Out West Wanderings II
Funny things happen when you are camping. Dan has been known to wake in the middle of the night yelling because of some dream he is having. But last night it wasn’t his yelling that woke me. It was his beating on the camper bedroom wall. When I asked him what was going on, he told me that he had heard a mouse and wanted it to leave. Sure enough, there was something gnawing around in the walls. I am not sure it isn’t one of the ground squirrels that live outside the camper. I haven’t heard it again today.
After not riding yesterday, I was more than ready to get going. We were in the saddle by 9:00 and we were going to try and find the beautiful waterfall again.
After riding for an hour and a half, we followed a trail that looked like it might be the one to the falls. It ended up just going over to the river. We continued on and the climb started to get steeper and the rocks in the path more numerous. The horses were really working hard, and we were stopping to let them catch their breaths. We came upon a gate that had a sign posted on it to close it behind ourselves so cattle couldn’t go through. Just a little further and we could hear water rushing, but it wasn’t the falls I was looking for. We crossed the stream. It was a pretty place and we sat down and ate our snacks. There were some hikers that came up and were sitting across from us. They didn’t know what falls I was talking about.
We decided to head for the camp but to take a shortcut. That turned out to not be a smart move. We were following a beaten horse path that faded out. Soon all we could see was a couple horse prints now and then. We struggled through fighting our way through cactus and bush. Dan got the famous Cholla Jumping Cactus on his stirrups and pants. (We had forgotten to put on our chaps!) I used the cactus comb to toss them off him. When I got back on Blaze, he started twirling around and almost bucking. I decided to bail. I checked him for cactus spines, but I couldn’t see any.
After I mounted up, we continued to find a way home. It was very rough going. Dan got off Pearl and gave me the reins so he could take a look at his GPS. Pearl started rubbing her sweaty head on
millspap
64 chapters
16 Apr 2020
Day #9
January 24, 2020
|
Catalina State Park
Funny things happen when you are camping. Dan has been known to wake in the middle of the night yelling because of some dream he is having. But last night it wasn’t his yelling that woke me. It was his beating on the camper bedroom wall. When I asked him what was going on, he told me that he had heard a mouse and wanted it to leave. Sure enough, there was something gnawing around in the walls. I am not sure it isn’t one of the ground squirrels that live outside the camper. I haven’t heard it again today.
After not riding yesterday, I was more than ready to get going. We were in the saddle by 9:00 and we were going to try and find the beautiful waterfall again.
After riding for an hour and a half, we followed a trail that looked like it might be the one to the falls. It ended up just going over to the river. We continued on and the climb started to get steeper and the rocks in the path more numerous. The horses were really working hard, and we were stopping to let them catch their breaths. We came upon a gate that had a sign posted on it to close it behind ourselves so cattle couldn’t go through. Just a little further and we could hear water rushing, but it wasn’t the falls I was looking for. We crossed the stream. It was a pretty place and we sat down and ate our snacks. There were some hikers that came up and were sitting across from us. They didn’t know what falls I was talking about.
We decided to head for the camp but to take a shortcut. That turned out to not be a smart move. We were following a beaten horse path that faded out. Soon all we could see was a couple horse prints now and then. We struggled through fighting our way through cactus and bush. Dan got the famous Cholla Jumping Cactus on his stirrups and pants. (We had forgotten to put on our chaps!) I used the cactus comb to toss them off him. When I got back on Blaze, he started twirling around and almost bucking. I decided to bail. I checked him for cactus spines, but I couldn’t see any.
After I mounted up, we continued to find a way home. It was very rough going. Dan got off Pearl and gave me the reins so he could take a look at his GPS. Pearl started rubbing her sweaty head on
Blaze, which startled him, and I lost my balance and fell off! He ran off scared. After I caught him (using Pearl as bait) we mounted up and headed off.
Finally, we got to a trail we knew and got back to camp.We hosed down the horses and Dan found a tick on Pearl. Now I know that tick did not come from the Arizona desert. She had carried it from Pennsylvania. I got out the Tick Key my son, Aaron, had given me and removed it, disinfecting the bite and the Tick Key afterward.
It seems like there is always something happening when we camp that makes a good story. I hope you enjoyed this one.
Blessings, Pam
1.
Out West Wanderings: Year 2
2.
Day #1
3.
Day #2
4.
Day #3
5.
Day #4
6.
Day #5
7.
Day #6
8.
Day #7
9.
Day #8
10.
Day #9
11.
Day #10
12.
Day #11
13.
Day #12
14.
Day #13
15.
Day #14
16.
Day #15
17.
Day #16
18.
Day #17
19.
Day #18
20.
Day #19
21.
Day #20
22.
Another non-riding day
23.
Day #21
24.
Day #22
25.
Day #23
26.
Day #24
27.
Day # 25
28.
Day #26
29.
Day #27
30.
Day #28
31.
Day #29
32.
Day #30
33.
Day #31
34.
Day #32
35.
Day #33
36.
Day #34
37.
Day #35
38.
Day #36
39.
Day #37
40.
Day #38
41.
Day #39
42.
Day #40
43.
Day #41
44.
Day #42
45.
Day #43
46.
Day #44
47.
Day #45
48.
Day #46
49.
Day #47
50.
Day #48
51.
Day #49
52.
Day #50
53.
Day #51
54.
Day #52
55.
Day #53
56.
Day # 54
57.
Day #55
58.
Day #56
59.
Day #57
60.
Day #58
61.
Day #59
62.
Day #60
63.
Day #61
64.
Day #62
Share your travel adventures like this!
Create your own travel blog in one step
Share with friends and family to follow your journey
Easy set up, no technical knowledge needed and unlimited storage!
