Some places only a horse can get you into the wild... 

After arriving at Mayfield Lakes and enjoying the luxury of Wayne's rough hewn sauna and trapper's cabin for two days while we waited for the weather to clear so Urs could deliver our last party member, we departed on a short day's ride on our journey.  Riding through a massive burn that just missed Wayne's cabin, we approached the surreal blue waters of the Gataga.  Wayne scouted a suitable crossing but then shouted at us to move a bit downstream - the crossing was too deep.  

We followed the herd... the pack horses follow their leader.  Wayne had directed us to look at the opposite bank and not the waters that swirled first around our horses knees, then feet... ankles...  

I felt the water rush past my calves and I urged my Paint on.  An experienced mountain horse, he had angled his body against the current, using his mass as a rudder through the swift moving water.  I looked down briefly as I felt the water rise past my knees and saw its hypnotic colour moving past my pommel.  I quickly understand Wayne's warning as I shake off the vertigo that takes over and focus again on the opposite bank - my destination.