By Friday, the whole gang was finally there. Actually that was no small feat in itself 'cause they're really logging those mountains heavily. New dirt roads show up as new areas are logged and old ones change their look as their trees disappear. Dave was the guide for the East Texas crowd, so we ended up on the wrong road, on the wrong ridge with our trucks covered with mud. Oh, well, at least he finally got us there....

Camp was set up right across from the Southwest Spanish Mustang Registry chairman's cabin. Bryant and Darlene Rickman's cabin has been the social hub of fun on Blackjack Mountain for years and a "second home" to the whole Rickman family.

Our camp was a bit less permanent. Here's Mike and Kyle's tent with Dave, Mike, Weldon and Gretch around the campfire site.

Gretchen brought her horse trailer with living quarters where she and I camped so some of us had all the comforts of home, including My Sunshine.

Dave slept in the nose of my horse trailer with Rowdy Yates and Raoul, a young gelding we brought for Jerry and Gina to train, tied one to a side, and his horse Cloudy camped at a nearby tree. In this shot, Cloudy and Rowdy look like a pushme pullyou (for all you Dr. Doolittle fans).

So we were all settled in and ready for a weekend of Kiamichi style fun. Weldon and Jerry had a brisket cooked and just waiting for our complete attention. After a hearty meal, we sat around the campfire and told our favorite Gilbert Jones stories, all mindful that the old Mustang patriarch wasn't "on the mountain" these days, but in an assisted care facility at Antlers. Without Gilbert, the Wild Bunch would never have met. We hung a handle on the weekend: "The Gilbert Jones Tribute Ride". Pretty bittersweet to most of us for a number of reasons...

Everybody hit the sack fairly early Friday night. It's hard work packing up people and horses and then driving in, especially up those muddy mountain roads...and we wanted to be rested. We had big plans for Saturday.

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