The High Ridge Adventure

 

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.