The wife says the alarm went off, and I simply turned it off and rolled over back asleep.

I don't know. I don't remember that. Guess I'll have to take her word for it. All I remember is waking at five thirty-five and knowing I was more than an hour late.

Twenty minutes later I was on the road, but obviously, the sun came up long before I wanted it to.

Still, I managed to get one lek checked. Considering we've under a full moon and strutting activity normally tapers off right after sunrise, that was better than I expected.

Then it was off further into the desert, scouting roads to other leks, for other mornings. Once again enjoying the rare sound of rushing water in the middle of a desert.

I have to imagine what that torrent looked like later in the day, after the sunny warmth accelerated snowmelt.

A few miles on, I pass through a flock of woollies, their herder watching from the rim further north. The huge white guard dog shuffling up to my door looking for a handout.

And more miles beyond them, about four miles before a snowdrift blocked my explorations, I finally spy my first foals of spring.

Admittedly, I haven't been that many places in the desert yet, but I've already seen plenty of feral horses. Most years I'd have seen plenty of foals by now.

I suppose this winter was hard on everybody.

Kinda nice to see it leaving.