Usually it's the other way around--Lynn chasing the bear!

Horseless camping

After a week of sleeping on the ground, I am dead certain that I am buying a living quarters horse trailer for when we are retired and camping around the country with the boys. Although it would seem I have lots of cushion on my body--there are still places that poke out and feel all the hardness underneath my sleeping pads. Izzy really wanted to sleep in the motorhome rather than with me in the tent last night; I think she is tired of my thrashing around.

Other than that--we are having lots of fun. There is nothing like camping in a beautiful place. We have had lots of rain and thunder and lightning, but in between we have gone for some pretty walks in the sun. Of course the tent leaked, but with a blue tarp we managed to be dry inside. Yep--it looked like okie flats for a couple of days, but I fixed it so it looks pretty good now.

We went out and about to hang flyers announcing "Dredge Days" and we got to see some new country. We went to Redfish Lake first. It looked like a resort right out of the movies. The backdrop of the Sawtooth Mountains overshadowed the jet boats and the thousands of people on shore and in the very full campgrounds. We went to Stanley Lake and it was much more majestic with backdrop of McGowen peak framing it. The campgrounds were pretty full as well, but they didn't take anything away from the view. We stopped by a fish hatchery as well--wow! Talk about some fish. Lots and lots of fry--so many the water was black. It was a fun venture out. Izzy got to get into the river and the lake and have a drink as well as cool  her belly off.

At Redfish Lake, there is also an opportunity for trail rides. We stopped and looked at the horses, which ended up looking kind of sad. They had just sent out a string before we stopped, but I didn't get to check it out. I asked about the all day ride ($110) which consisted of a 2 1/2 hour ride to a lake, lunch, hang out and swim time, and then back again. Ha! I would want a whole day ride--forget the lunch, we got granola bars! (:

My idea of horseless camping includes lots of feet up and reading. I am getting it done, too. (: Unfortunately, since this is a workers' camp, they all have RVs. With generators. And a laundry room with an extremely LOUD generator. When the laundry is done and the workers whose solar isn't enough leave for work, it is peaceful.

So far, no bears. I guess they trapped one and took it Salmon a month or so ago. We have seen one huge doe and one smaller white tail doe. Neither of them waited for me get my camera up and on, but they were both very interested in Izzy. She took no notice of them, but they still bounded off too quick for a pic. The Golden Mantles (chipmunks) tease Izzy into chasing them and the gray jays and little black birds hang around some of the day. But that's all the animal life I have seen so far. Mom and Gene had to stop for a moose when they went to Challis last week--yes, you heard me, a MOOSE. (: I want to see one! They also saw some mountain goats. I keep my eyes peeled!

Today (Saturday) is Dredge Day. I am going to go down and watch a mining demonstration. They came in a couple of nights ago and have been out mining--one gal found a lot of flakes just panning. The guys will show how to dry mine (?) and then there's another kind, too, that I forgot the name of, that uses the creek that flows into the dredge. It should be fun. Sometime today or tomorrow I have to do some school work--yuck! I know, what am I complaining about? My two best horse buddies are working as they read this, right? Sorry. It's kind of funny that I'm sitting in the middle of a forest, sort of in the middle of nowhere, and playing on the internet. Who would've ever thought?!

I am looking forward to riding next weekend. I hope Alisa is coming over. I expect to be on the road Monday and home Tuesday. I miss Jupes (who is probably having fits as I type for being left home) and my friends, but I am having a nice time.

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

Big Loop

After a long, six-day work week (isn't it summer?what am I doing?!), I got to spend Sunday morning with my best friends. A phone call from Lynn on Saturday ensured my attendance on Sunday's ride: Jupiter threw a tantrum on Saturday when Ziggy and Star left the pasture without him. She said he ran and whinnied and kicked and bucked--he wanted to go! When they returned, he ran from the far corner to the gate to meet them. He likes to go and doesn't want to be left at home.

We did the long ride that was cut short when Alisa was here last--no crazy stud horse loose on the trail this time. We started out somewhere around 6:30am and finished up by 10:30, right when it was starting to heat up. We had a great ride! Unfortunately, I think we are going to have to find an alternate route; there were too many "camps" for comfort. One of them had a friendly pit bull, but one of them had a dog chained up who sounded a little vicious. We don't want trouble for Happy for sure, and I don't want to have to kill someone's dog either. We want to do this ride with Susie, so we need to work on cutting a trail.

After passing the last camp, we rode through a dense, bushy area (right before the cut block where we have a short rest and treats) of wild lilacs. In some parts, I just lay over Jupe's neck rather than fight the brush. When we emerged from the bushes, not only did we smell good, both Lynn and I had lilac blooms inside our ears!

