Photo Gallery 2
The photographs in Photo Gallery 2 were taken on our last trip to the Wheeler Pass HMA and the Spring Mountains Recreation Area to visit the Cold Creek Band. They are located in the area surrounding the village of Cold Creek, Nevada. I had expected to find many of my "friends" in their usual hangouts. I had discovered from a local the BLM had just finished a Gather, as they call it, about three weeks earlier. I had an idea the remaining horses were going to be very hard to locate. I left Cold Creek and headed back down the paved road toward highway 95. I turned left onto a dirt track (signed Viewing Areas) which headed north toward some low mountains. Reaching the end of the road I turned left down through a wash and entered a small, tight canyon. I noticed Stallion Piles along the way, and had seen horses in the canyon before, so my hopes were high! The canyon is about 2 miles long and opens onto a flat drainage overlooking the town of Indian Springs and the Indian Springs Gunnery Range to the north of Highway 95. To my surprise, No Horses!
I decided to turn around and drove back to Cold Creek. From there I headed south west toward Willow Creek Campground and the Wheeler Charcoal Ovens. I did stop about half way through the canyon to get some shots of Barrel Cactus, which was just starting to bloom. When I reached Willow Creek Campground I spotted two horses grazing along the creek. They didn't seem too skidish as I approached. In fact, the Paint Stallion looked like he was more interested in taking a nap and eating than he was in me. I spent about an hour observing him and got some great pictures.
As I left Willow Creek the weather started to take a turn for the worst. First a little rain. As the road climbed higher toward Wheeler Pass the rain turned to snow, lots and lots of snow. I was considering heading back when my CB came to life. Two guys in a Jeep coming down had spotted me and called to say the road was completely blocked about a mile farther up. So I retraced my tire tracks back to Cold Creek. It was snowing pretty hard there too, but I did manage to get a picture of a lone Black Wild Horse. I made tracks to an area I usually camp. By the time I reached my camp site, the weather was starting to clear! The sun broke through the clouds and the dusting of snow started to disappear. Brief storms like this are common during the winter in the high desert. You have to be ready for them! My campsite was just off a dirt road I hadn't completely explored last trip, so with the weather clearing I decided to follow it to the north east along Indian Ridge. In a little more than a mile I spotted these wild horses and stopped to take some pictures.
I was also treated to this beautiful view of the Ranger Mountains as the storm cleared. The next morning dawned clear and cold. To the south east, Willow and Bonanza Peaks almost glowed in the light of the sunrise. Took some time to take it all in before packing up and heading out for the day. Thought I would check out the Willow Creek area again, but no luck. Decided to explore the valley to the east one more time. Drove all of the dirt roads, some I had explored before and some were new adventures, but again, no horses. A little disappointed I headed back to where I had camped the night before. Once there I climbed on the roof of the van and searched the area with binoculars. Spotted a single wild horse about two miles away making it's way toward the mountains to the south. That was the only horse I saw that day. The next morning I loaded up and drove north through the canyon leading to Indian Springs and Highway 95. Would have liked to spend more time with the Cold Creek Band but had to leave for the ghost town of Rhyolite and then on to Death Valley. Photo Gallery 2 is a "Work in Progress" with photographs being added after each visit to the Wheeler Pass HMA. If YOU would like to visit the Cold Creek Band, the Village of Cold Creek, Bonanza Peak, and the Wheeler Pass HMA, full details are avalible on our Destination Page on the Wheeler Pass Area, including the Spring Mountains Recreation Area and the Desert National Wildlife Refuge. Be sure to visit often!
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