Article and photos 

by Allanna Jackson

Some rain finally arrived in mid-July, but everything was so dry the water immediately soaked in, with the deepest puddles lasting only a day or so. July 24 was dry and warm, with only a few scattered clouds and no rain, so mid-afternoon I trailered Cinnamon up to the Panorama trailhead to ride the short loop.

When we arrived, there was one truck at the trailhead. I parked behind it so that my trailer would be in the shade. I unloaded Cinnamon. While I was brushing the dust off her, a man walked in from the trail and began unloading his pack into the truck. He waved tiredly in acknowledgement of my greeting, then got into his vehicle and drove away. We had the parking lot to ourselves.

I finished saddling Cinnamon, and we set off up the trail. We’d barely passed the kiosk when she alerted to something on our right. A white-faced black cow was grazing well off the trail just before the first Panorama white diamond trail marker (P1). The cow briefly glanced at us, then resumed eating. Cinnamon continued down the trail. A day or two earlier, I’d seen a cloudburst somewhere east of Porter Mountain. This was the place. Pine needles, duff, and mud had washed across the trail. When we reached the junction at P2, Cinnamon again wanted to go left. This time I simply turned her right.

We passed the Shortcut junction and continued east up the numbers. The cloudburst filled the dirt stock tank beside the trail at P3, leaving more water in it than I’ve seen in several years. Between P3 and P4, there was fresh erosion beside the trail. The trail itself was intact.

At P4, the trail turns north and winds through a shady tunnel of ponderosa pines and Gambel oaks, then climbs the knoll as it doubles back west. At P5, the trail breaks into the open again, providing a full view of the east flank of Porter Mountain with its distinctive crown of antennas. The trail continues climbing around the west shoulder of the knoll, where it suddenly offers the first of many panoramic views to the north. The views expand as the trail rounds the shoulder of the knoll about half-way up the north face on its way to P6. This knoll consists primarily of cinders. Most of the trees are Gambel oaks, with only a few pines. The bear grass plants looked quite happy, though none of them were blooming yet.

Approaching P7, the trail turns eastward as it rounds the knoll, offering a view of another mountain. From here, the trail gradually descends the east side of the knoll. It makes a left turn as it drops onto an old single-lane road just before P8. The road continues northward for a quarter mile, then narrows to a wide single-track approaching P9. A blue arrow points left where the trail turns west as it abruptly becomes a true single-track through the forest to P10. After P10, the trail parallels P7 to P8 but lower down the slope and going the opposite direction, so if you missed the views the first time you might see them again over the tops of the oaks and pines. An old turquoise diamond, one of the original trail markers, points the way around an S-shaped switchback down the slope and across a small wash to P11.

The trail again drops into a forest of junipers, oaks, and pines as it wanders westward past P12 to the Shortcut just before P13. Cinnamon looked off down the trail toward P13, expecting to continue that way. She seemed surprised when I turned her up the Shortcut. We’d gone in the other direction of the Shortcut last month, so this was familiar terrain.

The wash was dry, but flowing water from the recent rainstorm had left fresh erosion and changed the debris piles. I missed seeing the thistles at P35. We went down the numbers while climbing up a gradual slope from P37 to P34, where we rejoined the main trail just before P3. Turning right, we retraced our steps to the trailhead. We had the trail to ourselves the entire trip. At P1, the white-faced black cow stood at attention staring at us, then turned tail and resumed browsing.

There was a white car in the parking lot when we arrived. A minute later, the lady who owned it arrived, put her dog inside and prepared to leave. I unsaddled Cinnamon. Just then, the white-faced black cow mooed loudly from the east side of the parking lot. The lady in the white car chuckled. I told the cow, “If you say so.” The cow mooed twice more as she marched purposefully west across the trailhead toward the sign about elk recovery. A black calf appeared from somewhere behind the sign. A moment later, a second black calf appeared. The lady got in the white car and drove away.

While brushing Cinnamon, I wondered if the black cow had twins when another loud moo announced a very large red cow on the north side of the parking lot. One calf dutifully went to the red cow and followed her a few feet into the brush, but then turned back to the parking lot to rejoin its playmate. Cinnamon kept a watchful eye on the cattle while I brushed her.

One calf had an ear tag number 35; the other was tagged 24. Thirty-five began sneaking up on us. Cinnamon suddenly turned and looked over her shoulder at 35. Thirty-five stopped, turned its head and began licking its own right shoulder.

The white-faced black cow wandered north across the parking lot, sniffing a small pile of hay left by some other horse. Thirty-five turned around to follow her and stopped to take several bites of the spilled hay.

Calf 24 wandered over to the trailhead kiosk and carefully looked it over as if reading the blank backside of the sign. Next, 24 poked the bottom of the map box with its nose from underneath the sign, then tried walking under the kiosk but discovered it didn’t fit. Then, 24 head-butted the vertical fiberglass trail sign, pushing it partway over before backing up and ambling over to join 35 on the east side of the parking lot. A bovine vandal.

 Meanwhile, 35 was sneaking up on us again, tentatively approaching a few steps, then circling away to approach from another angle. Twenty-four joined this game while Cinnamon and I watched them watching us. The calves looked surprised when Cinnamon disappeared inside my trailer. I finished stowing my equipment in my rig and took Cinnamon home, leaving 24 and 35 to find some other amusement for the evening.