Tuesday, May 15, 2012 - Doctor and Errand Day

Had a full day of errands and appointments scheduled today, beginning with getting to the vet with the horses for their annual Coggins blood test, followed by an annual doctor’s appointment for Hubby and a dentist appointment for me, during which Hubby when to Lowes to get the rest of the parts he needed to finish off the plumbing job in the well house. Got back to the house around 4:00, and within an hour or so, we finally had water! Took one of the longest showers I’ve had in a long time to celebrate! Relaxed the rest of the evening, still have plenty to do over the next few days before we set off again.

Monday, May 14, 2012 - Travel Day Home

Got up at the crack of dawn, grabbed some breakfast on the road, and headed home. Arrived good and early, but soon discovered that we had unexpected work to do. Seems Hubby had the clever idea to turn the well pump off before we left the last time we were home last time, but he forgot that the switch he pulled also turned off the heat lamps in the well house. The result was that all of the pipes and filters in the well house froze and burst over the winter, so we had no water. He made a quick assessment of what he needed before running down to the local hardware store, but even then we didn’t have it completed in time to have water by the end of the day. Good news was the rest of the house was in good shape, other than one dead mouse in the bathtub, so at least we were able to sleep in our own bed the first night!

Sunday, May 13, 2012 - Rest and Preparation Day

Exhausted after yesterday’s long ride, so we spent most of the day relaxing, watching TV, and doing some preparation work for our trip tomorrow. Not enough energy to do much else!

Saturday, May 12, 2012 - Long Hard Day on the Blue Trail

  Once again set the alarm early and got out early, because the trail today is the Blue Trail, the longest this National Forest has to offer. We hoped because it took us to the far northern regions of the park that it would be more pristine and less clear-cut. Unfortunately, that turned out to be a very wrong assumption. Now, let me clarify something here. We have personal preferences as to what kind of trails we ride, as I’m sure all trail-riders develop after a while. We prefer trails over roads, we prefer dirt (or shallow sand) over gravel, we prefer old forest over highly-managed forest, we prefer back-country over populated areas (away from roads so we can at least IMAGINE what the early pioneers experienced), and we prefer public lands over private. In that context, the Blue Trail was a HUGE disappointment. The first half of the trail was on bull-dozed trails (I got the impression it had been a nice single-file trail once, but someone go the clever idea of widening it with a bulldozer, which utterly ruined it, in our opinion) and most of the trees had been clear-cut at some point. About the half-way point (going counter-clockwise, that is), the forest started getting nicer, more deciduous and older-growth, but then the trail went from bull-dozed dirt to an older gravel and dirt road logging road. Finally, the trail veered back into the woods again, but that was short-lived as well, and we were soon back on gravel and dirt roads. At about the 12-mile point, we finally reached a bridge over a creek large enough to water the horses, and stopped for lunch. Hubby was managing, but he was still in pain, and every time we trotted he had to post to keep from jarring his shoulder, so his legs were starting to burn. That meant we would have to either canter or walk for the rest of the six miles. After lunch we headed up the gravel road, but that quickly veered off into the woods on a real trail, thank goodness, and stayed in the woods for most of the return trip home, though it did continue to cross over the road back and forth. For the entire length of the 18.8 miles, we were never more than 100-200 feet from a road, and usually much closer, within view or earshot the entire way, so we never got even the slightest hint of the "back-country" feel we like to achieve. About the closest we got was a run in with a snake on the trail. It was stretched across the trail, about 3 feet long, and it looked dead, but I wasn’t about to take any chances, so I found a big stick and gave it a poke, and sure enough, it was just sleeping. It woke up and slowly started to get out of the way, first crossing uphill, then back across the trail downhill (see video). That was about the only excitement on the trail. We had estimated a 5:00 arrival, because all of the trail maps said the trail was 18 miles, but according to my GPS it was almost 19, so it was almost 5:20 when we got back. That extra time was critical, because Hubby’s painkiller started wearing off at about 4:30, and he didn’t want to stop to take more, he just wanted to get back, and he was in pain much longer than he should have been. Anyway, we finally made it, and after he took more painkillers, he managed to come out and help a bit putting the horses away for the night. It had sprinkled a bit during the last hour, and we knew there was rain in the forecast, so the help was appreciated. Got everyone settled in, then started the heat, cold regime on his shoulder again as we settled in for the evening, thoroughly exhausted, thankful for a day off tomorrow!

Friday, May 11, 2012 - Runaround Day

While Hubby spent the day recovering from his fall, I drove down to Oxford (AL) and did a bunch of essential shopping, including a few bales of hay for the horses and some parts for the RV. That took most of the day. Then we relaxed for the evening, with Hubby feeling well enough to believe we’ll be able to complete our stay here with a long, LONG ride (18 miles) on the Blue Trail.

Thursday, May 10, 2012 - The Disappointing Yellow Trail at Talladega NF

  Headed out early today, as we had 16 miles on the Yellow Trail to do today. Managed to get out before 10:00, looking forward to a nice long ride, hopefully through some nice pristine forest. Unfortunately, large areas along the Yellow trail had been clear cut, so the feeling of riding in the wilderness were much less enjoyable than what we prefer. It was maybe 30% nice forest that we truly enjoyed, and the rest was pretty much clearcut, with a lot of clutter in and near the trails as a result. At one point, we lost the trail for a few minutes, because the cleared area overlapped the trail area so much we couldn’t find the markers. This was the first time we lost track of where we were, as the trails here have been stupendously marked up until now, with me hardly ever having to pull our the map. It made for a long day, and not quite as enjoyable as we had hoped, by as Winston Churchill and Ronald Reagan both said, "No hour on the back of a horse is ever wasted!" On the final leg of the journey, we decided to cut back to camp on the White Trail, which would be the reverse of how we had taken the White trail before, rather than complete the Yellow trail, which we already did when we took the White trail earlier in the week (the White and Yellow combine at that point). It offered several opportunities to canter, and, unfortunately at one point, Hubby’s horse shied at a shadow behind a tree (her favorite pastime), and he took a spill, landing on his shoulder in a way that wrenched the muscles. Fortunately, we were less than a mile from camp, so as soon as we got back we started the usual regime of painkillers, cold, heat, cold, heat, etc. on him, while I took care of the horses. He still managed to feed the dogs and do a few of his usual chores, but he was in agony doing it, until finally we spend the rest of the evening in repose. We were planning on taking the day off from riding tomorrow anyway, to rest the horses after their long day, but now Hubby will need as much rest as they do!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012 - The Lovely Red Trail atTalladega NF

   Woke up to tons of rain, starting early, before we got out of bed, and lasting until past 1:30 pm, then the sun burst out to make it a glorious afternoon and evening. In the morning, I ran out to my new spot to check my email, did some work, then returned. We had our ice cream lunch, then headed out for a short ride on the 5-mile Red Trail, which was truly lovely. Lots of older growth, dirt trails, a beautiful ride, though there was some evidence of recent clear cutting in a few small areas. Got back by 4:00, and settled down early for the evening.