Hey Sweetheart!
OH. MY. GOD! Incredible. Fantastic. Indescribable! The only words I can find are the ones that express just how indescribable this trip was. I would have paid double. Unbelievable. I remembered almost every turn from our trip down there on Apollo and Clio. Where the tunnel was. Where that little Oriental girl screamed her lungs out when Apollo decided that right in front of her was a nice place to poop. Where we had to pull off to let an unexpected pack mule train go by. Where we stopped at the rest area (it was the 1.5 mile stop), rested, and turned around. That part was incredible, but it was NOTHING compared to the rest of the journey. Springs pouring out of walls from nowhere. Greenery you just don’t expect. Of course, the geological formations are stunning. This is the original definition of AWESOME, before it lost all its meaning with overuse. Here are the parts I can describe. They put me on a fabulous mule named Wesley, who turned out to be the one mule that didn’t need to be motivated to keep up. They used him to push the other mules, and he was always trying to move ahead. He had a wonderful personality, and as we got further along, he started to make this little soft grunting sound, almost like he was humming! It was hysterical. The trail was very narrow in many places, and some of the switchbacks were quite harrowing, but all I did was trust my mule! It was great. I found the most heartpounding was actually going across the suspension bridge, when Wesley still kept pushing the mule in front of him, so we were not quite in the straight line we should have been, but we made it, nevertheless! Breathtaking, every step of it! Phantom Ranch was much smaller than I expected, really just a few cabins, a mule corral, a canteen and a residence for the rangers and those who ran the place. The only cabin they had available on such short notice actually slept four, with two bunk beds, so I had a lot of room by myself. Well, not a lot of room, but it was quiet. It was much warmer down below, and I put on my swim suit and headed to the creek behind my cabin, thinking I was going to sit in it for awhile to cool off, and got as far as my ankles! I splashed my legs, but that was as far as I was going in, it was that cold! I see now why a rain suit is necessary for the rafting trip! Brrr! Afterward, I took our wrangler Tex’s advice and walked down to the ranger station to get a pamphlet that described an historical walking tour around the ranch, and took an apple down to the corral for Wesley as well, and the ladies were nice enough to sort Wesley out for me so I could give it to him. Then I went back to my cabin and took a nap before dinner. While we were gathered there waiting for the canteen to open for dinner (window service only), I showcased my Snowy River, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. It was quite stimulating to be able to perform that when the descriptions within it were so similar to the actual surroundings. One of the ladies remarked how when I pointed off to a “place” in the poem, they all actually looked off to that place! Guess your years of training rubbed off on me. Anyway, then we grabbed dinner, a HUGE steak with all the trimmings. My only disappointment was that there was no communal table to share, most folks just went back to their cabins to eat on their own or with their own group, though two guys from New Jersey stayed and ate at a picnic table with me, and we had a nice chat. Finally, I had to jump up and got take a shower, as they closed the shower house at 6:00 and it was almost that time. After my shower, I sat out on the bench outside my cabin and read for awhile, before finally heading to bed. Obviously, I didn’t take my computer down with me, so this is being published the next day, but I’m not going to include all of the scores of pictures I took (they just can’t do the place justice), just maybe a few highlights. I wish we could have done this together thirty years ago. Any reader thinking about doing it, DO IT!! Don’t wait!! It’s absolutely incredible! Love you, darling! Good night!