A Return to Wyoming
Summertime, thirteen year old Pudge Hammond was once again in Caleb, Wyoming to visit Cliff Drew and his family.
Pudge had spent a great deal of time the previous summer with Cliff and some of his relatives. During that summer Cliff
introduced him to the local baseball team and to the town swimming hole. Pudge had also accompanied Cliff’s uncle and
his family on a roundup of stray cattle.
“Are you ready to ride Puffer again?” Cliff asked as they were riding to Cliff’s house. “Uncle Jack invited all of us to go
on a pack trip with them and said Puffer was yours if you want her. Jean will be there too,” he added with a grin.
Pudge blushed a deep red, remembering how Cliff had teased him a year ago about his cousin Jean. Jean was
Pudge’s age; they had become acquainted during the cattle roundup. Pudge had helped Jean’s dad, Jack, rescue Jean
during a river crossing when Jean’s foot got stuck between two boulders. Later in the summer, when Pudge and his family
visited Jean’s family, the two became good friends, again with teasing from Cliff.
In response to Cliff’s teasing Pudge stuck his tongue out and nudged Cliff as he answered, “She probably doesn’t even
remember me; that was a year ago.”
“She remembers you all right. She asked me to invite you.” Once agin Pudge blushed but said only, “If it will give us the
chance to catch some trout I’d like to go, whether Jean is there or not.”
Two days after Pudge arrived in Caleb Cliff’s parents, Chuck and Polly, loaded the trunk of their car with camping and
fishing gear and drove the 20 miles to Jack’s ranch.
Ralph, the older of Jack’s two children, was on the front porch when they arrived. Ralph, a husky six footer, had been the star
athlete at the local high school and would be attending college on an athletic scholarship in the Fall.
As he greeted them Jean came running from the area of the barn. Again, Pudge turned bright red as soon as she came
in sight. So did Jean.
“It’s good to see you again, Pudge,” said Ralph, extending his hand. Jean also came off the porch with her hand
extended, at which Cliff taunted, “Aren’t you going to kiss him Jean?”
“CLIFFORD!” exclaimed his mother. “Do you have to be such a tease?”
“Well Pudge told me he wanted to kiss her,” Cliff replied.
“I did not, you’re making it all up,” said Pudge, turning an even brighter red.
At this Jean ran into the house. When she reappeared a few minutes later with her parents she had calmed somewhat
but looked daggers at Cliff.
Jack and Penny Drew greeted Pudge warmly and helped unload the food and other gear from the car’s trunk.
“We’ll have lunch and then bring the horses around and start loading, then we can be on our way,” said Jack. “Oh, we
had to change horses for you Pudge. Puffer came up a little lame this morning. You'll be riding Star; she's a little friskier
than Puffer but I think you’ll do okay."
Pudge was disappointed at this news. He had gotten to know Puffer the year before and learned to control her well after
one incident in which Puffer dumped him in the river.
After lunch two pickups were loaded with the gear they would need. A large horse trailer was attached to each pickup
and four horses loaded into each trailer. There were seven saddle horses and one old pack horse named Pete to carry their
gear. All of this was accomplished so quickly they were ready to leave within an hour. Everyone but Ralph piled into the
pickups. He had opted to stay behind and tend to needed chores on the ranch. Also, he had two baseball games coming
up he didn’t want to miss.
The road was rocky and rutted. It seemed to Pudge all back roads in Wyoming were like that, maybe the main roads
too. Jack led the way in one truck with Chuck driving the other. Pudge and Cliff rode with Cliff’s parents, Jean with her
parents in the lead truck. Both drivers drove slowly to make the ride as smooth as possible for both passengers and horses.
In less than an hour they were climbing up a narrow, winding canyon into the mountains north of the ranch. Movement
was even slower as the road steepened. Two hours after they began the road leveled off and came to an abrupt end in a
tree-lined meadow. Nowhere was there a sign of water, making Pudge wonder if there would be any fishing available.
From the meadow they mounted the horses and began following a trail which took off from the north side of the meadow
and up a narrow defile into the mountains. Each rider had a blanket roll with personal possessions tied on behind the
saddle. All the community gear was on Pete.
Pudge soon discovered what Jack meant when he said Star was friskier. Last year Puffer had been slow and plodding,
making her easy to ride. Jack had called her ‘soft in the saddle’ as she didn’t continually jounce a rider up and down. Star
was nothing like that. His uneven gait caused Pudge to slide back and forth and at times to bounce almost out of the saddle.
In no time at all Pudge’s rump began to burn from the constant chafing.
Star was also skittish. Each time a rock was kicked up by one of the other horses, or a branch whipped by his nose he
jerked to a stop. Chuck, who brought up the rear, leaned over and slapped his rump to get him started again.
When Jack called for a break after two hours on the trail Pudge said nothing to the others but his rump was so sore he
wasn’t sure how much more he would be able to ride that day.
