Camp Kingsbury, 2025. No horses were lost in the woods.

By Patty Wilber

The aspens were at their peak when we arrived at the Cruces Basin trail head.  The deep yellow leaves whispered above the white barked trunks and drifted to the ground like thin gold coins in the light rain that was falling.

As we dropped down in the Cruces Creek, we could see the aspens carpeting the slopes of the Basin in solid gold swathes in some areas and interspersed with the deep green of the spruce and fir in others. There were a few deep red aspen tossed in for variety.

Jim about to drop into the Basin last Thursday. The aspens were amazing.

Me on LT, riding out of base camp among the aspen. Photo by Jim.

The hunting was not so great this year.  No elk (Kingsburys), no grouse (Jim and me), and rain every day, sometimes for hours. Fortunately, both set-up and pack-out rides were in dry spells.  Of course, when it wasn’t raining, it was generally very windy!

Fortunately, our backcountry camp had the important amenities:  A wall tent and a wood stove.  This provided an important refuge and place to dry out. Also, it was weirdly warm, even at night.  We never had freezing temperatures even though we were camped at 10,000+ feet.

The one evening it was dry, we had a campfire. Photo by Jim.

Jim and I were camp hosts, so we were in charge of the five mules and three horses.  They were high-lined.  I packed in two rain sheets, and Penny and Cometa both wore one for a bit because they both (at different times) were shivering due to the persistent soaking!  The mules did not shiver.

One of the jobs of camp host is to take the animals to water twice a day. We did not lose any animals, but Penny and LT tried to give us heart attacks!

The dirt stock tank is about a quarter of a mile from the camp.  All the animals have been to elk camp, so you’d think they all understood the process, which is to have one of the mule herd and one of the equine herd on a lead.  The others are turned loose and follow the “leader” to the tank and back.  Except, they don’t exactly follow. They fall behind to roll. Then they leap up and charge around. One or more will veer off into the trees. They run around the tank and hide behind the berm.

It always makes me nervous to let so many loose in the wilderness (because I like to catastrophize), and who wants to have to post a “I lost my horse in the wilderness” plea on Facebook?!

First we had John, one of the mule herd, on a lead, because he has had a tendency to want to eat instead of move along to drink, but it turned out that Leo was a bit of an independent thinker and kept taking the other three mules at little farther afield than we liked, so after two or so trips, we switched having Leo on the lead.  This kept the mule herd more cohesive.

Cometa is 28 this year, and at that age, one never really knows how many more trips to the back country he will have. He has loved running with the mules, and he does like to have his mares in order, so we allowed him to go for it. It was fun to see him channelling his younger self, galloping through the meadows! LT never likes to be alone. When she was younger, she would barely even eat unless she had company, so we allowed her to run, too.

On the way to the tank, with Penny on a lead. Cometa hanging with one of his mule buddies.  Leo, I think.

That worked, but we felt a little sorry for Penny because being on a highline is pretty boring and the animals really seem to have fun on the runs, so, against my better judgement, on the last evening, we decided to keep Cometa on line and let Penny run both ways. Cometa generally does a great job of calling to our mares (with loud, desperate-sounding whinnies) when they get too far away from him, so we thought he ought to be a good magnet.

When we get to the tank, Penny promptly goes to the far side, taking LT with her. I begin to panic. Then, she comes back and they both drink. I relax, but only for a moment because in the next moment, Penny takes LT and starts walking directly away from camp.

Penny drinking like a good horse, briefly, before making her move!

Oh man.

Jim gives me Leo, who has wonderful ground manners, and I immediately start heading to camp with Cometa and Leo because one of the mules, William, was contemplating going with the mares. Fortunately, the other three mules come with Leo.  William joins us, and not the Wayward Duo. Jim follows the girls.  Unfortunately, it is coming on to dusk, it is starting to rain, and while Jim has a rainjacket on, he has no headlamp and no radio.  But surely the mares will start to graze and he will catch them…I push the pace back.

Cometa fails to call AT ALL as we head back.  He apparently is perfectly happy walking along with me and Leo, and the other four mules nearby.  He must think the girls are coming too. I get back to camp.  All the mules go directly to the highline instead of loitering in the meadow like usual, so Amber gets them hooked up.

When I clip Cometa to the horse high line, he finally realizes his mares are missing and sets up a racket. On his second or third call, I hear a distant answering whinny, and then Penny and LT come thundering into camp.

Jim had followed them another half a mile away from the tank (toward the trucks).  LT kept looking at him.  She was not totally on board with Penny’s plan and came to him, so he was able to catch hold of her halter. But then Penny came storming by and LT reared, causing him to lose his grip.  Free again, they both made big sweeping runs back and forth in front of him, until they wound down a little and began to head slightly toward camp.  At that point, we think they heard Cometa (who was FINALLY calling) and they raced to him.

I went to look for Jim (only as far as the pond) because I was worried that the horses had eluded him and he was still searching for them, not realizing they’d returned. Fortunately, I had just missed him as he’d gone through the trees to camp.  When he learned I’d gone looking for him, he doubled back and we met up.

I was relieved the horses returned (and I didn’t have to post a FB plea), but I was even happier that Jim was back and not vainly searching for those idiots in the darkening evening and rain!

All the wind and rain stripped a lot of aspens of their leaves.  Here are a few more photos.

Compare to the first photo. Same view, six days later. A lot less gold.

Richard and a string of four mules. The aspens are bare.

The New Mexico sky can be so blue. Aspens are bare, but the trunks are still so beautiful!

Happy Friday!