Blanchett park, the lower end. Road goes to the Mosby canal diverson. From there it is Shank's mare to wherever you want to go. Last year I made 2 trip into this area. One was walking and the other was with my uncle Rollo. We took his mules and packed 2 and rode the other two. Mules had not been rode much that summer and were a little spooky. They would jump at any sudden noise. I was riding a mule, Rollo had named 2 bits. This mule had a mind of it own and I do not claim to be a champion mule rider. We had spent 3 days up high and were coming out. Two bits and I had had couple of go rounds earlier in the day with me coming out on top or at least I had stayed in the saddle. He tryed to run off with me once and another time put me thru a pine tree. Rollo had already been thrown off into the rocks in a creek so he was a little stoved up. We had just gotten to the end of the road in Blanchett park and were riding down the road at about the place this picture was taken. I was leading one of the mules with lead rope in right hand and reins in left. Since we were out on the road I decided to eat a package of M&Ms. Pulled the package out of my shirt pocket and opened it with my teeth. Holding package in my right hand I shook the package to get some into my left hand. This sudden sound caused the mule I was leading to throw up it head and jerk my right hand back. The sound and resulting movement spooked 2 bits and he took off as he thought something was after him. I was pulled back over the back of the saddle by the lead rope and had to turned it loose to get back into the saddle. Two bits was headed straight for a big pine tree and I was already way over on the right side and half off. Did not like the looks of the tree as he had already taken me thru another pine and I broke a 2 inch limb, that just cleared the saddle horn, with my big fat belly. Decided to bail off while the getting was good. Hit the ground and rolled up to about 3 feet from the base of a 2 foot diameter tree truck. As I lay there getting my breath back as I had the wind knocked out of me. Noticed that I still had the package of M&Ms in my right hand. There were a couple or three laying on the ground. I threw the rest of the package on the ground in disgust. This just proves that chocolate may be hazardous to your health.
Gathered my self up and was a little put out. Believe if it had been my mule I would have shot it on the spot and left him for the coyotes. But being he belonged to Rollo. I slowly walked to meet Rollo who had caught 2 bits and was leading him back to me. Found a rock to help me get back in the saddle and we rode 3 plus miles back to where we had left the truck and trailer. By the time we got to the truck I was so sore I could hardly get out of the saddle. Helped Rollo pull the saddles and packs off and we loaded up and come home.
I decided that the next time I came back it would be riding Shank's mare and not riding mules. This summer I have made 4 trips back into this area. Two trips to pack and cache gear and grub for future trips. One trip with my son, Guy and 2 of his boys, Jans and Denver. The final trip I made by myself. On the way out I visted my cache site to bring out some things I had left. My cache was gone. It had been found by an animal and ripped out of the tree and the entire canvas sack packed off. I hope the bear or wolf that got it likes canned peaches and corned beef. Maybe pistol ammo will be good for the digestion also. I say maybe a wolf because I had seen a wolf in that same area the summer before. What ever it was was able to get the cache out of a tree about 8 feet off the ground and pack the whole thing off. A bottle of Poweraide I had left on the ground near the base of the tree had been opened with sharp canine teeth.