Well, I think this is going to be that post. And I even named my blog BEFORE I wrote the book. Also, this is going to be a loooooong post. I don't want to break it up because I have so many other things to tell you!
Alright, so we have to go back to Wednesday -- it's been a very busy week!
Now, as you might recall, Wednesday is our long ride day.
Once we got to the trailhead for lunch and it was about time to leave, I asked everyone what they wanted to do. 1) Head straight back ~ 2 hours, 2) Detour to Elkhorn Falls ~ 3 hours.
My group was a walking group (not trotting/loping much) and Wrangler Sarah's group was a running group. Now you see, I've never actually been to Elkhorn Falls, but my group wanted to go and I couldn't combine the groups because of the differences in abilities.
I asked my group if they were up for an adventure. They looked hesitant. Wrangler Sarah insisted it was easy to get there.
Getting there was one thing, but what about getting out of there? She said their group would wait for us to get there, so she could show us how to leave.
My group decided they were up for an adventure and conceded. What an adventure it was.
Pastor Frank was with my group and leading because I was on Cimarron, a Clydesdale/Quarterhorse cross, and she was not interested in being in the lead...or moving very quickly for that matter.
Pastor Frank is the owner of one of our horses and just comes by to ride every once in a while. As he did this past Wednesday. As such, he's been to Elkhorn Falls a few times, but always with wranglers who knew where they were going.
Anyhow, as Wrangler Sarah said, getting to Elkhorn Falls was easy.
And beautiful.
And Wrangler Sarah's group was there, just like they said.
When it came time to leave, Wrangler Sarah said, you just follow the cart path to the right, instead of left where you came in. Sounds easy enough.
As we're heading out, we found a horseshoe. You see, if we find the shoe and it's still in good shape, Gordon tacks it back on without cost. But if we lose a shoe and he has to shape a new one, it costs us money. So, we picked up the shoe and I was surmising whether it was one of ours or one of Wrangler Sarah's.
And not paying attention.
I realized that Pastor Frank was taking us back the way we came, which was going to take more time. (Oh the beauty of hindsight...)
I told him we needed to go back and take the right path, as opposed to the left path. So he led us back, but instead of going all the way back, he took the next path he found - a horse path - and figured it would lead to the cart path.
Except, we meandered for a long ways before we came to a cart path. And then a fork. And we went right.
Eventually, we ended up at Boy Scout Road. Which was quite obviously the wrong way. We were going to take the road home...except the gate was padlocked shut.
We chose to walk the fenceline for a while until we came to a culvert. And decided we needed to head back west.
It got a little exciting as neither Frank, nor Smoke, saw a creek and sort of fell down and back up it. Cimarron and I decided, well she decided, to jump it. Fortunately I was prepared. I told the guests to hold onto their saddlehorns and lean forward. Comanche was nice enough to walk down and back up. Oreo and Coco refused to cross, period.
We paralleled the creek for a while - Pastor Frank, Diane, and me on one side, Steve and Emily on the other. In the few minutes up to another crossing point, my words had fallen out of Steve's mind. Coco chose to jump the creek and Steve got whiplash.
After fighting a bit, Oreo walked through, too.
On we went. To country I had never seen before. And will probably never see again.
As 5 pm approached, our usual ranch-arrival time, the guests started to get a bit concerned, although they continued to laugh.
I asked Pastor Frank if he had let Smoke make the decision recently. And he agreed to try it. At the next fork in the road, Smoke had the say so. I had no clue where we were.
Diane asked what the protocol was for lost groups. When I said I didn't know, she pointed out, quite vigorously, that the emergency plan is supposed to be in place prior to the emergency occurring.
We continued on, with the horses choosing the path.
As I mentioned, I have no clue where we are. I think we are East of the ranch, because I didn't realize that Boy Scout Road, runs South then heads West. I thought it ran North/South.
So all of a sudden, we're riding along and I see 3 orange t-posts spread about 2 feet apart, which is a pretty strange thing. They're usually used for barbed wire fences and spaced about 10 feet apart.
But you see, I know these posts, because every time I see them, I think it's odd. The only thing I can figure is that it's just used to mark a drop off.
I look to my right. And I shout in joy! I know where I am!
It's my favorite tree!!!!!
Pastor Frank, an older gentleman (and did I mention Pastor?), says, "Because it doesn't look like every other hollowed-out, lightning-struck tree," his voice dripping in sarcasm.
We were at the base of the new trail of the long ride! Only two hours home! Except, it's 5 pm. And supper is served at 6.
They still don't trust me because the horses are fighting to go another way. The horses wanted to go 1) on the old trail they've used for the past 9 years or 2) to the actual new trail instead of my shortcut, past my favorite tree.
But as the horses started picking up speed, Pastor Frank admitted that my favorite tree MIGHT just become his favorite tree.
And once he saw the orange markers of the trail, he said, "I'll ride the trail with you any day."
Fortunately, the horses were tired and hungry, so what normally takes 2 hours, only took us an hour and 15 minutes. We were home by 6:15. Dan came and checked on us...
"Anybody hurt?"
"Nope."
"Any blood?"
"Nope."
"Alright, I'm hungry and I'm going back to supper....Oh wait. What in the heck were you kids doing? I was worried to death about you! Now that I know you're ok, I am SO angry with you!"
And off he went to get his supper.
We untacked. Put on our adventure faces. And went in to tell our tale at the dinner table.
The best part of this story, though? Sarah's group wasn't at supper. As it turns out, they got lost, too.
And that, my friends, is the tale of my best dude ranching adventure (to date).
No comments:
Post a Comment