn’t have her under the normal “foal watch.”

But foal she did.

I dropped the halter I had in my hand for Kodak, climbed two fences and headed straight for Stella and her baby. Because of the fog it was almost like I’d had a vision of a foal in field where there shouldn’t be a foal yet, and I was just checking the reality of this vision. As I cut through the fog, the foal indeed turned out to be real.

I checked the foal and discovered it was a filly--a female. When a horse is born they stand up almost immediately. This foal was probably about two hours old. She was standing next to her mother--all bones but very tall. She was chestnut with a big white blaze on her face and two white socks on her hind legs. Like all babies, she was a miracle, and beautiful.

I named her Monterey after the Spaniard who ordered an expedition along the West Coast of North America in the early 1600s.

We brought Stella and Monterey into the barn. The filly wasn’t nursing immediately which was a concern, but after a few hours she figured it out.

As I write this she is less than a day old and is doing well.

She is our fifth foal this year. Our sixth, and last, is due in the next ten days.

There aren’t many mornings in life like this one.

On Thor

On Thor before a hunt with Blue Ridge Hunt, Virginia 

Salt Lake Cougar

Last night, my friend Jayne and I were walking Jackson in City Creek Canyon in Salt Lake City. On our way back down, at the 2.5 mile mark we saw what we initially thought was a Bobcat, but what I now believe was a cougar, a.k.a. mountain lion. I estimate this cat weighed anywhere from 90 to 150 pounds. He was gorgeous.

When we first saw him he was walking away from us, just 30 feet distant. He was in the streambed; we were on the road about 10 feet higher. We stopped to watch him. He continued for about ten strides and stopped in the shadows, turning around and watching us.

The standoff lasted for 90 seconds to two minutes.

It was exciting and a little scary. I didn't want him to attack us, or Jackson. We had no choice but to walk right past him, coming within about 15 feet. Because of his location he would be invisible as we passed.

About two minutes after we first sighted him, some bikers appeared on the road, approaching us. I took this as the opportunity to run by; guessing that he wouldn't attack with four people and a dog in the immediate vicinity. Attacks are extremely rare, though they do happen.

All of us, including the unsuspecting bikers, passed him at the same time, with Jayne, Jackson, and I jogging. We mentioned to the bikers that there was a large cat (we said Bobcat), "right there."

They gave us a blank look--it had been a long climb to that point. We all continued on our way.

City Creek Park is in the city limits. From where we saw the Cougar, we were less than four miles from the heart of downtown Salt Lake.

Postcard from Utah

Yesterday, we did a wickedly hard bike ride on Stansbury Island, an island on the southern part of the Great Salt Lake. Stansbury Island is about 40 miles west of Salt Lake City. I had driven out that way a few times before, but it is an area where neither I nor anybody goes much. West of Salt Lake is generally pretty desolate--it is known as the Great Basin.

The Great Basin is very dry and is the largest area in North America (and probably all of the Americas) with no outlet to the sea. What little water there is just evaporates. One of the most common features of this area are the salt flats--broad flat areas of cracked and dry earth with large accumulations of salt and other minerals. The Bonneville Salt Flats are part of the Great Basin.

In all of that desolation, however there is actually quite a bit to offer. For one thing, the Great Basin contains numerous mountain ranges that are very remote and pristine. These mountains all have their own ecosystems. The Stansbury Mountains, is one of these mountain ranges, and Stansbury Island is the northern most part of this range. It just happens to be surrounded at its base by the Great Salt Lake giving it its island status.

Our group included my friend Tom, his friend Alex, and myself. Alex, is a 21 year-old outdoor jock. He skied 175 days last winter (basically every day for six months) and currently is biking daily. He is in awesome shape and is very athletic. He spent a good deal of the time waiting for Tom and me to catch up, especially me.

We biked for over three hours. The route was extremely rocky, rough, difficult, and a lot of fun. We climbed up the side of the mountain that makes up this island from where we parked the car. After the initial ascent we followed a trail that curved around the mountainside. After we left the car, we didn't see another person the whole time.

The trail was narrow, full of jagged rocks, and precipitous. There were lots of flowers emerging from the rocky landscape as well as stunning views in all directions. Cattle grazed on the flat areas down below, next to the Great Salt Lake. The Wasatch, Oquirr and Stansbury Mountains were all visible to our south and east. More mountains were visible to the west whose names I don't know.

I got much joy out of the ride, although a lot of humiliation as well, as I struggled to keep up without killing myself. It was rough going. Tom had one especially spectacular fall, tumbling headlong onto a mountainside of jagged rock. I had a few mini-falls, near the end as my exhaustion began to get the best of me.

This morning I woke up scratching all over. The island was the home to a substantial population of vicious gnats that attacked during the ride. I had barely noticed them as I was working so hard to keep up.

It was all well worth it of course.

A typical Utah afternoon diversion.

Regards,

Jim Breitinger
Lunch Break
Orem, Utah
May 17, 1999

Additional Jewelry Offered by Utahredrock

The posts below are from jewelry I had for sale in 2008. All re-dated to 1999 for some reason that I can't remember. 

Mawsitsit Pendant

Mawsitsit, aka Burmese Jadeite is from Burma. It's a spectacular stone. $315.

Marble Jewelry by Derek Ivan

Marbles in sterling, $115.

Jewelry by Utahredrock

Peridot necklace with sterling designer beads. $175.

Jewelry by Utahredrock

Necklace and earrings of faceted smoky quartz, turquoise, and sterling silver. Sold.

Petrified Palm Wood Pendant

Pendant and Necklace $230. By Lebe Loola.

Fossilized Dinosaur Bone Pendant

Pendant and necklace $235. By Lebe Loola. This item is on hold, however, we can commission new pieces incorporating red fossilized dino bone.

Picture Jasper: Earrings and Pendant

Pendant sold. Matching earrings $250. By Lebe Loola.