# yellowstone...gettin' ready



## Roadyy (Feb 9, 2013)

Bring back pics for us to enjoy along with the stories you tell of the trips.


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

You will enjoy it. Beautiful country,
And there is nothing like spending 24 hrs a day for 12 days straight to build a bond between you and your horse.


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## SouthernTrails (Dec 19, 2008)

.

Sounds like fun, I have always wanted to visit Yellowstone

Have fun and don't forget to bring back pics and post them 


.


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

I wish I was able to bring my horse but no such luck. I will have to wait for the wagon train in Sept for that.  I went in last year to the Lamar but this year will be a different camp so I am excited. I will definitely bring back pics. 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## JulieG (Jun 25, 2013)

I'm so jealous! 

That is one thing I would LOVE to do.

Lots of pictures please!


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## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

Wow you are going to have a BLAST! Can't wait to see photos!

I worked in Yellowstone years ago and would go back in a heartbeat. Lamar Valley is epic!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## MsLady (Apr 18, 2013)

Yes, lots of pictures please!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

subbing for pics


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## NorthernMama (Mar 12, 2008)

Good luck and be safe! Take lots of pics for us and have a great time. Definite envy going on here...


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

Here is a teaser from last year's trip. Still going up the Lamar Valley but last year's trip was at a camp about 17 miles in and up a side canyon. This year's camp is going to be in the Lamar Valley, right on the river and about 23 miles in. Incredible country. Apparantely there is a bull buffalo up in the area that got kicked off of the herd and is charging all of the horses that come by it. Probably an old bull that is too old to breed now and got kicked out and is grumpy. We'll need to watch close and get the whips out and help him find a better area to take out his agression...  Anyway, here are the pics from last year!!!!

Cheers!
Les


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

Awesome!


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

We got back from Yellowstone late last night and wow...what a trip. 

I learned 12 things on the trip that I will share below and then pictures will come later as I get them downloaded. 

1) Riding 4-5 times per week for a couple of years does not keep your seat bones from getting sore when riding for 6-7 hours in a stretch with only getting off the horse a few times. However, it does make it so that when you get up the next morning...you can walk! 

2) Leading a packstring through rough country is extremely exhausting, especially when the outfitter gives you a horse named "Buttwheat" (actually he was named Buckwheat but I renamed him) as your lead horse who decides he would rather eat on the trail than be led and me and my horse had to PULL him the entire way, 23 miles in and out...twice. 

3) VERY important to keep the lead rope of lead horse out from under the tail of your saddle horse. Buttwheat decided that the best looking grass on the trail was always on the left side of the trail despite me leading him on the right. A hard pulled lead rope up under your saddle horse's tail can REALLY make him buck!

4) Despite turning 45 on the trip I am still able to ride a horse that bucks really hard when a rope gets pulled under his tail. After riding about 8 bucks I got him stopped and the riders behind gave me a 79. I wouldn't have won but I would have been in the money!  I never even had to grab the saddle horn. I don't think I had the time! 

5) Riding 4-5 days a week for 2 years AND taking lessons to develop your seat helps to ride a bucking horse that suddenly comes unglued under you. Thank God he picked a relatively flat section of trail and not one of the cliffs we rode across.

6) You can teach a horse to back up (who previously had very little backup) to retrieve a lost lead rope on lead horse while riding across one of the cliffs, with spurs, reins and ALOT of swear words. Whew, that was a close one.

7) 16 hand high 1400 lb. horses are much easier to ride when they buck than my 14.2 hand Rocky. Much more powerful animal but his movements are much slower and he is easier to keep up with. My little Rocky would have spun out from under me. However, I am 5'8 and logs and rocks were my friend, although I did mount from the ground several times.

8) Watching your daughter ride in front of you for more than 40 hours in the saddle and spend 10 days in Yellowstone backcountry with your daughter is a priceless adventure I will never forget.

9) However, the pucker factor of watching your daughter (in front of you) sitting on a horse that begins to buck, hump its back and back toward one of the fore mentioned cliffs is not so priceless. She rode most of the ride with her feet out of the stirrups and she did this time too and her butt never even came out of the saddle. You go girl. Apparently horses don't like it when a horse fly flies up their nose and begins to bite. They loose all sense of where they are and what they are doing.

10) Deep Woods Off rubbed on your hand and then on your horses nose, ears, face and head work wonders for keeping horse flies out their noses.

11) Hearing a bear attack one of your horses in the middle of night will bring an outfitter out of the tent faster than any other sound imaginable. Luckily despite the bear making lots of noise (and the horse too) all horses escaped injury and made the event the first time in 46 years of outfitting that one of the outfitters horses were threatened by a bear.

12) The last thing I learned (which I already knew) is that horse packing is HARD work. Especially when you are the hired muscle. I lost almost 25 lbs in 10 days and EVERY muscle in my body hurt at some point. Sleep comes easily at 8,000 feet after working that hard for 10 hours. A great experience and I can't wait for next year!

Cheers!
Les


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## Golden Horse (Feb 20, 2010)

WOW, now that is a story! I don't think that I would be tough enough to last even a day with you there:shock:

I hope there are pics on the way!