“We’ll give ourselves and the horses a breather before heading over the pass,” Jack announced. “Unfortunately, there’s
no water until we climb the pass. Another hour or so of riding.”
The next hour was agony for Pudge. When Chuck saw Pudge constantly shifting his position in the saddle he realized
what was happening. He called ahead and informed Jack Pudge was having problems. Jack dug an old pair of chaps out
of his saddle bags and with Chuck’s help strapped them in reverse position on Pudge. This helped, but by the time they
came to a halt Pudge could hardly sit.
When they finally stopped at about 5 o’clock Pudge needed help getting down from his horse. Jack reached up and
plucked him down from the saddle as if he weighed nothing. He then asked Pudge to stay where he was until he brought
something to ease the discomfort.
Jack returned with a small jar which he handed to Pudge and said, “Put this all over the sore parts, it will make you feel a
lot better.”
At Pudge’s question as to what it was Jack answered, “It’s what we call bag balm. When a cow has sores on its udder
we rub this on.”
Pudge went behind a rock and took his pants off. He was amazed at how red and raw his upper legs looked. He
couldn’t see his rump but was sure it looked the same. Following Jack’s instructions he rubbed the substance on everything
he could reach that felt sore, It looked and felt like a heavy, smelly vaseline. He immediately felt relief and quickly slipped his
pants back on.
The others had already unloaded the camp gear and were starting to set up the two tents, one for the women the other
for the men and boys. When he volunteered to help they looked at him and grinned.
“If you feel up to it you and Cliff can gather firewood while Chuck and I finish setting up camp. The women can get water
and start supper.” This from Jack.
After a filling meal of beans and hot dogs, along with skillet baked corn bread they all settled around the camp fire before
calling it a night.
“How are you feeling now, Pudge?” asked Penny.
“Much more comfortable,” he replied. “But I need to ask a stupid question, What’s an udder?’
Everyone, including Jean, laughed at this. Then Jack, realizing Pudge was not a country boy and probably didn’t know,
supplied the answer. “An udder is the bag on a cow that holds her milk. It’s what her teats are attached to.”
Cliff snickered and once again Pudge felt his face getting red.
After a fairly comfortable night Pudge woke up so stiff he could hardly move. When he mentioned this to Cliff he was
rewarded with another smart alec remark, “Turn over on your udder side.”
In spite of the stiffness Pudge found his other ailment less of a problem than he had feared. The chafing and redness
was still there but not as hot and tender to the touch as on the night before. Apparently, the balm worked. He did find that the
greasiness of the balm made his undershorts stick to him. Whether this would be a problem later he didn’t know.
When they remounted Jack again produced the chaps and tied them on Pudge so they would cover his rump. “It’s a
shorter day today and not much climbing,” Jack informed him. “We’ll be arriving at a lake before noon and we’ll stay there a
couple of nights before we move on. By then you’ll be trail hardened.”
Pudge found he was still somewhat uncomfortable in the saddle but more comfort- able than on the previous day. He
shifted frequently, putting his weight first on one side then the other. When they arrived at the lake he dismounted without
trouble and helped set up camp. He again followed Jack’s advice and smeared a generous amount of bag balm on his
tender parts.
When Pudge stopped to look around he was entranced by the beauty of his surroundIngs. Tall pine trees grew to the
lake’s shoreline; around this shoreline large boulders protruded from the surface. Camp was set up near the outlet, a small
stream about eight to ten feet wide. The water was so clear the bottom was visible all the way to the opposite bank. Less
than a half mile away an inlet stream could be seen cascading down a steep hillside into the lake.
Pudge thought of taking a swim in the stream until he put his hand in it. It was so cold it made his fingers tingle.
Following lunch Cliff suggested to Pudge that they wander down the stream and try the fishing. When Jean saw them
getting ready she asked if she could go along. Pudge shrugged his shoulders and said, “Sure.” Cliff started to make a
taunting remark and then changed his mind.
“I’ll just watch,” said Jean. “Maybe I’ll bring you luck.”
They soon discovered that fishing this stream required a careful approach; the clarity of the water made them extremely
visible to the fish. Each time they approached close enough to cast the trout immediately took off upstream.
“My dad told me about streams like this where you practically have to crawl on your hands and knees so the fish won’t
see you coming,” said Pudge. “I always thought he was kidding me but now it looks like he meant it.”
Finally, after walking out of sight of the stream for a short distance they learned how to creep close enough without
spooking the trout. For the next two hours both Pudge and Cliff took turns catching and releasing 8 to 10 inch trout, moving
cautiously upstream at each exchange. By the time they were back at camp each had caught 5 or 6 fish. Jean cheered
them on.
That afternoon all seven hiked around the lake a distance of about three miles. When they crossed the inlet stream
Pudge noticed that it cascaded down through pool after pool. Each pool appeared to be more fishy looking than the outlet
stream.
