On Thursday, I woke up around 6:00 and headed up the road at 7:00 to run the horses back into the corrals and prepare for my morning day rides. Mom and Ms. Yvonne woke up after I left and strolled to the bakery and back for their morning walk. My day ride was full with four adults and two kids…a good group for sure. The weather was nice with the wind blowing a bit and the sun shining…definitely a perfect day for a day ride with the horses. At 11:15 “the moms” got on the shuttle bus to head up to the ranch to meet Steven and I for lunch and prepare for the afternoon day ride they were going on. Just as I was finishing my morning ride and untacking the horses, they arrived at the ranch…perfect timing I must say. We all ate lunch at Monica’s house and Steven was even able to join us before he started his afternoon raft trip. Lunch was chicken salad sandwiches on croissants that I prepared the night before. After lunch, I headed down to the corrals and started catching horses again to prepare for the afternoon ride. “The moms” came down and took some pictures and watched as I caught and tacked 6 horses. Both of “the moms” were going on the ride and another family of 3….a mom, a dad, and their son…and me as the guide. After everyone arrived and waivers were signed, I matched everyone up to a horse and adjusted stirrups to fit so they would be comfortable for the ride. We started down the trail and the weather was perfect…yet again…with the wind blowing just enough to keep the dust out of our faces. I was telling them about Stehekin and the area and different animals we sometimes see on the trail rides. The young boy, Riley, told me about a bear they had seen while hiking into Stehekin from Hwy 20 over Rainy Pass. I told him about the few bears I had seen here in hopes that we may catch a glimpse of one on the ride. Next thing you know, we rounded a curve in the trail and there was a black bear with two small cubs in the middle of the trail. The momma bear proceeded to move the bears off the side of the trail….one climbed up a tree and the other watched from the ground. They continued on about their business as we talked and rode by…everyone excited to have seen them all. We continued to Coon Lake, the destination for the trail ride, and took a short break there. On the way back we were trying to remember exactly where we had spotted the first set of bears…everyone was debating on the location as we came up a small hill and saw….another bear with one small cub. It was definitely a different set of bears as the cub was much smaller and not even big enough to climb up the tree. We waited for about ten minutes as they crossed the trail to the other side…we continued talking loudly and waving our arms…but they stayed there. As we passed by on the horses…the momma bear was definitely keeping an eye on us and wondering why we were so close to her cub. What a great ride that was for sure!! After the ride….the horses were untacked and went out to graze for a few hours while we freshened up and changed clothes for a night of dinner “at the ranch.” Steven arrived about that time from the rafting trip to join us for dinner. Flank steak was the special and it was oh-so-good. We enjoyed it with a salad and even shared a piece of pie for dessert. As if seeing five bears in one afternoon wasn’t enough…as we drove home down the dirt road from the ranch…we saw a cougar (also known as a mountain lion) headed down the road. It stopped and looked at us, then ran up the side of the mountain and watched curiously as we passed. Of course we scrambled for a camera…but weren’t quick enough to capture a photo of the animal…some people that live here year round never even get to see those!! Anyway…we reflected on our sightings for the day before bed that evening and all wondered what animal we would see next…any guesses????
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