Tuesday, July 25, 2006
travelogue:
DAY NINE (early morning) Wow! Here in this part of Saskatchewan we are still on Mountain time...I got up at 5:30 this morning (Grant was already up) and saw that it was already fully daylight out when I peeked out of the light-blocking drapes of the patio door of our hotel room.
If my computer battery will hold up (and my eyes aren't too heavy...stayed up until almost 1:00am this morning and was wide awake again at 5:30am), I will write new entries for each day of our trip thus far and post them chronologically tonight when we reach our next hotel (internet accessibility!).
After I posted the text of yesterday's post, I began sorting through the 3,800 photos we had of the actual pack trip portion of our vacation (that figure is not counting our photos before and since the three day pack trip!) to find a few photos to put with the post. As I did so, I discovered some things about our trip that I missed when it was actually happening! I was near the front of the line-up when we packed in. (Right behind the leader, our sweet cook, Isabel, who was leading Doug's pony, Pete.) I never realized until I looked at the photos last night why it was that one of our group needed to lead Rayna's pony, rather than one of the two guides leading her. Isabel was already leading Doug's pony--that much I already realized--and you cannot lead two ponies who have riders at once (not safely). All this time I have thought Brittany didn't lead Rayna's pony simply because she didn't want to be bothered with it (which is why later, when she was adamant that a parent could NOT lead Rayna's pony, I was really annoyed). Wrong! While getting everyone lined up to begin our trek into the back country, Brittany had ridden up leading Rayna. Rayna's pony, Nada, was being a mess and wrapped herself around behind Zappy and under his tail so Brittany had to drop the lead rope momentarily. Being the closest rider, I had leaned down and picked it up to hand it to her. Then is when Isabel had asked if I could lead Rayna. I had said "Sure." But, then Brittany had pointed out that they hadn't ever used Snickers to lead before...that Rocky (Grant's horse) had been a guide horse with his former owners and would be a wiser choice for leading another pony. So, I was told to give Grant the lead rope. Grant's horse was being a mess...very obstinate and uncooperative...and Grant wasn't accustomed to riding regularly. I really thought that having the added responsibility of dealing with Nada (who clearly was not the jewel Pete (Doug's mount) was) was really going to stress out my husband (who had never wanted to get on the back of a horse and go into grizzly country and CAMP to begin with and was only there out of love for his wife)! So, a few minutes later when Nada wrapped himself around Rocky, forcing Grant to drop the lead rope, I rode over and picked up the dropped lead and took over leading Rayna's pony from that point on, until Caleb caught up with us when we stopped at the lake for lunch. (Caleb had been delayed because the food--packed on two horses--was not ready to leave when we were.) After meeting up with us at lunch, Caleb strung the two horses and Brittany's two mules (which had our personal stuff) together and took them the rest of the way and that is when Brittany took over leading Rayna's pony...telling me for the first time that really parents weren't ever suppose to lead their kids' ponies. What I didn't realize until I looked at the photos last night was that Brittany spent the first leg of our journey leading the two pack mules...THAT is why she could not lead Rayna's pony. She was the last one in our line and I was at the front (right behind the other guide, Isabel who was leading Doug's pony), so I never SAW Brittany during the trip in and I didn't realize she was leading the two mules. Duh! I didn't notice the two laden mules until later when they were in Caleb's string....even though I shot the photos that clearly SHOW the two mules being led by Brittany! How can that be?...well, I shot a great deal of photos over my shoulder without being able to see the screen at all when shooting...just taking it on faith that I would capture the action and people behind me! It worked great! I LOVE my camera!!! I got great photos BEHIND me, even while leading cantankerous, rotten old NADA. And now, I know the "rest of the story" as I finally get a chance, for the first time to really SEE those photos!
Well, Grant is nudging me to get off the computer and get ready to head out again, so, I will stop for now!.... ¶ 7/25/2006 04:45:00 AM
DAY NINE (early morning) Wow! Here in this part of Saskatchewan we are still on Mountain time...I got up at 5:30 this morning (Grant was already up) and saw that it was already fully daylight out when I peeked out of the light-blocking drapes of the patio door of our hotel room.
If my computer battery will hold up (and my eyes aren't too heavy...stayed up until almost 1:00am this morning and was wide awake again at 5:30am), I will write new entries for each day of our trip thus far and post them chronologically tonight when we reach our next hotel (internet accessibility!).
After I posted the text of yesterday's post, I began sorting through the 3,800 photos we had of the actual pack trip portion of our vacation (that figure is not counting our photos before and since the three day pack trip!) to find a few photos to put with the post. As I did so, I discovered some things about our trip that I missed when it was actually happening! I was near the front of the line-up when we packed in. (Right behind the leader, our sweet cook, Isabel, who was leading Doug's pony, Pete.) I never realized until I looked at the photos last night why it was that one of our group needed to lead Rayna's pony, rather than one of the two guides leading her. Isabel was already leading Doug's pony--that much I already realized--and you cannot lead two ponies who have riders at once (not safely). All this time I have thought Brittany didn't lead Rayna's pony simply because she didn't want to be bothered with it (which is why later, when she was adamant that a parent could NOT lead Rayna's pony, I was really annoyed). Wrong! While getting everyone lined up to begin our trek into the back country, Brittany had ridden up leading Rayna. Rayna's pony, Nada, was being a mess and wrapped herself around behind Zappy and under his tail so Brittany had to drop the lead rope momentarily. Being the closest rider, I had leaned down and picked it up to hand it to her. Then is when Isabel had asked if I could lead Rayna. I had said "Sure." But, then Brittany had pointed out that they hadn't ever used Snickers to lead before...that Rocky (Grant's horse) had been a guide horse with his former owners and would be a wiser choice for leading another pony. So, I was told to give Grant the lead rope. Grant's horse was being a mess...very obstinate and uncooperative...and Grant wasn't accustomed to riding regularly. I really thought that having the added responsibility of dealing with Nada (who clearly was not the jewel Pete (Doug's mount) was) was really going to stress out my husband (who had never wanted to get on the back of a horse and go into grizzly country and CAMP to begin with and was only there out of love for his wife)! So, a few minutes later when Nada wrapped himself around Rocky, forcing Grant to drop the lead rope, I rode over and picked up the dropped lead and took over leading Rayna's pony from that point on, until Caleb caught up with us when we stopped at the lake for lunch. (Caleb had been delayed because the food--packed on two horses--was not ready to leave when we were.) After meeting up with us at lunch, Caleb strung the two horses and Brittany's two mules (which had our personal stuff) together and took them the rest of the way and that is when Brittany took over leading Rayna's pony...telling me for the first time that really parents weren't ever suppose to lead their kids' ponies. What I didn't realize until I looked at the photos last night was that Brittany spent the first leg of our journey leading the two pack mules...THAT is why she could not lead Rayna's pony. She was the last one in our line and I was at the front (right behind the other guide, Isabel who was leading Doug's pony), so I never SAW Brittany during the trip in and I didn't realize she was leading the two mules. Duh! I didn't notice the two laden mules until later when they were in Caleb's string....even though I shot the photos that clearly SHOW the two mules being led by Brittany! How can that be?...well, I shot a great deal of photos over my shoulder without being able to see the screen at all when shooting...just taking it on faith that I would capture the action and people behind me! It worked great! I LOVE my camera!!! I got great photos BEHIND me, even while leading cantankerous, rotten old NADA. And now, I know the "rest of the story" as I finally get a chance, for the first time to really SEE those photos!
Well, Grant is nudging me to get off the computer and get ready to head out again, so, I will stop for now!.... ¶ 7/25/2006 04:45:00 AM
