They're back!!!

"They're back!  They're back!  The food people are back!"  I'm pretty sure that's what Washoe was saying yesterday when the horses spotted us.  We had decided to hike in from a different direction, just for variety, so we ended up coming up on the horses from the top...or so it seemed.  As is turned out, I believe the horses were looking for us and (actually, they had probably gone down for water) when they turned to start back up the mountain, they saw us.  We were a good 1/2 mile away and about three hilltops above them, so I have no idea how they saw us so quickly, but when Washoe saw us, he got all excited and started charging up the mountain side.  Peanut came running along with him and then all of them came.  It was truly heart-warming.

If you enlarge this picture, you will see a red circle near the top.  This is where the horses were when they saw us.  The water is down where the snow is.
We had stopped for a picnic lunch in one of their favorite meadows, thinking they had gone somewhere for water, as we were later in the day than usual.  We took a short nap in the sun, then decided we would finish the circuit of their favorite pastures on our way down.  Imagine our surprise when we topped the highest part, looked over the edge of a crest and spotted the horses...at the bottom of a gully, and then to have them come rushing all the way to meet us.  We started down, but they got to us before we could even get off the first hill.

Brownie, the one to the left of Bill, is never this friendly.   They all seemed in good spirits and we had a great time.
Juanita