Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

well, howdy!  been gone for over a week and just got back saturday.  we went to the arizona/utah area and did the grand canyon winter pastures ride.  5 days and 5 nights.   we had 4 pack mules loaded down with gear, 1 pack horse, 2 guides/outfitters, and 4 of us all mounted on quarterhorse or quarterhorse cross working ranch horses.  best time on horseback i ever had in my life!  i got sunburned tonsils from looking up with my mouth wide open, at all those rock formations, canyon walls, etc! i asked the outfitter if he ever got tired of looking at that scenery, he said nope, not even after 25 years of doing these rides and often camping out 200 nights each year.  it was kinda cold,  16 degrees the first night out, but then warmed up to the mid thirties and even got to 45 on the last day.  we only had a little snow one morning.  wasnt bad for florida crackers like us, since the humidity is different.  oh sure, still cold, but very tolerable, especially on horseback.

those horses were tough, surefooted and dependable.  they carried over some of the roughest terrain imagineable.  all they got to eat was alfalfa cubes that had been packed in and dropped off by the outfitters the week before.  we watered the horses in the morning, maybe twice out on the trail and then again at night.  these horses were in fantastic condition.  we rode in places that many people wouldnt even think about riding. i washed my head in the creek and drank water right out of the rocks.  it was awesome!  we camped on the redrock two nights, down in a dry creek bed two nights and one night up on the rim. when the ride was over, we drove back to vegas that evening, got a room, walked through the hotel with big hats, heavy jackets, a good coating of trail dust and grime.  got a hot shower, steak dinner and then shot the doors off the saloon!  YEEEEEHHHHAAAAAAAAH!     cowboy(cracker) ed