Boone Spring

Sometimes more than one ride is required to find the perfect route, and such was the case with our transit to the top of Boone Ridge and on to Boone Spring. 

As you can see, our "trail" went around and through some rugged country:

Last trip, we never made it to the spring because we ran into a cliff band, had to resort to Plan B, then ran out of time.  

This time, we tried a different route and also ran into a cliff band.  We found a way around it, but while we were leading Boss and Coco over hill and dale, Coco escaped and ran off for a couple of hundred yards. That provided some excitement. 
He was easily recaptured, and the rest of our journey went more or less according to plan. (I won't say which plan.  Not A or B.) 
The area is remote and a bit desolate, so we were surprised to find that hunters had been there at some time in the past, leaving behind what looked like 2 deer skulls with the horns sawed off:

We even saw a small herd of elk along the way. If you enlarge the photo, maybe you can see them, too:

Yes, we made it to the spring:

This fenced off area is probably where Boone Spring originates, although no water comes to the surface there:

Springs are often enclosed, I assume to prevent cows from trampling the water source.  In this case, someone must have tapped into the water flow below ground and directed it into this tank: 

Boone Springs is at just under 7000 feet, a little low for much snow accumulation at this time of year. The day was cool, but that didn't stop Daisy from taking a dip in the tank, which also provided the horses with a drink.

All the animals were refreshed for the ride back:

Upon our return, the sun shone on the limestone cliffs on the south side of the Green River: 

I doubt we'll be exploring that side unless we can teach the horses to use technical climbing gear!