Had a wonderful, quiet night's sleep, woke up ready to try out another new trail! There are about 4.5 miles of trails right out of the equestrian camp, two loops and a connector, well-marked with blue blazes every 10-20 yards. At first I thought that was overkill, but as the trail narrowed and the forest grew thicker, we needed them that often! Very little evidence of much use, which, from our perspective, was great! The ride was about 90 minutes, with really only one short opportunity to trot/canter, on a sandy road toward the end of the last loop. A good thing, too, as my horse was tired of walking and really wanted to go! (which he tried to do once in the woods, bad horse!:-)
I have to say, this was one of the most interesting trails we've been on, albeit a short trail. It was mostly pines, with some magnolias, and everything was covered with delightful hanging moss, which my horse eyed carefully the first time, then figured out that it wasn't going to leap out and swallow him up and he took the rest of the ride in stride. Terrain was easy, a few gentle slopes, footing was excellent, all pine needles and hard sand, no water or mud at all, despite the rain from the previous morning. Just a delightful short little ride.
For longer trips, there's a connector trail to the Manchester State Forest next door. There's a $5 per person fee for riding those trails, but there's another 15 miles or so over there. Permits must be purchased at their ranger station.
Hubby fighting a returning cold, so he went to bed as soon as we got back, had a lovely nap until cocktail hour. Tomorrow, off the Dee and Paul's!
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