Trail Log: 5-2-2020

Three Fingered Jack and other Gentlemen on Horseback

• Trail: Lee Ride: Three Fingers – Owyhee’s
• Miles: 16.0
• Riders: Self – Lee B. Cyndi – Becky – Scott – Mark – Patty – Teri – Dan – Angel
• Horses: Jack and J’Lo – Prince – Rio - Ruby Tuesday – Scooter – Lea (mule) – Nellie Rose (mule) – Jewels – Mufasa – Woody
• Dogs: Hank

Notes: Lee’s friends: Scott, Mark and Patty were down from Washington to do a little camping and riding. The boys belong to the “Gentlemen on Horseback” group – a club that dates back to 1948. Club members routinely host a ride in their respective areas that includes a week of catered meals and horseback riding across the nation.

Mark, Patty, Scott and Lee made camp in the Succor Creek area on Thursday. I had a shooting practice on Friday in Willow Creek. I loaded up the dogs and horses…shot in Willow Creek and headed on over to Succor Creek Friday evening. I set up camp about a quarter mile from them to avoid overcrowding and to comply with the whole social distancing thing.

It felt good to be back in my LQ’. After living in it for two months during my Arizona adventure – it feels…familiar. A person realizes how much junk they accumulate and how little of that junk they really need after living in an 8’ short wall for 60 days.

A few more riders would be joining us Saturday morning for the Three Fingers ride. Teri, Dan, Angel, Cyndi and Becky pulled in to the staging area (my camp) around 10:00 AM. The 10 riders conformed to the COVID -19 recommended mandate (oxy-moron intended) of congregating in groups of no more than 10. Personally, I think it’s all bull-shit – but I respect those that take it seriously and voluntarily comply. Besides – I’m not much of a hugger – if it takes a pandemic to keep people at arm’s reach – who am I to question! ;)

Everyone should go on a Lee ride once in their life. Actually, that’s about the average rate of return on a Lee ride: few people go a second time and mysteriously make themselves scarce if invited again. Lee rides are usually long – averaging 16-20 miles - over often steep, rough terrain. Trails? Lee don’t need no stinking trails…if you want to stick to the trails, don’t ride with an avid Chukar hunter. Lee’s been in every nook and cranny of the Owyhee’s hunting the elusive partridge. There aren’t too many places he’s traveled on foot that he won’t cover on horseback. One thing you are guaranteed of – you will see some spectacular country.

We stopped for lunch using a rocky ridge as a wind break and to let the horses rest. I swapped horses after lunch riding Jack and ponying J’Lo for the rest of the day.

We made our way cross country toward Three Fingers. Lee stopped us on the way to show us a cool rock formation that defies gravity. We stood on a ridge looking down into a bowl like valley. A large boulder balances precariously on a rock spire like a 4 ton mushroom. We hiked down to it to get a closer look. It’s an uneasy feeling standing underneath an object that for all practical purposes looks as if it should tumble over on you and squash you like a bug. We shot some pictures before heading on to Three Fingers.

Up to this point, I often pondered how Three Fingers came by its name. The angles I’ve observed from a distance looked like any other massive butte.  I like to imagine it as a hideout for the notorious bandit, “Three Fingered Jack.” Ole Jack would lay in wait atop the rocky butte, mindlessly drumming his three fingers. He could still feel the ghostly phalanges of the missing two digits. He waited for his chance to pick off the pursuing Texas Rangers led by the bumbling Harry Love. A thousand dead men for each finger lost …two thousand dead! Ten thousand! There was no number great enough to serve as retribution.

It wasn’t until we rode around the backside of it that the three separate fingers appeared true to its name.I prefer my version best.

The base of Three Fingers overlooks a vast high desert bowl as far as the eye can see. A rock pedestal shoots straight up toward the sky in the center of the bowl – “Pedestal Rock.”  

I snapped pictures using both my digital Nikon and my smart phone camera. Before the weekend was over, I’d be glad I doubled up on the picture taking devices…only one of which would survive the weekend.

Lee and his crew made their way back to camp – Dan, Teri and Angel loaded up and bade us farewell. Cyndi, Becky and I pulled up chairs and solved at least two of the world’s problems over Corona and White Claw.

I snuggled into bed content and wondered where the next day’s adventure would lead. The wind began to rip. I thought about Lee in his tent and sincerely hoped he had it staked down properly or we’d find him blown to the top of Three Fingers in the morning. I may also have secretly hoped he secured the peach cobbler Susan, his wife, brought out. The thought of that peach cobbler blowing away in the wind before we got a chance to eat it would have been a true tragedy indeed.

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Lee and Prince overlooking Pedestal Rock