“Let’s fish up here after supper,” he suggested to Cliff.
“Sounds good to me,” Cliff replied.
Fishing that evening was fantastic. Each pool provided strike after strike, and many catches, of beautiful cutthroat trout.
Again Jean accompanied them and cheered loudly at each catch.
During the night, without warning, disaster struck. Pudge heard a crashing sound and then the tent in which he was
sleeping lifted off the ground and disappeared from sight. This was followed by a loud roaring coming from the canyon they
had traveled on their way to the lake.
Pudge was aware that Jack was yelling at him but, because of the howling noise from the canyon, couldn’t hear what
Jack was saying. Chuck grabbed him by the arm and spoke into his ear. “Tornado! We’ve been hit by a tornado.”
As he spoke the women’s tent also lifted off the ground and flew away. Both the women and Jean immediately sat up
with startled looks on their faces. In the dim light Pudge could see their lips moving but again couldn’t hear a word.
Again, Chuck yelled in Pudge’s ear, “You five get together and hold on to each other. Jack and I are going to try
rounding up the horses.”
When the two boys moved over to join the women Cliff’s mother suggested they all move to a more protected place.
“There are two large boulders over that way,” she said, pointing away from the lake. “We might be able to crawl between
them.”
“Okay,” agreed Penny. “You lead the way and we’ll all hold hands to stay together.”
About this time it began to rain, harder than Pudge had ever seen it rain before. At the same time the wind was
whipping at them so hard they had difficulty standing. They held tight to each other’s hads so they wouldn’t be blown apart.
Pudge was third in line between Jean and Cliff. At first he was embarrassed at having to hold Jean’s hand but
conditions were such he soon forgot that. By the time they reached the boulders and crawled into their meager shelter all
five were soaked to the skin.
“Much better,” said Penny. “I hope we’re on high enough ground to be safe from a flash flood.”
“I think we’re okay,” Polly replied.
About an hour later Jack came to the entrance to their cave leading one badly fright-ened horse. “This is the only one
that stayed where we left them. The others all bolted. Chuck is still looking for them. Maybe they’ll all come back when the
storm breaks,” he shouted.
By daybreak the wind had abated to a strong breeze but the rain was still pelting down with considerable force. Pudge,
weary from the unaccustomed horseback riding, had slept for an hour or so but each of the others had stayed awake. All
were soaking wet.
Chuck returned two hours later leading four more of the horses, giving them a total of five recovered from the original
eight. “I hate to have more bad news,” he said, “but we’re minus at least one horse. Star was hit by a falling tree that broke
her back; I had to shoot her. There was no sign of the others.’
Pudge, shivering in spite of the extra chaps and a warm jacket thrown over his shoulders, looked out at the devastation
the storm had wrought. For as far as he could see down the canyon there wasn’t a tree standing. The storm had flattened
everything in its path, creating a swath two hundred yards wide. What had once been a fine stand of tall virgin pine was now
reduced to matchsticks.
Cliff, his unfailing enthusiasm still with him, quipped, “Well, there won’t be any shortage of firewood.”
“Okay, wise guy; you and Pudge gather some of that firewood for us and build a fire while the rest of us see what we can
salvage from camp.”
“Okay, Uncle Jack.”
The exertion of gathering firewood helped both Pudge and Cliff warm up, even with a steady rain falling. In less then an
hour they collected a large pile which, at Jack’s direction, they deposited close to a large slanting rock. To this rock Jack
and Chuck were trying to stretch a tarpaulin they had cut from one of the tents.
Jack called out to them, “No problem with our stuff boys; the only thing we haven’t found is the women’s rent. But if we
can rig this tarp properly we should be able to stay warm and reasonably dry.” In spite of their misfortune Jack seemed
cheery.
Jack continued, “We’ll start chow in about 15 minutes. In the meantime, take the largest cook pot and see if you can get
some clean water. If it’s running over clean rocks it’s probably as clean as you’ll find.”
The next two hours were difficult and uncomfortable for all members of the group. It was still raining hard and, although
the men had been somewhat successful in erecting a shelter, everyone was still exposed enough to be at least part way out
in the rain. The fire had to be fed constantly to keep it burning in the deluge and the women found it a difficult fire to cook
over. Nevertheless, with the boys making frequent trips out into the rain for water and firewood and the men steadily stoking
the fire, a breakfast of hot oatmeal was finally prepared by the women.
After breakfast was finished and the cleanup jobs done Jack suggested they all sit down and discuss what they should
do. “The rain, hopefully, will stop soon. When it does we should be ready for whatever we decide. Any suggestions?”
“I would like to make another search for the horses,” said Chuck. “I know we won’t have much gear left to take with us
but we want to make sure we carry enough to get us through a few days. That means, at least two more horses.”
“Okay,” Jack replied. “Let’s you and me take a couple of horses and do some more searching. Any other
suggestions?"