We woke up to discover that it was both raining and snowing. Water bottles iced over. A thin coating of snow was on the packs. Both Pete and I were eager to get going, so we didn’t fire up the cook stove. No breakfast tea, no oatmeal. Instead, we ate Raisin Bran; the cold milk giving me a chill.

We headed back down Gnarly Trail, me riding Raudi and ponying Signy, and Pete riding Siggi. We came to a creek crossing, and Raudi, Signy, and I took off too soon, and Pete, who didn’t yet have his reins in hand, clung to dear life on Siggi, who skittered across the slippery rocks to keep up with his buddies. We were extremely lucky. I was again reminded how important it is to make sure that we all stick together, especially when crossing creeks. Minutes later, Signy snagged her load on a tree. This was an unusual occurrence; Signy rarely bumped trees. We had to get off, tie the horses to trees, and readjust her load.

We again stopped for lunch at the Gold Creek Campground, where Raudi resumed eating dandelions. After lunch, we went back down-road, keeping an eye out for the illusive Comanche Campground, which we never found. We stopped on the outskirts of Ohio City, and tied the horses to roadside trees. I picked dandelion greens and fed them to Raudi. Pete walked over to the general store, and discovered that it was closed.

Ohio City

Willow Creek Campsite --Siggi Rolling

We remounted and rode on. I laughed, seeing a building sign that read “City of Ohio City Hall.” Nice redundancy here. We continued along the roadway for about a mile, me nervous about the narrow shoulder. My fears were for naught because only one car passed us. Finally, we turned right and went up the Willow Creek Road and spotted what turned out to be one of the trip’s best campsites. It was an enclosed area with plenty of grass, a creek, and an old cabin, good for stashing gear and hanging up tack. We found cow bones, bleached white by the sun.

Next: Dispatch #35: Rainbow’s Job Description