Ride The High Lonesome Volume One

Dusk was beginning to fall as he worked his way down the face of the ridge. Daylight would soon be gone as could be seen by the lengthening shadows of the surrounding trees. He had to make it to at least the bank of the river before dark. And treacherous as the improvised path is down the face, he could not chance trying to negotiate it in the dark. The feel of the heavy bladed bowie in his belt gave him comfort as he moved. More than once it had saved his hide. Events of the past couple of months still populated his thoughts. Alone in the high lonesome with only his horse and two pack mules for company, his only thought at the time was to secure fresh meat for the coming winter then light a shuck for home. Extenuating circumstances prevented him from going and returning any sooner. Planning for the unexpected had always served him graciously in the "high up" as he had constructed a small but weather tight cabin years ago, which only required minimal up keep from time to time. The worst of it being to chink the gap in the logs and make fast the sod on the roof. As he neared the bank of the river he was glad he had been able to weather out the early recurring wintry storms as well as he had thus far. At the cabin, ample wood was stocked, along with dried venison and wild onions. He had lost his horse and both pack mules early on in his makeshift corral when a cougar breached the camp killing all three. The cougar's hide now affixed to the outside wall of the cabin...a hard reminder that things can still happen even with vigilance always in play. With a gray black sky and bone chilling wind pushing a pending storm, he elected to remain at the cabin til it blew over. At least he would be warm and dry. Plenty of wood, plenty of grub, life was good. A blizzard blew in and didn't let up forever, it seemed. He didn't think a storm that early on would last, but he had misjudged before. These mountain storms can blow up suddenly out of nowhere and settle in, then, just as quickly clear. The weather looked good when he had left home nearly two months ago. Here it is now two months later and moving on foot over unfamiliar ground was slow going. The trail normally followed was snowed in and had been for some time, the snow just too deep to traverse. Thankfully, it wasn't below zero.