We’d done a good job route planning—we’d bypassed Calgary and Edmonton, and therefore we had not had to deal with much traffic. What we did have to deal with in Denver was a bit over the top: our creeping along at a snail’s place for three hours.

Finding Andrea’s was a bit tricky—we first drove up two dirt roads, none of which corresponded with the directions of a nearby restaurant owner. We returned in order to get more specifics, and as we were entering the building, we saw Andrea walking alongside Pat, Pete’s brother. Pat had come from Ojai, CA to give us an assist. He’ll drive the trailer until we and the horses get used to life on the trail.

On the way up to Andrea’s, (which required us to go through several gates) we caught sight of her herd –her two stallions and geldings are kept in one large pasture and the mares are kept in another. Signy was up near her cabin. My first impression was that the bay mare was a bit on the skittish side. But looking at her, I got the sense that the strong, well muscled individual will be a good pack horse. We released Raudi and Siggi into a pasture and they both ran off in order to check the place out. After a bit, they settled down and began grazing.