In the early 70’s Scott and Todd spent a lot of time
together in Logan, Utah, where Todd’s family lived and where Scott worked
summers at his Grandpa Parker’s ranch.
On one occasion, Scott and Todd went on a hunting trip in
the mountains on the high ridge between Cherry Creek and Steam Mill. Cherry Creek is a creek that goes up towards
Richmond. Steam Mill area used to be an
old steam mill for milling lumber.
They rode two well-seasoned horses that belonged to Todd’s
father. Scott rode on “Whiskers,” half
Arabian and half Shetland, and Todd rode on “Lucky,” which according to Todd,
was one of the best pack horses ever! If
you loaded a deer or even two on Lucky’s saddle, she would carry them back to
camp on her own, without any supervision.
On this particular night, Scott and Todd eagerly anticipated
riding out in the moonlight, but an unexpected lightning and rainstorm hit, and
they ended up getting stuck high on the ridge.
They had no choice but to spend the night there instead of making it
back down to their base camp where they had food and a tent. Todd’s horse had
his dad’s saddle, and luckily there were some matches, a few stale crackers,
and some horse-sweaty ginger snap cookies in the saddle bag. Thankfully, they were able to make a fire to
keep warm and have some snacks to eat, which tasted pretty good, considering
that’s all there was.
As seen in the picture, they were both wearing red, because
it was a law to wear so many square inches of red or bright orange if you were
hunting so other hunters could see you.
It is still a law to this day.
Although Scott and Todd were only about 17 years old at the
time, their bond of friendship continued into their adult years. Death has since separated them for a time, at
least physically, but the bond between them will continue on into the
eternities.
