Shouldn't a Cowboy Go With Ya? (part 2)

After reaching the valley floor, we approached several tamarisk trees.  These are everywhere.  There are also so many cattle trails throughout the valley floor that it is sometimes hard to know if you're on the actual trail.  The trees are often very close together with branches hanging low and barely enough room for you and your horse to pass through.  I quickly learned how important chaps and a long sleeve shirt were.  I was also very grateful to be wearing a hat.

In a particularly narrow passage, I knew Ebony would want to keep up with the horse in front of her and her anxiety of passing through those trees would be done swiftly.  I could either wrestle with her or just tuck my head in close to her neck and hold on.  I chose the latter.  A branch still managed to take my hat off.

Todd on his horse, Pedro.  This is early into the ride just as we descended into the valley.  

Shortly after we had reached the valley floor and were approaching the river, we noticed a slot canyon that veered off of the trail.  Being the inexperienced cowboys that we were, we decided to explore.  As we rode into the canyon, I reminded the guys that early Native Americans would lure people into those box canyons and kill them from above.  They all laughed and I chuckled to myself uneasily as I continued to watch for any movement above us.

The canyon continued to narrow to the point it was impassable for the horses.  I was happy to advise them, "that's all she wrote folks."  We had to back up the horses to the point where we could turn around.

As we were leaving the canyon, Ebony tripped over a large boulder and collapsed.  She managed to wedge her body between the canyon walls.  I realized my legs were pinned.  I think I muttered to the others, "go on without me and don't let Todd sing at my funeral."  I think Ebony had also heard Todd sing and decided she wasn't going to die there.  She managed to push herself up and walked out.  No harm, no foul.

This is Matt riding Sunny.  Matt was the least experienced rider.  You wouldn't know it.  He managed to stay on his horse at times he should have come off.  More about that later....

This particular ride, there are about 15 river crossings.  This time of year the water is at its highest.  The water is a bit chalky and deceptively deep in places.  It is important to find the right place to cross.  There were times we hadn't found the ford and the mud would pull the horses in deeper.  What initially looked like the water would only come up to the hock would soon be water to their underbellies.  The horses would launch themselves forward and somehow manage to pull themselves out of the mud.  With each water crossing I found myself gritting my teeth.

I thought this was a pretty picture with the sage brush leading up to the green trees and the red rock as a backdrop.

As the canyon narrows, the tamarisk trees become less abundant and the cattle trails converge into a single good trail.  It took some time to realize this so we decided to stop for a few minutes to allow the horses to rest and to gather our bearings.

This is where we stopped to allow the horses to rest and to stretch our legs.  We spent the next hour trying to figure out where the best river crossing would be.  The actual trail to ford the river was a steep, narrow crevice that seemed too difficult for the horses to get through.

 From here we spent a lot of time trying to figure out where to ford the river.  We could tell most of the access points were going to be troublesome and too deep for the horses.  The actual trail where the best crossing would be had a steep embankment, but the crevice was too narrow for the horses to go down.  We circled this area for about an hour before finding a place that was still less than ideal for crossing, but we managed.

At one point, before crossing the river, we found the Sorrel Mule Mine.  It is situated about 60 feet above the west side of the river at the top of a large pile of yellow tailings just 200 yards below the third river ford.  I later learned that copper was briefly extracted from the mine in 1898.  Amazingly, the shaft penetrates some 2000 feet into the mountain.

Todd and Matt explored the mine first.  They encouraged Eric and I to check it out.  This is Eric just before going into the shaft.

We walked several hundred feet into the mine before turning around.  Just before exiting, I took a picture looking out from the inside.

I've been on horse trips with Todd before, and on that particular trip we rode into a very dark, moonless night.  I packed a flashlight just in case we were in a situation of riding in the dark again.  The flashlight came in handy to allow us to go deep into the mine.  It is a little eerie to go so far into a mountain.  Not even the flashlight provided a lot of comfort.  There is a darkness inside that penetrates your very core.

To be continued......