Happy New Year! 2022 arrived in the White Mountains with a much-needed soggy winter storm, so I’m taking a ride down memory lane.

The year 2008 started in a deep freeze with snow on the ground and a north wind. Temperatures in Lakeside had been ranging from -4 to + 32 for a month, reaching freezing for only a few hours on a couple afternoons. It was +18 when I fed the horses breakfast New Year’s morning. After lunch the temperature was up to freezing.

The neighbor’s grandson was shooting a cap pistol when I caught Cinnamon to prepare for a ride, both jumping every time the gun popped. The boy wasn’t pointing it at us so I ignored it. Cinnamon imitated me as Velvet stayed close for reassurance, still flinched every time the cap pistol popped. The boy went inside after a while. Raising horses in a subdivision exposes them to all sorts of strange things.

I saddled Cinnamon then went back to the house to get my cell phone, riding helmet, and her bridle. I threw a partial flake of hay across the fence to distract Velvet but she wasn’t fooled and began dashing around whinnying loud protests before we’d gone anywhere.

When I gave Cinnamon permission to move, she set off at a brisk flat walk eager to hit the trail. We went out to Ice Cave trail and followed it. Cinnamon got only slightly wet feet crossing Porter creek. We followed the trail along the shore of Scott Reservoir. The lake was almost empty this year, but in 2008 it was full and frozen all across the surface and over the trail to the tree line. Cinnamon flicked her ears at the slight cracking, tinkling, and singing of the ice as we rode through the trees. The trail wended its way through the forest to the gate on the east side of the reservoir. In the cold weather the gate was too stiff for sidepassing practice, so Cinnamon practiced ground tying. I dismounted and yanked the gate open. Back in the saddle we practiced standing for a minute, then followed the trail through the trees. Cinnamon negotiated the snow-covered ice over frozen mud quite well. Her bare hooves gave her better traction than shoes.

We saw numerous wild turkey tracks. One set of tracks followed the trail for almost an eighth of a mile. Another set of smaller tracks was probably a juvenile bird. We did not see any wildlife that trip. There were tracks from hikers and a dog on the trail, but we were the only ones out there.

The wind had blown over a burnt-out hollow Juniper snag. Its new rakish angle made it necessary for me to lean over to avoid an overhead branch just before Cinnamon had to step across a downed log from a previous windfall. The narrow trail continued winding between trees as we approached the Ice Cave. We took the fork to the left onto the old trail that looped around in front of the cave.

The Ice Cave is a large natural hole in the ground surrounded by a chain link fence the US Forest Service installed about 25 years ago. During summer, the hole has an updraft of much cooler air. Aside from that interesting phenomenon, it’s not clear why this is called the Ice Cave because you very seldom see ice in it. However, this time icicles cascaded down the front of the cave creating a beautiful curtain of stalactites that looked faintly pink in the mid-afternoon sun.

“I should have brought my camera,” I commented to Cinnamon, who was sniffing a slightly squashed aluminum beer can at her feet. She took a step forward and nosed another empty beer can. I dismounted and picked up both cans. Cinnamon flicked an ear at the noise they made when I flattened them enough to fit in my jacket pocket so I could pack them out to recycle. She ignored the crinkled can when I mounted. We followed the loop trail back to the main trail and back tracked home. Cinnamon strolled around looking but didn’t see anything worth pointing out to me.

 I rode Cinnamon through the gate, dismounted, and ground tied her while I closed the gate. Instead of ground tying Cinnamon, she started walking down the trail on her own. I said, “Whoa, Cinnamon.” She stopped, stood, and let me walk up to her. I gave her a treat, mounted, and turned her around. We took the alternate route that winds its way through the forest, up and over some berms that were created to block old roadways and create shallow water holes. Cinnamon crossed the snow-covered water holes while ignoring the crunch as the ice broke underfoot before climbing up and over each berm. We selected fragments of several paths through the Ponderosa thickets to get back to the trail we’d come out on and start back tracking home.

I took my camera to the Ice Cave the next day and took a few photos. The cold weather continued and on January 19, 2008. I took my camera and rode Cinnamon back to the Ice Cave. Since then, I have made a point to look for icicles on the Ice Cave when the weather conditions seem right. I seldom find any because the Ice Cave faces west where it gets the direct afternoon sun.



The Scott Reservoir area and the Ice Cave and Osprey Connector trails were logged and extensively thinned in 2021, so it will be interesting to see what effect the new open spaces in the forest have on the microclimate around the Ice Cave and icicle formation have on the cave.