This is one of my favorite photographs of Linda and me. It was taken in 1981 by my dad right on top of the tallest peak in Arizona, Mt. Baldy, at 11,421′ elevation.

Linda and I were dating then. I had invited her to come with me to Springerville, Arizona to meet and visit with my parents. While there, Dad suggested we take a horse ride up the mountain. We loaded up the truck and trailer and off we went. It was a memorable trip and an important part of our courtship, for both of us I think. That trip remains a sweet memory for me.

The first time I went there was also on a horse. That was in 1977 on an 8 or 10-day horse pack trip with my dad and 22 young Boy Scouts we brought along for a pioneering experience. It was on a Sunday and we had a religious service on top of the mountain with those boys, not far from spot you see in this photo.

You can’t ride to the top of Baldy anymore, because it is a sacred place for the White Mountain Apaches and that part of the mountain (the very top) is within the boundaries of the White Mountain Apache Reservation and horse travel has now been prohibited. The last time I tried to ride the lower parts of that trail, in 2009, it had not been maintained and was no longer passable for horses, due to blow-downs.

It’s been nearly 36 years since that photograph was taken. Linda has been my wife for 35 of those years. Life has been good to me.

Though I will likely never go there again, that spot will forever have a very warm place in my heart.

Tony Henrie