December 4, 2022 9:22.Camp cooking, snow, and horses

Camp cooking, snow, and horses

Hot Water for Breakfast. Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

While I was getting breakfast ready, it started to snow. You can just see my tarp draped over the hammock in the background of the picture.

Even with the extra air holes, this wood burner is still smoking a fair bit. I think I’ll draw a line under this experiment and go back to the heavier but better Nano Firebox.

I spent the morning idling in my hammock, enjoying the solitude, and slowly breaking down my camp. With no intention of setting off before 2 p.m. I had plenty of time for multiple hot drinks and then to make lunch.

I was settling down to eat some summer sausage and hot noodles when I heard more movement on the trail. This time it was a group of horses. I watched them snake their way down the trail across the hollow from my camp. Instead of heading off toward Mary Hollow, they turned right and headed toward the spring. Remembering the trail blazes I’d seen yesterday, I expected them to climb up my side of the hollow about 50 yards downhill from where I was camped. I sat and watched their progress with interest and then surprise as they headed straight up the hill to where I was camped.

If you’ve read any of my previous trip reports, you’ll know that I’m totally incompetent at trail chit-chat, let alone passing the time of day with a group of eight people on horseback. However, apart from startling the lead horse by waving my arms about a bit too enthusiastically (I’ve spent many hours in the saddle in my time and ought to know better), it seemed to go quite well with questions about my hammock and the weather, and none about where I was from — it is amazing how tiresome those questions become.

After a few minutes, they carried on up the side of the hollow, confirming my suspicion that there was a passable route northwest(-ish) from the spring up to the McGarr Ridge Trail. I forgot to ask where they’d started from, but I presumed either the Hwy CC Trailhead or the Collins Ridge Trailhead, and they were heading back via the McGarr Ridge and Collin’s Ridge Trails.

I finished my lunch, packed everything away, and headed off in the opposite direction towards Mary Hollow and my final hike of the trip.

Copyright © 2022 Gary Allman, all rights reserved.

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