Guest Blogger: ‘Music’ Liked Pancakes

Written by Guest Blogger John McCurdy

When I tell people I am a backcountry ranger in Yellowstone National Park, most people think of a flat hat, bears and Old Faithful. Before I arrived at Yellowstone, that’s what I thought too, but after a season in the backcountry I have changed my perspective.

My hat is anything but flat. Bears seem to always be into something and Old Faithful has long since lost its appeal. Of all of my experiences in Wyoming, I tell you, what I think of the most are my partners.

One of them, Music, is the oddest-looking horse I have ever seen. He is jet black with a hammerhead. His high withers only accent his sway back, wide hips and incredibly long body. Beyond that, his dish size, club feet seem to spell the end for him as a riding horse – instead, we pack our equipment on his back.

You see, Music has a habit of losing all sense of reality about 15 miles in to a 20-mile ride. He’s a smart horse, but his mind just wanders off. The only thing that can bring him back is an earth-shattering fall to his knees. Some horses will stumble on occasion, but this is a true, dirt sniffin’ fall, thus making him loose his riding appeal.

That being said, I trust and admire that horse more than any other. Music carries our life: ten days of food, coffee, journals and a warm jacket. He can carry 120 pounds of freight with ease, up mountain passes, through raging rivers and across the long thoroughfare meadows, at an age where most horses would be glue or dog food.

During my season at Yellowstone, I often looked back on the trail to see Music moving around trees like Barry Sanders, clearing them with a half an inch to spare. He knew exactly where the ends of the panniers were. Our freight may have been tossed around a bit, but I always knew our supplies would get there.

And, on top of all that, Music liked pancakes.

John is about to start his second season at Yellowstone National Park as a backcountry ranger. Prior to that, he spent time with the National Forest Service, based in Colorado, fighting wildfires around the country.