Mustang 'n' Cowboys

DAY FIVE...
Got up at 6:00am and started feeding the horses. We were packed an down the trail by 8:00am. We had a steep climb after we crossed the creek. It took about 45 minutes to an hour to get to the top. After we got on top there was a nice trail that followed the edge of a big meadow. In about another hour we passed over Silver Pass. Just on the other side of Silver Pass was a 16 foot snow bank that the horses took very well, only the mares slipped a bit. Right after the split of the trail to the Lake of the Lone Indian, we had to cross a large pond about 150 feet across and only a foot and a half deep. We crossed it with great ease and stopped a couple of times to let the horses drink. Later on up the hill we went through a desert section that had rocks and boulders bordering each side. There was sage here and there. Before the desert section we had to come down some stairs to get to Lake of the Lone Indian, where we watered the horses. After two miles of down hill we finally came to Wilbur May Lake. After unsaddling, we turned the horses loose to graze while we fished. Tony caught one on his first cast...about 10". Then we brought the horses in. The weather wasn't looking too good, so we made ourselves a shelter. We tied some rope around a big pine tree (had to be about 5 feet across) and went 40 feet over a boulder which we built around, and tied to another tree. We had to dig a small boulder out of the way so we could put the panniers at the base of the boulder. Then we stacked the pack saddles and saddles on the west side of the boulder behind the panniers. We put the top pack on the top of the boulder which was still about a foot below the rope. We then took the small tarp and layed it over the boulder and top pack and part of the panniers. We buttoned up the back of the tarp by the boulder. In order for the big tarp to open out into a triangle shape we had to use out throwing knives and string to stretch it out right. After that we rolled out our bedrolls. Then we went and put the horses in a small pasture northeast of the camp for about 45 minutes, then tied them back up. While Tony was washing some dishes, I took our wool blankets and tied them so we had a front to our makeshift tent. We started a fire and had fish and coffee for dinner. We went into the tent and had a can of peaches and played cards till 8:00pm and then went to sleep. Travis
We left for Wilbur May Lake today. Got up around 6:00am and left by 8:00am. The climb up out of Pocket Meadow was extremely rough. I'm not looking forward to going down it. It took around 3 hours to reach Silver Pass. At the top of the pass were two lakes with a ridge running between them that the trail followed. It was very beautiful. After cresting the pass, we had to go down a 16 foot snow bank. Both mares slid a little, but all in all I was very proud of the horses. About 30 minutes down the trail was a large pond. We had been leading the horses up to this point and had to remount to cross. Just past the pond over the next small ridge was Lake of the Lone Indian. Not a bad looking lake by no means, but it was over the 10,000 foot elevation. The trail around Lake of the Lone Indian was pretty rough, so just after getting past the lake we dismounted and started walking again. Near as I can figure, I walked 2 1/2 miles leading the horses to Wilber May Lake. About 10 minutes from the lake we past a couple of female hikers that took a picture of Kate "because she got to them ahead of us." After we passed Trav thinks he saw them take a picture of us. We reached Wilber May Lake around 1:00pm and found a campsite at the beginning of the lake that served our purposes. After untacking everyone, we ran a rope between two trees and hung our large tarp over it to make a shelter. We drove our throwing knives into the ground to use as stakes. Our gear we put in back up against a large rock and hung the small tarp over it. After hanging our wool blankets on the front of the shelter, we had a pretty wind proof shelter. The horses had been turned loose this whole time. After tying up the horses we did a little fishing. I caught a 10 inch trout on my first cast. I put it on a string line for dinner that night. I got a couple more bites before I lost my lure on a rock. I cut my line and tied it around a rock so I could try and reclaim it the next day. After fishing we turned the horses loose again for around 45 minutes or so. Upon retying them we had a dinner of fish, a can of peaches and coffee. Before going to bed we watered the horses, played rummy until around 8:00pm and then went to bed. Tony