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We hiked in the river a lot.
Sometimes when we didn't hike in the river it felt like we were in the jungle.
I found a dinosaur footprint!
And here we had our first major adventure. You can't see it in the photo (and because of what ensued I neglected to take one later), but just beyond that alcove, Phil spotted a large donut hole in the rock that was just low enough for him to climb up and sit in it for a photo shoot. I thought Finn could probably jump up there and join him as well. Finn wasn't so sure and walked over to the sandy spit of beach you can just see at the right edge of the photo. Sputnik followed Finn but he must have taken a slightly different path because all of a sudden he went down to his chest in quicksand.
It happened in the blink of an eye. Phil jumped down from his perch while I raced across the creek to help our sinking buddy. I grabbed the leash attached to Sputnik's halter, untied it from his saddle, and pulled. Phil grabbed Sputnik's collar and also pulled. Sputnik didn't budge. He was struggling a little but could hardly move. His pack weighed about 40 lbs. and probably more now that it was wet. Phil and I pulled a couple more times to no avail and I was starting to feel panicky.
"Phil, we need to unload him!" I said.
We both began fumbling with the straps when Sputnik gave a mighty heave and suddenly he was out! Sputnik and I rushed over to the beach where Finn had been standing and chewing his cud very unconcernedly. I quickly re-fastened the few straps on Sputnik's pack that Phil and I had managed to unhook before he dislodged himself. Then I turned to look for Phil. He was still standing there in the spot where Sputnik had been and one foot was knee-deep in sand. Phil was stuck in the same quicksand that had trapped Sputnik!
Phil was stuck fast. The sand had created a suction and wouldn't allow his foot to come out even when he pulled on the rope I handed him. He thought he could free his foot if he slipped it out of his sandal, but we didn't want to lose that shoe at the bottom of a creek with miles to walk in either direction! I tried to break the suction by working a stick into the sand under his foot, but it didn't help. The stick just threatened to break. So Phil and I used our hands to shovel sand out of the hole until eventually Phil was able to pass a rope through his sandal. I pulled the rope, hoping to release both Phil and his sandal, but the sandal broke! Phil had put the rope through one of the pull tabs instead of through the sandal straps. Phil dug down once more and after a lot of effort he finally managed to wiggle the rope under one of the big sandal straps. He pulled his foot out and then both of us pulled on the sandal but it wouldn't budge. I could feel the strap stretching and I was afraid we would break it. So I got down on my hands and knees in the water and dug more sand out of the hole while Phil pulled on the rope. Suddenly the sandal popped out of the water! It was not broken. We were very relieved!
I left the stick in the quicksand hole to warn future hikers. What a scare! I'm glad we didn't lose Phil, his shoe, or my goat down there!
I was wet, Sputnik's saddle rigging was full of chafing sand, and his panniers were wet, but we were all ok and the camera had only gotten damp. I had remembered to remove my hip pouch before going into the water to help Phil, so nothing important got soaked. A short time later, just as I was beginning to dry off, I slipped on some moss and soaked my entire left side. I was laughing until I noticed my hip pouch was full of water and the camera was bobbing around. I fished it out and handed it sadly to Phil, then dumped my hip pouch out. Soggy goat treats plopped into the creek.
Thankfully we soon made it to our planned camping spot and since no one else was there it was a fairly relaxing evening. I had to wash all of Sputnik's gear and hang it up to dry along with my pants. We pitched our tent on a comfortable piece of of sand and ate a delicious dinner of beef stew. I made Finn and Sputnik comfortable under a large cottonwood tree where they had plenty of fresh and dried leaves to eat and comfy sand to bed down in. As Phil and I were climbing into our tent, we looked around and noticed a lot of jewel-like things glittering in our headlamps. They were beautiful! On closer inspection they were cute, tiny little spiders. They were everywhere! It's a good thing neither of us is afraid of spiders!
Sometimes when we didn't hike in the river it felt like we were in the jungle.
I found a dinosaur footprint!
And here we had our first major adventure. You can't see it in the photo (and because of what ensued I neglected to take one later), but just beyond that alcove, Phil spotted a large donut hole in the rock that was just low enough for him to climb up and sit in it for a photo shoot. I thought Finn could probably jump up there and join him as well. Finn wasn't so sure and walked over to the sandy spit of beach you can just see at the right edge of the photo. Sputnik followed Finn but he must have taken a slightly different path because all of a sudden he went down to his chest in quicksand.
It happened in the blink of an eye. Phil jumped down from his perch while I raced across the creek to help our sinking buddy. I grabbed the leash attached to Sputnik's halter, untied it from his saddle, and pulled. Phil grabbed Sputnik's collar and also pulled. Sputnik didn't budge. He was struggling a little but could hardly move. His pack weighed about 40 lbs. and probably more now that it was wet. Phil and I pulled a couple more times to no avail and I was starting to feel panicky.
"Phil, we need to unload him!" I said.
We both began fumbling with the straps when Sputnik gave a mighty heave and suddenly he was out! Sputnik and I rushed over to the beach where Finn had been standing and chewing his cud very unconcernedly. I quickly re-fastened the few straps on Sputnik's pack that Phil and I had managed to unhook before he dislodged himself. Then I turned to look for Phil. He was still standing there in the spot where Sputnik had been and one foot was knee-deep in sand. Phil was stuck in the same quicksand that had trapped Sputnik!
Phil was stuck fast. The sand had created a suction and wouldn't allow his foot to come out even when he pulled on the rope I handed him. He thought he could free his foot if he slipped it out of his sandal, but we didn't want to lose that shoe at the bottom of a creek with miles to walk in either direction! I tried to break the suction by working a stick into the sand under his foot, but it didn't help. The stick just threatened to break. So Phil and I used our hands to shovel sand out of the hole until eventually Phil was able to pass a rope through his sandal. I pulled the rope, hoping to release both Phil and his sandal, but the sandal broke! Phil had put the rope through one of the pull tabs instead of through the sandal straps. Phil dug down once more and after a lot of effort he finally managed to wiggle the rope under one of the big sandal straps. He pulled his foot out and then both of us pulled on the sandal but it wouldn't budge. I could feel the strap stretching and I was afraid we would break it. So I got down on my hands and knees in the water and dug more sand out of the hole while Phil pulled on the rope. Suddenly the sandal popped out of the water! It was not broken. We were very relieved!
I left the stick in the quicksand hole to warn future hikers. What a scare! I'm glad we didn't lose Phil, his shoe, or my goat down there!
I was wet, Sputnik's saddle rigging was full of chafing sand, and his panniers were wet, but we were all ok and the camera had only gotten damp. I had remembered to remove my hip pouch before going into the water to help Phil, so nothing important got soaked. A short time later, just as I was beginning to dry off, I slipped on some moss and soaked my entire left side. I was laughing until I noticed my hip pouch was full of water and the camera was bobbing around. I fished it out and handed it sadly to Phil, then dumped my hip pouch out. Soggy goat treats plopped into the creek.
Thankfully we soon made it to our planned camping spot and since no one else was there it was a fairly relaxing evening. I had to wash all of Sputnik's gear and hang it up to dry along with my pants. We pitched our tent on a comfortable piece of of sand and ate a delicious dinner of beef stew. I made Finn and Sputnik comfortable under a large cottonwood tree where they had plenty of fresh and dried leaves to eat and comfy sand to bed down in. As Phil and I were climbing into our tent, we looked around and noticed a lot of jewel-like things glittering in our headlamps. They were beautiful! On closer inspection they were cute, tiny little spiders. They were everywhere! It's a good thing neither of us is afraid of spiders!