On the way up, we saw turtles in the little pond. Although it has water in it now, the pond will probably dry up if the weather stays like it has been. So Shirley wants us to drive up there, hike in, and retrieve them so they can live in her pond.

Some of the fun things we did included jumping over logs. It has been awhile since we rode through there and some trees have come down. Jupiter loves to jump. I think it's fun, too. Ziggy is so tall and long-legged, most of the time he doesn't have to jump--he takes it all in his long stride. He sure looks pretty when he canters, too. Jupe and I trotted and ran a little faster this time, but I am still nervous about being out of control. Nevertheless, I think he had fun yesterday, too.

How many days 'til Saturday?

Cowgirl work

Yesterday, Lynn and I strung electric fence wire. It was an adventure. (Well everything with Lynn kinda turns out that!) We used the quad to hold the wire and then went along the fence hanging it on the insulators. There were problems of course, but Lynn was able to "jimmy-rig" everything to work. (She is her father's daughter afterall.) Then we came to the biggest obstacle. She makes me nervous, but as anyone who knows her can attest, there's no stopping her when she gets an idea.

The fence stretches from the highway to the upper fence line, crossing an arm of the pond in the field next to Shirley's house. The spool of wire is a little heavy and the pond was probably 8 feet across--bank to bank. We weren't sure if we could pitch it across and catch it before it rolled down into the brakish water. Izzy was playing in the water right there chasing water walkers and was muddy to her belly. Lynn decided belly deep wasn't that deep and she would drive the quad across the pond. In both of our minds was the kind of bottom she would be driving across. Would she sink? Would she get stuck in the muck? The alternative was to take off her shoes and wade across--yuck!! Salamanders and gunky, oozy black mud? It was worth the risk.

We rolled out 10 feet of wire and she drove in, with me holding the wire so it didn't get tangled. Her first attempt found her unable to get traction and she spun out trying to get up the bank on the other side. She backed back over to the side I was standing on and said, "Don't hold on to the wire, I'm going to gun it across!" Ha! Well, she made it! She didn't even get her feet wet. Success all around.

Rattlesnakes, Squirrels, and Vultures; Oh My!

Saturday was a new adventure for us. Lynn and I loaded up the sleepy and somewhat nervous boys to head for Redding in the dark morning hours. She had moved them from the pasture with everyone else to a closer one with just the two of them. They spent the night by the gate nearest the older boys, who were a whole pasture away. Ziggy about jumped out of his skin when Lynn called his name. He thought for sure a monster had come for him. Once he recognized her voice and the sleep cleared from his head, he came right to her.

We met Alisa and our new friend, Suzy for breakfast. The world truly is small and soon we realized that we had friends in common who had been trying to get us all together and we did it accidentally! Too funny. Suzy took us to the Clear Creek/Swasey Trail loops. We began by following her and her pretty boy Forest on the trail that leads to the bathroom at the trailhead to start with and Jupiter finally peed with the saddle on! I was happy. The man in the parking lot probably wasn't as the yellow river ran downhill toward him and smelled strongly. He probably thought I was nuts because I was so excited over this event. (:

From there we set out to make some nice loops with gorgeous overlooks. Odie really wanted to lead and Alisa had to work to make him settle down, but Ziggy set a good, long-legged pace that made Jupiter trot every now and then to stay up. It was a gorgeous day and not too hot. I heard two rattlesnakes; one that rattled and one that whizzed! I am just as glad that I did not see them, nor did Jupiter, I think. All of the horses did fine if they did see them! We also had a tiny squirrel run out of a hole at Odie, run alongside Jupiter, through Forest's legs and then stop under Ziggy. Fortunately, Ziggy did not step on him and squish him.

Jupiter does not care for the gray piles of dead limbs and bushes. He is concerned about gray rocks sometimes. He has not shied, but really keeps his eye on them. He is pretty sure that they could be monsters. Well, as we were heading down the trail to end our day, sure enough a monster did come to life! Vultures were startled by our passing and rose up out of some brush to our left. Jupiter did not bolt or whip around, but he stopped on a dime! There were probably four or five vultures flapping up and off whatever was in there. I can't blame Jupe, it startled me too. Now he'll never believe me when I say, "Silly boy, they're only sticks," again. He might start talking like Star and tell me, "Oh yeah? Remember that one time?"

One of the highlights of the day was in between trails we rode down to Clear Creek. It was a nice spot to let the horses get into the water and drink. I think all the horses thought we could have spent more time playing in the water, as they seemed to like it.

After riding on the opposite side of the road for an hour or so, we decided to call it a day. But what a day! It was fun and we look forward to doing many more rides with Suzy.