Aaaaand Biting Goats

Pretty much I quit my jobs 3 weeks before school started again and went on lots of fun trips.

Red Castle Pack Trip 2012

A few years ago... okay maybe longer than that. Maybe more like 2006?! Wow! Doesn't seem like that long ago. Aaaaanyway, my dad loves the mountains. He's been on a million pack trips and this particular year he decided to invite his girls to go too! Meg and I packed up our saddlebags and off we went! We had so many fun adventures on that trip. My crazy horse Edna probably accounted for 98 percent of those adventures. We went to Red Castle (in the Uintas) and camped by the lower lake. We stayed for 4 days, fishing (we caught TONS!) riding, playing cards and having campfire chats. I was hooked after that trip. Despite my whining about the cold weather and the long horse ride at times... I loved that trip. I've been on a few more since then and loved each one just the same. You can't beat the scenery, the fresh air, the horsies and the company. This past August (2012) we hooked up our trailer and were off again. This time with Mom, Dad, Kelv, me and Timtam. Red Castle was the place of choice again. The ride wasn't so long as I'd remembered and it was warmer too :) We enjoyed ourselves completely, eating Mountain House meals, chopping wood, taking rides to a different lake each day to fish, and reminiscing around the fire. Those red mountains are GORGEOUS. I love how untouched it is way up there, and I loved showing Tim what the mountains and horses are all about. 

Packing up at the trailhead!
Takes forever. My dad mostly does it.
Not so bad for me.
Those horsies are strrrong!

First time on a horse!
He did so well! He was a pro by the time we were done.

We're off! :)

Kelv

See that mountain clear back there in the back ground?
That's where we're headed!

Dad and Kelv almost to the upper Red Castle Lake.
Ready for a day of fishing, mountain goat watching,
and napping on the shore!

Dad, Tim, Kelv, Me

Above the treeline!

Upper Red castle lake

My fishie!

Taking a water break

Aw!

No pictures could do all these places justice. Truly majestic.

Other lake... can't remember the name.

See those dark clouds?
We got SOAKED this day! Poured rain much of the time we were
fishing and all of the ride back to camp.

I could have sworn I had pictures of my mom riding too. Guess not? But she was such a champ. She didn't want to ride much, so she hiked most of the time we went anywhere, including packing in and out. It was so fun to have her there. It was so fun for all of us to be there! I was so glad Tim thoroughly enjoyed it. He spent a lot of time up close and personal with my family that week and he still went through with our marriage a month later :) Or maybe it was the other way around and my family was testing this "city" boy's skills to see if they would allow the wedding the following month? Either way, he passed with flying colors and can't wait for our next trip!

A few memorable moments from the trip:

• Tim sitting down on a log for the first time after our 12 mile ride in. "ooooooooof! ooooh!"
• Kelv and Tim playing a monstrous game of 'Who Will Give Up First: Naming All the Sports in the World' on our rainy/cold ride back to camp.
• Tim and I wandering around below our camp and finding this huge and amazing rock structure we climbed all over. Then laying in the grass at the bottom of the red mountains, staring a billion feet up in perfect amazement at God's creations. 
• Tim and Kelv and not really me trying to chop down this huge dead tree. Maybe next year.
• Talking about hunting stories for hours, around the campfire, beneath a million stars.
• Quoting YouTube videos, especially the Neature Walk series. "aaaand biting goats." was probably the most said phrase of the trip.
• ***On our way out, during the boardwalk part of the trail, there was a huge huge huge mud pit we had to cross. Horses don't like sketchy situations like that. Well, my dad went across first, and his horse seriously sank into mud up to its rear end. Good thing horses are strong and fast movers. Well that spooked the rest of the horses, so I found a different, less muddy route and took Tim and me and our horses through there. My mom happened to be riding at the time but dared not cross while riding. She wanted to walk. So, Kelv (who had been walking) said he would ride Loverboy across. Well. It was a good idea. hahahahaha I turn around just after I crossed to see Kelv swing his leg over Loverboy, and Loverboy SHOOT out from under him and across the mud pit. Kelv went FLYING in a peanut-roll motion and landed fully in the mud! I could not contain my laughter, I was dying! He shot back up, covered in mud from head to toe and gave us the wave to let us know there was no injury. Oh my heck! How I wish I had this on video. Luckily, the image will never leave my head :)
• Coming back from fishing on the rainy day, we had to cross a few small streams. Again, horses don't like sticky situations like streams, mud pits, swamps and so forth. They tend to jump over rather than walk through. So I braced myself for the jump as we came to this particular stream. I did not, however, brace quite well enough, for as old Dusty and I landed on the other side, I was now wrapped around his neck. My face close to his, my belly on his mane. 
• Seeing my mom and dad ride double on Cheif :) So cute. 
• When we would let the horses go at their own pace and found ourselves flying up the hills, feeling like a movie scene!
• Tim forgetting to pay attention, or something? Not sure what happened here but his horse ran him full on into a grove of trees, complete with low branches :)
• Me getting kicked in the foot/ankle by Tim's horse! Ornery thing!
• Chief going nutso when I was putting his hobbles around his neck, ripping the tree/bush out right from it's roots and carrying it swinging, still attached to his rope as he galloped away! Don't worry, he came back. Oh ponies. The adventures they put us through. I love them :)
• As is tradition, my dad takes everyone who survives to Pizza Hut for pizza and rootbeer on the way home (Dirty as ever!). If he happens not to survive we are to take his credit card and still go out for pizza. 

My mom reminded us all of the saying, "There is nothing better for the inside of a man than the outside of a horse."