sorry, people

i know it's been a while since i've posted. hey, we made it out from the pack trip mostly unharmed! just a few sore puppy paws and horse shoulders, but all in all it went right along just fine.

(this post started on wednesday, now thursday morning, that's how crazy things are here)

here's just a few of the pack trip photos, until i have time to resize and post more:

this was the second morning of our trip, on top of the pass - i forget its name - before riding south and dropping down into that drainage behind us - the dinwoody, named after a large glacier that feeds the wonderfully blue-green creek that meanders through the valley.

i took jazz with me on this trip, as it was very rocky and technical, and i try to spare april from such things anymore, as she is getting advanced in age at 17 years and has never been very nimble or level-headed, anyway.

jazz did very well, patiently navigating the rocks and paying attention to where her feet were and not panicking when she slipped. she did get quite sore by monday morning, and i was glad we had a short three-mile ride out. now she's recuperating in the pasture, and it will be mid-september before i use her again, as my weekends are busy with other activities until then.

this was morning two, after we'd ridden in, almost to the head of the dinwoody drainage. that's gannet peak in the background, to the right, with the snow on top. it's the highest point in wyoming, beating out the grand teton by a mere 80 feet. it was gorgeous up there! we tried to ride in to see the dinwoody glacier, but beyond a certain point the trail isn't maintained for stock, and it was too washed out and too many overhanging branches. worth the ride up there, nonetheless.

yesterday was spent at state fair, and the fair concert last night, which was locash cowboys and joe diffie, and today will be dedicated to finishing up all that coverage, so maybe i will post more photos tonight? tomorrow morning? i will try.

see you later!

wind river pack trip, take two!

the above photo was taken on last september's pack trip on the south end of the winds.

pretty quick here i'm headed west with the truck, trailer, horse and dog to join melissa in lander, and head to dubois for our second annual pack trip in the winds. we're leaving from the torrey valley trailhead south of dubois, a beautiful location in itself, and heading up into the wilderness, making a big loop and camping four nights. only one of my girls is coming on this trip, as my sister now has two horses and will pack her little bay quarter/arab cross. we'll pass by many peaks and glaciers, and my sister's been on the trail before and she says it's worth the ride.

see you all sometime monday!

campfire cooking

this last weekend i went camping with sister melissa and her friend sarah in an area known as buffalo creek, northwest of casper about two and a half hours and three-quarters tank of fuel. part of the reason it took so long to get there is that the road was a typical wyoming mountain road in the spring, and one had to go very slow around the bumps and rocks and through the ruts, especially since we were towing horses.

i took the dutch oven that my parents gave me for christmas, and saturday evening melissa made a really good pork pot pie type of thing in it.

at this point it was smelling really good and i snitched some of the pork. it also had apples and sweet potatoes in it, then a biscuit topping that she dropped on top of all of it.

cooking away. we had some pretty good coals, but not perfect, and we should have taken it off a little sooner because the bottom did start to burn.

and puppy lucy learned that one of the best parts of camping is that the dogs get to lick out the pots.

after melissa's two big dogs had their turn, lucy took a long while to get everything she could off the bottom.

even though it was burned, she was determined.

she did a pretty good job.

and now the pot is well-seasoned. :-)