DAY 29: WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 28

Middle Fork of the Little Sheep Creek to Shineberger

We meet our horse outfitter, Mel Montgomery and his wife Chris, in the morning Molly, a small 14 hand bay, will be my horse for the next two days. A terribly slow walker but otherwise a sweet little willing horse that neck-reins well. The only difficulty is extremely short loop reins that make it difficult to give her a loose rein and gives me a sore back from having to lean forward all day. On Thursday I ask Mel to let me ride her with just the halter. I think Mel is somewhat concerned about her taking advantage of the situation and eating her way through the day without a bit to detour her. But, Molly and I have already had a discussion about when she will and when she will not eat and all goes well. Now, back to Wednesday. We travel up the Middle Fork of the Little Sheep Creek before climbing up to spend the afternoon traveling cross country through forest patches, ridges, meadows and in a huge half circle around Thumb Mountain. On one hillside three narrow rock ridges appear as jagged dragon backbones. In the field I spot a smooth round boulder has to be a dragon egg. The group thinks that I am nuts but Kevin believes me. As we travel we often pass scattered bones of cattle, moose, and elk, and the actual remains of one moose. Everywhere there is the constant rusty click of grasshoppers.

Camp is beside a creek next to a heavily grazed meadow with resulting cattle residue and we very carefully set up our tents. I can’t stand myself after two dusty days without a shower and tell the guys, “Upstream is temporarily off limits.” The soap-less partial dip in the very chilly creek feels great. We eat dinner around a warm campfire and plan on a quiet evening. Just as we finish rain arrives with great gusts of wind. What a scramble to get the two large, bright yellow National Geographic easy-ups down, the fire out, and tents closed. Our PET bends at crazy angles in the wind and Charlotte’s advice, “Hold onto the walls” is necessary. As the storm lets up we are treated to a spectacular lightning and thunder show over the near foothills - forks of lighting stabbing down to earth and shooting from cloud to cloud followed by deep rumbling thunder. With a certain amount of concern whether the storm will come back over the hills and pounce on us we all walk gingerly back to our tents for a snug and safe night serenaded by coyotes. From the Journey, dana