We went back through Stanley and continued on to Yellow Pine. There were lots of fishermen, campers and ATVs along the gravel road. It was also the week before Labor Day. We had difficulty finding a camp but finally settled on a spot just north of Deer Creek Pass, across the road from Deer Creek.
From there, the road turned extremely rough. After cresting Elk Creek summit, we camped, nestled in the valley below and next to a beautiful creek surrounded by enormous pines. It was a cold night with patches of rain. We broke camp quickly, concerned that road conditions might deteriorate. The temperature on the truck registered 38 degrees. The rain turned to snow briefly. Thankfully the rain was light until it cleared mid-day.
Along our route, we drove through several tiny communities tucked deep in the woods that had no services such as gas or groceries. We wondered how often they drove these roads to re-provision. We only met two oncoming vehicles on the road. The first was a pickup pulling a large horse trailer. Thankfully we were in a valley, and the road's drop off on either side wasn't too steep. But we met on a corner. David hugged the hill as closely as he could, tires nearly scrapping rock. The other driver worked to pull around us. We weren’t certain his trailer would clear us, but it did. We all breathed a sigh of relief. We saw the second oncoming vehicle coming down the road and we’re able to pull into a gate entrance to let him by.
We finally arrived in McCall, a beautiful resort area next to Payette Lake. The town was bustling with folks gearing up for the holiday, so we drove on.
Our next stop was the Four Mile Wild Horse Management Area north of Emmett. We stopped in town to get directions. A wonderful lady at the Chamber of Commerce tried to help but had no information. We stayed parked in front of the building, using their WiFi to try to find the name of the road we should take. The lady came dashing out the door, waving a sheet of paper. She had found directions, complete with GPS coordinates. David quickly plugged them into our Garmin, and off we went.
As we entered the HMA, we spied a herd of about a dozen horses high on a hill. They were too far in the distance to reach. Plus, we were exhausted from all the day’s travels.
We found a place to camp that would give us a good vantage point for the morning. After supper, we took a stroll to stretch our legs. As we were heading back to the camper, I turned and caught a glimpse of something shiny on the mountaintop behind us. I called to David to see if he could make it out. At that very moment, I recognized that it was the moon cresting in a small saddle on the hill, radiating in silver light. We quickly grabbed cameras and watched in wonder as a full moon rose before us. It was a breathtaking, miraculous moment. I could only whisper, “And the skies declare His glory” (Psalm 19:1).
Next morning, we were off in search of horses early. We found the band again, but they were still high on a hill and at a distance. A deep gully, a fence, a large creek, and a heavy uphill climb lay between us. We knew it would be an impossible climb.
Four Mile Road is on one side of the mountain with another road running alongside the other side of the same mountain. David had a hunch we could get closer to the band on the backside. We traveled nearly fifteen miles along the gravel road, hoping to see more horses, but to no avail.
We returned to Four Mile Road, looking for inroads. There were none that took us where we wanted to go. Finally, we returned to see if the band had moved closer to the road. To our surprise we saw a black stallion pacing along the fence, obviously wanting to be with the other band. We weren’t certain if he had somehow made it through the fence and couldn’t get back or if he was wanting to find himself a filly to steal.
This horse was a truly magnificent animal. He watched us closely for a few moments, then crossed the road in front of us. Too soon, he was over the ridge.
The Four Mile horses have an interesting history. They are believed to be originally from horses bred for Calvary Re-Mounts. Up until 1978, ranchers released Thoroughbred and Quarter Horse studs into the herd, culling the offspring for their own uses. As a result, these horses are recorded as having excellent size and conformation, as our black stallion certainly proved. The Four Mile herd numbers around 180 horses.
We were disappointed to see so few horses here, particularly since the area is small. As an example, the Four Mile HMA is only 18,800 acres compared to the 167,800 acres for the Challis wild horses. We drove up one more four-wheel drive trail, hoping to see other horses over the ridge. We only saw cattle and an ATV coming towards us.
The gentleman driving the ATV stopped and chatted with us. He suggested we go to Murphy for wild horses. He didn’t offer much hope about getting closer to the Four Mile herd because inroads were few. After he left, David and I looked at the map. We could reach Murphy and the Black Mountain HMA by mid-afternoon. We hopped in the truck and turned south.
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