In the morning, once again I was awakened by birds and the grey light of dawn. Unusual since I am a heavy sleeper when in civilization and can sleep through most alarms. I gave the horses a quick feed of pellets as I saddled Shorty. No one took me up on my offer to join me for the day, So Candy went along with no rider or saddle. The drama of separating the two was more than I wanted to deal with anyway.
We rode across the back pasture of the ranch and followed elk trails for three miles up to the ridge until we hit the goverment trail. in the Dawn we rode along the very easy to follow singletrack, and up a granite switchback the locals call “Struggle Up”. Despite the snowmelt running down the trail, it was technical but not treacherous, and my California mount seemed to handle the rocky trail with focused aplomb. Candy kept up with no issues. By 7:00 am I was craving breakfast and we crested into a basin with a pretty little grassy hillside above a clear mountain lake. It was like a Folgers coffee commercial.
I hobbled both horses and turned them loose to graze. A snowbank in the shade provided water for my Jetboil stove as I quickly melted two cups of water and rehydrated some Quaker oatmeal. Anoyther quick melt and boil and I had coffee, as my mounts fed with a mountain lake below them I paused to reflect just how lucky I was at this very moment.
After all three of us had taken the edge off of our morning hunger, we continued on towards the Wilderness Boundary. The rocky trails passed numerous wet meadows that were swamps, puddles that were lakes, and trail sections that were bubbling streams. All of this was due to the high amount of snow and the melt that came late and with a vengeance. At this altitude, the sun was intense and I could feel the force of the solar radiation on my neck, as I applied plenty of SPF 50 to prevent a more severe burn that what I had already.
After about 7 miles I began to encounter snow drifts on the north facing parts of the trail. The first one stopped my West coast horse in his tracks. Candy, being raised in Idaho was no stranger to snow, and she muscled by and plowed a path without a second thought. It took a few more tries but eventually Shorty was shamed into stepping into the strange crunchy white stuff, although on this trip he avoided it if possible.
Occasionally the snow was so deep we had to go off trail to get around the drifts. Such was the case before the lake I had determined was our turn around point for the day. We managed to negotiate through the willows along the creek with me leading the horses before we arrived at one of the most picturesque mountain lakes I’ve ever been to.
Once again I hobbled the horses, but feed wasn’t as far along at this elevation over 9700 feet, so the horses just rested rather than try to graze for very long. Lunch was another “Snowbank Special” , Mountain House Pro Pak Spaghetti. It is funny how good these meals taste in the alpine!
While my meal was re-hydrating I walked around to see what kind of sign was apparent. I was hoping to find some sign of big game. I think I did that!
After watching Marmots, and basking in the sun, I checked my watch and decided I had better get down the Trail if I was going to be at the ranch to meet my parents and the rest of my family who would be arriving that night.
As soon as we hit the trail headed back the way we came, Shorty knew we were headed home. He put his head down and kept a steady 22-26 minute per mile pace (2-3 mph) on a loose rein. Snow banks weren’t an issue and he plowed through them without a care. He drank more frequently at the multiple creeks crossing the trail though!
Through rocks, mud, willows and down logs he kept cruising along, down the rocky slick face of “Struggle-up” and really hit a lick on the well groomed trail. Here his pace jumped into the 3-4 mph range and the last 3 miles were all in the 16 minute per mile range. The amazing thing was it was at a walk on a loose rein. Have I told you how I like a fast walking horse?
We came into the ranch well before my people arrived. My horses had a good roll and nosed around at their pellets before seeking relief from the mosquitos in the shade.
Once my folks arrived we turned their horses out, and got their horse trailer levelled. this would be our kitchen and pantry as Dad unloaded a variety of camp cooking accouterments and Mom organized what looked like a month’s worth of food. I made My wife and youngest daughter comfortable with their sleeping arrangements and then introduced the Newcomers to the group. Immediately we were invited to dinner, and I grilled up some venison sausage for Hors d’oeuvres.
After dinner that night, lots of elk got killed and lots of adventures were recounted as elk hunters from California and Wyoming got acquainted. We called it a night as the Milky Way made it’s presence known across the night sky.
