the trail

we were gatherin a bunch of steers to ship to a feedlot. the feedlot had sent a couple men to help us out. this particular ranch was rough in places. lots of rock and boulders. a slow gather.  one of the men sent to help was a friend of mine, a old rodeo hand and cuttin horse trainer.  he had been up the river and over the mountain.  we had worked about a week when it came time to tackle a realy rough part of the ranch. i had been on this ranch a little less than 6 monthes and learned all the in s and outs yet.  we went to the back side of our circle, leaving pickups and trailers parked at the hold up site.  when we reached the back end i started scatterin riders. my friend leo was the first i dropped off. i told him the trail he was to take would take him back to the trucks, he would be the first in and could stop the cattle there. i knew he could handle it. some of the others were questionable. i leo that i had not been down that trail but was told it was passable and the amount of cow sighn on it told us the cattle used it a lot. leaving leo we went on dropping riders until i was on the outside of the circle. after about 4 hours of rock hoppin and brush poppin i came back to the trucks. the rest of the riders were holding the cattle in a open spot ready for the drive to the corrals. leo was sittin on the fender of his trailer holding his head in his hands. a bottle of water set on the ground between his feet.  i rode and noticed leos horse was sweated and drawn. i asked leo how was that trail? with out looking up he said, DONT GO!