Lost horses and fish hooks

[Margarita]

The Cliffs Notes version of the last three days:

Two hobbled horses and one hobbled mule are lost in the Huston Park Wilderness where phone reception is limited to highest peaks and the timber is relieved only by the cliffs. My son, with a fish hook in his eye, spends five days looking for lost equines, first on foot, then on horseback after returning to the ranch for a fresh mount. Covers 100 miles of rough country in two days. Calls me from a mountain peak about 2130 on Saturday. My daughter and I drive down the next morning, travel dirt roads in a car, looking for horses in meadows and along lakesides, leaving notes on every truck/horsetrailer rig we see.

Get a call from son seven hours after he intended to call and about ninety minutes before my daughter intends to call Search and Rescue. (Did I mention he injured his back two weeks ago and shattered his big toe a week later when he dropped something on it?) I asked about his eye. He tells me he did some "mountain surgery" and removed the hook himself. Says meet him at the trailhead at 1300 on Monday. We head to hotel in Saratoga.

People returning from a day ride see notes, head back into the wilderness looking for horses. Find them when sharp-eyed woman sees a blue roan horse butt in deep timber. The nice people bring the stupid equines in and call us just as we drive up to the hotel. Back to the mountain (third time that day) to load equines in the trailer and drive them five hours home so daughter-in-law nurse can check them out. Son has bedded down for the night and has no phone reception anyway, so we can't tell him they're safe. Monday morning, I drive back to the mountains to pick up son and the other horse.

Stupid equines are not badly injured. Mule who never liked me is now my best friend because I gave him an apple when he was exhausted, hurt, and ready to go home. "Horses before eyesight" son went to optometrist who gave him drops and says vision should improve over the next few days. Followup visit set for next week.

How was your weekend?

[Far Rider]

Wow.

Tell us where the fish hook came to be in the eye? Fishing accident? Were the horses with him before that happened?

[Margarita]

Flyfishing accident. Right in the middle of the left pupil, and he's left eye dominant. The horses wandered off during breakfast before he and the guy with him were going to head back down the mountain. I'm headed out to the ranch later today to deliver some things and see how everybody is doing.

Motorcycles offered a certain cachet of danger, but if you really want to get messed up, get involved with horses and fish.

[Far Rider]

Dang horses, dangerous at both ends and crafty in the middle.