The Best of the West Outfitters was my bucket list trip.
I always wanted to do a pack trip into the wilderness with horses or mules in this case. We planned this for over a year and went the last week in June to Wyoming.
We were warned that it is still cold at 10,000 feet in WY and we were prepared with warm sleeping bags and layered clothing. There is still snow and snowfall in June at these elevations but it is the WIND that goes right through to your bones.
Our trip didn’t start out the way I wanted. Len and I both told them repeatedly that I needed an 18” saddle with SHORT stirrups. Bruce promised they would have one that fit me. They didn’t. The saddle I had was a 16” seat and they wanted to put ‘buddy stirrups’ on it for me. This is insulting to an accomplished rider. If your 8 years old and going on a pony ride that’s fine but not for an adult for safety reasons. After I refused, Tom found a hole punch and managed to punch enough holes in the leathers to make them short enough to ‘make do’.
Len and I expected at least a 4 hour ride to our destination and were surprised when after about 1.5 hours we arrived at camp. Len took riding lessons and looked like a true cowboy riding the trails. Camp was nice with tents set up with cots and an outhouse tent set back. We were told not to go anywhere without bear spray.
Casey and Isaac were our guides and Isaac stayed with us while Casey returned to the ranch for more supplies. We thought they would have had everything in place without a return trip. When he didn’t return on time Isaac contacted the ranch and found out Casey had been injured on the way back. He still rode back with supplies. My horse friends all understand this as with animals you just have to do what you have to do. I have first aid experience and checked him out. I presumed he had at least a cracked rib but was concerned about a bruise which could be signs of internal injury. He returned to the ranch and left Isaac in charge.
Isaac is a Mississippi boy with a really cute accent that we teased him about some. He regaled us with some wonderful hunting stories and his bull riding exploits which he was new to and all excited about. He is not the best cook as everything is cooked in oil and he didn’t know how to make coffee!!! Coffee was campfire coffee in a percolated pot so Len and Isaac worked at making coffee together. It was funny watching them try to figure it out. It didn’t turn out too bad. Isaac said we weren’t too bad for Yankees! Len and I accepted that as a compliment but told him that we are Red Sox Fans.
My feet were cold the first night so Isaac lent me an extra sleeping bag to drape over my feet. That night we had a small grizzly come visit camp while we were sleeping. Isaac scared him off but he showed us the tracks that morning. It made us more aware that we needed to be careful and always carry our bear spray. Len and I have seen enough bears on our trips that we didn’t want to see any close up.
Casey arrived with a fly fishing expert Keisling to show me how to fly fish. Len fell asleep in a chair fishing with a regular fishing pole but he did bait his own hook. I did pretty well on the fly fishing but it is a lot of work and I might just continue to fish with a regular rod so I can nap too!
The next day Isaac hiked us to a fishing spot that we might be more lucky with. Nope – no luck. Too early in the season for fish I guess. The water was nice and clean though. Hiking was more difficult than we both expected due to the altitude. We thought we were prepared because we had been hiking at 7-8000 feet. However 10,000 feet and the cold made it much more difficult. Isaac was very patient and made us feel good that we were at least able to hike. I guess they get a lot of people who fly in from sea level and expect to be able to hike but don’t understand the affects altitude has on a persons body. We returned to camp and we were supposed to have spaghetti but when Isaac looked for the noodles they were no where to be found. We made hamburger with potatoes (fried in oil of course) instead.
The next day Casey joined us. He had been to the doctor and yes he had a cracked rib and a bruised kidney. Of course this didn’t stop him from taking us on a nice long trail ride to see a couple of waterfalls and hopefully a more successful fishing spot. We didn’t really have the necessary patience to fish this day but the trail ride was nice.
Casey cooked (without oil!!) we had steak and fresh asparagus sorry Isaac but Casey is a better cook. The steak was perfect.
We packed up early the next morning because Len had to catch a flight out of Salt Lake City, Utah at 11:30 pm and it was a 6 hour drive. Casey caught all of the mules except two young mules that just did not want to get caught. He decided to let them follow us home… I think Casey was exhausted and Isaac was not as experienced with the mules.
Well to make a long story short. The young mules did not follow us home but instead ran ahead and then ran back causing all kinds of problems. Casey was fighting with the pack string because he was exhausted and had lost patience. He asked Isaac to go ahead and try to lead the two young mules home but they were more interested in causing trouble. Then we ran into a trail ride from the ranch which the young mules ran up to and spooked. No one was hurt but blood pressures were running high. Horses, mules and people all made it home safe.
Len and I had a nice long hot shower at the ranch which was heavenly after 5 days of camping and cold. Both of us found that the white towel was quite dirty after our initial showers so we opted for second showers.
I think I’m done REAL camping for a while. I forgot how much I hate the cold and snow!!!