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Indian
Springs
The Simpson Mountains
Tooele County, Utah
Jim Drysdale
I have been to Indian Springs several times now. Took a jeep up once, rode my bike another, even hung out with some friends polishing off beverage on a couple of warm summer nights. This time the plan was no different only we knew we were in for a hike seeing that it was covered with a mid-March dumping of Utah powder.
Note to oneself…its time to get some skis man…time to bomb these DHs. Anyway my friend Mike and I were treated by a herd of wild mustangs both on our way out and back. They weren't as skittish as I have observed in the past. They also weren't as ornery as I would've expected, being so close to us.
A friend of mine was charged by an alpha male one time while he was out running his German Shepard. Maybe they can relax now knowing that there's plenty of range to go around for everyone. Such was not the case last summer as well over 100 of the starving critters were chased by helicopter, corralled, and then trucked off to the auction block. Seems as though the herd grows in leaps and bounds every year. A figure of twenty percent comes to mind. That can add up to lots and lots 'o horses for such an unproductive albeit immense chunk of rangeland. So we shot several images of the herd. Up close they're kind of mangy but still cool looking with those big 'ol distinguished hulking Roman schnozes. Having resided in several big city suburban locales, I'm not much of a horse guy. But I can appreciate the toughness of these critters. They're starting to grow on me.
So back to Indian Springs… A couple of miles up the 4x4 road lies an old abandoned shed, a derelict cabin, and some collapsed building remains. They used to mine Horned Silver up this way in the Simpson Range. Several mines dot this as well as the southern end of the mountains. Now its just another place in the Great Basin that is all but forgotten. But being down the road from us, we feel compelled to drop in and pay it a visit every now and then, and I am sure there are more to follow.
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