interesting for the horses, who did not hesitate to cross, stopping just to tank up. There were also a few boggy spots and a few ledges to traverse, but none of these terrain-related obstacles were any big deal.
The area had been burned about 10 years ago, and there was a lot of deadfall on this, the Continental Divide Trail. It had been well maintained, but we speculated that the dead trees fell faster than the trail crews could saw them up. We talked to a single older male hiker early in the day – he told us that three pack horses were ahead of us. Hearing this, we wisely chose to pull off the trail for a bit and eat lunch and let the horses graze. We did not hear them go by.
Towards the day’s end we began scouting around for a campsite. We bypassed one established site that was occupied by individuals with horses – we figured that they most likely would not want to be bothered.
I envisioned us spending the night at the Welcome Home Forest Service cabin – my preference being for staying at places in which there were cabins and corrals. No matter that we most likely would not have access to the cabin – to me, such places just feel safer than do wilderness sites.
Well, we arrived, at 6-ish – and discovered ample signage. No camping signs had been posted on the cabins, on the pine trees, on the one corral, on the cabin. As Pete said, NO Camping meant No Camping. So, we left the site, and continued for the next two plus hours to look around for an equally suitable spot. None materialized. My thinking was that we could clandestine camp at Welcome Home.
Pete was not keen on the idea. We finally came up with a compromise. We could put the horses in the large corral, the one with a stock tank, and camp in the trees behind the corral. This way, we’d be out of sight. Pete reluctantly agreed, adding, “well if anyone does show up, we can explain our situation.
This is what we ended up doing. I breathed a sigh of relief as we crawled into the tent, because to me, this was preferable than staying in the outlying area, which because of the standing deadfall trees, was far more dangerous.
Next: 207. 7/28/19: Oasis |