Things That Go Bump in the Night

The countdown finally ended and we packed up our camping gear, loaded our horses, and drove east to meet Alisa and Odie. We got through Redding before it was too hot and arrived in Quincy around noon. The horses were happy to hang out in the pasture with Odie and his girlfriend, the old white mare. Right away, Odie made sure Jupiter, who hadn't been to Quincy before, was aware that she was his girlfriend and he was to stay away from her!

After our ice cream and a little shopping, we added ice to everything and away we went. We stopped for wonderful Mexican food in Sierraville (?) and then drove through some pretty country and arrived at Euer Valley around six. The sign on the peak before dropping down into the valley read 6775 elevation. It was about 75-80 degrees and everything was still green and blooming. (Check out Lynn's landscape & wildflower pics.)

We rode out Saturday morning on the blue trail--mapless, so we just followed the well-marked trail. At one point we came into a junction and the pink and yellow trails merged into blue. We went through the cattle gate and on up into the higher country. We could see Boreal Ski area (I think) and lots of green valleys and meadows.

We rode all morning and returned to camp for a late lunch. After relaxing a bit, we went out again for a short ride. We wanted to find the showers, see everyone else's horses, and check out other campsites. After returning and brushing the horses and letting them eat good mountain grass, we drove over to showers. It was nice to be clean! We ate mediocre chicken and rice (sorry about that!) and then snugged up to the fire pit. Even with one ear listening intently on the horses, I think everyone slept pretty good again that night.

The next day was gorgeous again. We had heard different people's stories about the red trail being super steep and having some treacherous rocks, not to mention an unfriendly owner and moving trailmarkers, so we went up the road near us to the yellow & pink trail marker.

It wasn't long before we got to the top at 7200' on the yellow trail. There are lots of overlooks for scenic vistas. The trail markers were a little scarce, but we made sure not to go south on red and stayed north. We stopped and let the horses catch their breaths and spent some time looking for our trail on the top. There had been some logging which had destroyed some of the markers, but we found them and headed down the other side. The trails consisted of a lot of road riding, with some nice trails that came off and into the woods.

This particular trail was steep, but it was soft and relatively easy to navigate. I was glad to be going down it instead of up; although we met some women who went the opposite way and they said they liked going up it better. At the bottom of the trail we saw a coyote. He looked pretty healthy and fat and was guarding a recent kill.

The horses were tired, so we unsaddled and let them eat grass and relax. Then we let them roll in a soft dirt pit near our camp. They loved it. Later, Jupiter, being the smallest, lay down in his corral. Everyone's lips were hanging and eyes were half-closed (maybe even ours!).

That night was the real show. Lynn and Alisa got their wish--a bear. Albeit, they really wanted to see them while we were riding rather than in the middle of the night! Lynn is one fast woman--she had her shoes on, flashlight in hand, and was out of the tent quick enough to almost tackle that 300lb bear who was about six feet from our tent door. By the time I got glasses, shoes, and flashlight--I could barely see her light in the dust storm caused by Ziggy. Evidently the bear had run between the truck and Zigman's corral and he did not like it. We all searched for the bear without luck (or with luck, I don't know), settled the horses, and went back to bed.

In between snores we all listened for him to return. Sure enough someone said, "Listen!" and there he was, right behind the tent--not 10 feet away. Again we flew out of the tent. This time Lynn almost did run up on him; he had stopped and looked back at her and he was as black as the night. She threw rocks at him and he lumbered off to the meadow. All of us were shivering in the dark, so we decided to blanket the horses. Not an easy feat with their nervousness making them move around their corrals to keep an eye out, too. Lynn ended up with a shoe full of dirt as Ziggy turned and ran away from her to the other end of the his corral.

We couldn't decide why the bear had come back, so we started searching camp. Sure enough we had missed something; although all the food and garbage had been picked up and put away, we somehow missed a package of opened danish: raspberry danish! We had heard the foil container that the danish came in. He had eaten all but one little square before we disturbed him. No wonder he stopped and looked at Lynn--he wasn't finished. And raspberries are out of season! We threw it away and I am glad he didn't slash through our tent to take it out on us when he returned!

In the middle of all this, Shirley told us to bring Happy into the tent from her warm, cushy bed in the truck cab. She would let us know when the bear came back! She would bark and scare him away! Right. That dog slept through it all. She was comfy down inside her blankets. She was off-duty.

Finally down inside our sleeping bags again, we agreed we would sleep in. (Although Lynn slept in her glasses, just in case.) Before the sun came over the mountain, we were awakened to the sound of cows loudly bellowing in the camp next to us. I mean LOUDLY. They were annoyed. We found out that they had a schedule--Mondays were for eating leftover hay from the campers. We put a hole into their plans and they were letting us know. They went from the north side of us to the south side and then up from the meadow and into the lower campsites. All the while bellowing for babies, bellowing for directions, and just overall nonstop chatter if you ask me. Anyway, we got up and enjoyed their company.

We went for a short ride to loosen up the horses and to be nosy; we wanted to make sure we truly had the best campsite. So we cruised the entire horse camp area. It was fun to talk to the other campers and see where all the bear had been in the night, too. We almost got invited for breakfast by a friendly man, we thought, but one of the women in his camp quickly disinvited us (she rides a mule, so what does that tell you?). After she asked what kind of horses we had, she turned to Lynn and said, "And what is that?" pointing at Ziggy. I tried to brag on him and let her know Zigs is from famous racehorse stock and later Lynn said she wished she said, "He's a BigZig." Lots of smarty comments have crossed my mind since, but I'll be good and say nothing.

All in all, it was a great weekend! I had a good time and I apologize to my friends for being difficult to be with at times and promise if I'm invited again, I'll keep my emotions in check! (I'm going to blame it all on being 50 and having my body rebel against me. I'll try to be more cognizant of the signals its sending me so I can control my overly sensitive feelings.)

Poetry for the soul

Awhile ago I found a saying that seemed to fit Lynn very nicely; so I used it with some pictures of the boys and made a collage for her horse bathroom decor. I told my friend from whom I had copied the saying that I had done so and she told me that it was part of a larger poem. I love the poem and it fits even more in its entirety. I hope it will fit me too!

The Woman I will Be

I shall wear diamonds and a wide brimmed straw hat with ribbons
and flowers on it

And I shall spend my social security on white wine and carrots

And sit in the alley of my barn and listen to my horses breathe.

I will sneak out in the middle of a summer's night

And ride the dappled mare across the moonstruck meadow,
if my old bones will allow.

And when people come to call, I will smile and nod,
As I walk them past the gardens to the barn
And show, instead, the flowers growing there
In stalls fresh-lined with straw.

I will shovel and sweat and wear hay in my hair as if it were a jewel.
And I will be an embarrassment of all who look down on me

Who have not yet found the peace in being free

To love a horse as a friend, a friend who waits at midnight hour
with muzzle and nicker and patient eyes

For the woman I will be when I am old.

~anonymous