Day # 54

The day dawned cold and damp, but with the hope of some sun. The cat hunters arrived early. They had a pack animal and two horses and about 7 dogs. They were out hunting Mountain Lion. We had seen some hunters the first day we arrived. None came back with a cat.
We had decided not to ride until it cleared up and warmed up. That meant another painting day for me. I chose to paint a closeup of a pretty green-eyed calico kitten that I had saved on the computer. I had some 12X16 inch Arches watercolor paper and a mat and frame to go with it. I made good progress on the eyes before getting ready to ride.

Our plan was to take a short ride because we wanted to make sure Pearl wasn’t overtaxed. We ended up riding to the Visitor’s Center. We couldn’t take the trail there because crossing the river was too risky. The water was deep and running fast and the bank on the other side had a 3-foot climb. When we saw that, we decided to take the road and cross the bridge the cars travel on to get to the Center. Once

there, we tied our horses to the hitching post and went inside to look around.

I ended up buying gifts for my sister, Renee, who is plant sitting my African Violets and for my son, Aaron, who is taking care of plants, chickens, our cat and our older horses, Stoney.

Then we rode the trail to the hot springs. We had to cross the river twice before we found it. There were a family of four who were trying to walk to it and didn’t know which way to go. We didn’t either and kept passing them and then turning around and riding back to find the trail.

After a couple of tries, we did find the right river crossing and there was a pool surrounded with rocks and a ditch lined with rocks that ran into the pool. The water in the pool was cooled by the river water and it was still very warm. Almost uncomfortable. I had taken off one boot and stuck my foot in.

Dan started looking for the source of the hot spring and found it up the trail a few feet. The hot, steaming water came right out of the side of the mountain, like a spring. When I was taking photos, the mother of the family following us, pointed out a cave dwelling far above the river. It was hard to imagine how the people who lived there got into the caves. The front of the dwelling was many feet below the cliff edge and about twice as far above the water.

I could see why they built it there, though. The hot springs would provide a way to wash all winter and get water if the river had ice on it.

We rode home and relaxed. We had been out about two hours and it

was almost time to fix supper. After supper, our new friends from Catalina, Vicky and Jeff, arrived. It was nice to see them again. I invited them for dessert tomorrow. I have been saving the ingredients for another Blueberry Peachy cobbler just for such an occasion.
So, tomorrow we will ride to the Cliff Dweller National Monument where we can tie up the horses and actually explore the dwelling.
Check out the blog tomorrow for some fantastic photos!

God is blessing us. Pam