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

Golden Horse said:


> WOW, now that is a story! I don't think that I would be tough enough to last even a day with you there:shock:
> 
> ..!


I'm with you Golden - I think we can agree we'll stay on the bunny slopes (or is it pony slopes in this case?).


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## Roadyy (Feb 9, 2013)

I will bow down to your superiority in the backwoods trails. Sounds amazing and can't wait to see the pics.


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

Roadyy said:


> I will bow down to your superiority in the backwoods trails. Sounds amazing and can't wait to see the pics.


I don't know about that but we were lucky to have "wrecks" in areas where we could handle them. A wreck in the wrong spot and things may not come out so well. 

Cheers!
Les


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## BigNickMontana (Aug 5, 2013)

Which way are you going into the park? I am in Livingston which is why I ask.


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

BigNickMontana said:


> Which way are you going into the park? I am in Livingston which is why I ask.


I came down through Livingston into Gardiner and then out to the trail head in the Lamar Valley.

Cheers!
Les


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## EquineBovine (Sep 6, 2012)

Woah! That is amazing! What a trip!  Any photos?!


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

My middle daughter returned home ( she lives in California now) and wanted to go for a ride. While riding we talked about her life, boy friends etc. She said one of her boy friends had asked her, What was her most memorable memory of growing up. 

Now this is a girl whose mother has taken her to Paris, Rome, China, Egypt,, basically around the world. She danced in the Nutcracker for 8 years. She is far from a horse crazy girl or sheltered child.

Her response was, "Don't tell Mom, But my best memories of my youth were horse camping trips with you"

The 10 days you just spent with your daughter is an awesome investment that she will always remember.


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## Cacowgirl (Feb 19, 2011)

What a fantastic adventure & a quick way to a new body!


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

Where do I sign up?!


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

DuffyDuck said:


> Where do I sign up?!


Gunsel Horse Adventures - Horse Back Riding Pack Trail Rides Backcountry Camping in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota and Arizona! 

Cheers!
Les


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

OK...here's some pics. Not what I usually take but I was a little busy with pack horses! 

Cheers!
Les


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

A Few more

Cheers!
Les


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## DuffyDuck (Sep 27, 2011)

Live in Germany but looking to treat myself next year... This looks like my heaven! Thank you so much for the pictures!


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## BigNickMontana (Aug 5, 2013)

Looks like it was a ton of fun, however I'd have opted to bring a chain saw! lol


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

DuffyDuck said:


> Live in Germany but looking to treat myself next year... This looks like my heaven! Thank you so much for the pictures!


Bob would be the guy to go with. He has been leading trips in Yellowstone for over 45 years and knows his stuff. Maybe we'll see ya next year.

Cheers!
Les


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## LesandLily (Oct 8, 2012)

BigNickMontana said:


> Looks like it was a ton of fun, however I'd have opted to bring a chain saw! lol


A chain saw would have rocked! Unfortunately it is a designated wilderness area. No motorized or mechanized stuff! Good old muscle power. 

Cheers!
Les


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## BigNickMontana (Aug 5, 2013)

LesandLily said:


> A chain saw would have rocked! Unfortunately it is a designated wilderness area. No motorized or mechanized stuff! Good old muscle power.
> 
> Cheers!
> Les


Yeah I've never listened to the bureaucrats on that one.


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## Chevaux (Jun 27, 2012)

Thank you for the pics -- just wish there was more of them (hint).


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## EquineBovine (Sep 6, 2012)

Woaaah. Next stop for me is America!


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

BigNickMontana said:


> Looks like it was a ton of fun, however I'd have opted to bring a chain saw! lol


Chainsaws are illegal in the wilderness areas.

If it needs to be cut, it'll be cut by hand.


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## jamesqf (Oct 5, 2009)

Painted Horse said:


> Chainsaws are illegal in the wilderness areas.
> 
> If it needs to be cut, it'll be cut by hand.


Those who've never used one would probably be surprised at how fast a well-sharpened 2-man crosscut saw can cut. When you count time spent filling gas and oil, and cussing at the d*mn chainsaw that doesn't start no mattter how often you pull the rope - or starts, but dies the second you try do start a cut... Well, the difference isn't all that great.


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## BigNickMontana (Aug 5, 2013)

Painted Horse said:


> Chainsaws are illegal in the wilderness areas.
> 
> If it needs to be cut, it'll be cut by hand.


I am sure my XR650L is too... And my ole TW200...


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## BigNickMontana (Aug 5, 2013)

jamesqf said:


> Those who've never used one would probably be surprised at how fast a well-sharpened 2-man crosscut saw can cut. When you count time spent filling gas and oil, and cussing at the d*mn chainsaw that doesn't start no mattter how often you pull the rope - or starts, but dies the second you try do start a cut... Well, the difference isn't all that great.


It all depends on how much you use em, through the late summer - middle of winter mine gets a lot of use, starts every time, sharpen it every time I use it hard, the worst thing for em is when they sit. Especially if they sit with gas in em. 

If you know you aren't going to use a saw for a while, pour the gas back in the can out of it, start it and rev it up till it quits, the carb will be empty, the tank will be empty and thus it wont varnish up.


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