Tuesday, August 31, 2010 - Computer and Rest Day

I spent the day on the computer taking care of numerous business chores, while Hubby did a few things around the house and campsite. A nice, uneventful day, looking forward to a ride tomorrow.

Monday, August 30, 2010 - Drive Day to Dru Barner Horse Camp, Georgetown, CA

Had a much less eventful drive day today (thankfully!), at least once we got off the mountain. I was naturally concerned about getting down the last descent without losing brakes, but fortunately, since it was still cool when we left, the brakes stayed cool as well. Easy freeway driving most of the way. Stopped at a Wal-Mart Supercenter and did some shopping, and was solicited by a rather nice fellow in the parking lot to take some of the dents out of the pickup, something that had been offered before but we refused. This time, we accepted, him having made an offer we could hardly refuse. It was finished and looked quite nice, even had a layer of wax on it to polish it off, a great improvement. Then we headed off to the Georgetown Ranger Station where I finally got to meet Cindy, who had graciously answered numerous questions during several phones calls previously. We spent about half an hour looking at all the trail maps (they even have a bandanna with the trail maps on it! What a great idea!), finding a place nearby where we could dump (expensive, but worth not having to go farther), and getting us out to the campground. With 48 campsites, and so many trails, we were sure the place would be quite busy, but other than one family tenting, no one was here! We were surprised. We were told that ORV's do use some of the multi-use trails, but some trails here are equestrian only (though we were also told sometimes the dirt-bikers ignored that sign), so now we're curious why this place is so underutilized. Guess we'll find out better when we go riding. Anyway, Cindy sent another ranger, who is their local horse expert, out to visit with us, and she chatted with Hubby while I was off dumping a few miles up the road. Despite the fact it is almost completely forested, clever and resourceful Hubby managed to find the ONE site that might be able to get a satellite signal, and it was plenty big enough for both vehicles, with room to spare. No corrals, but plenty of trees to highline the horses comfortably. Got set up, grateful we were in early, relatively speaking, even got the satellite dish up before we settled in. AND I'm getting 3 bars on my cell phone... Yeah!

Sunday, August 29, 2010 - Rest Day

Only did a few things in preparation for our departure tomorrow, otherwise watched movies and relaxed all day, taking a much needed day off!

Saturday, August 28, 2010 - Ride Day at Mendocino

Much of the National Forest is dedicated to ORV's, in fact, from the look of the place, this would be the place to train if dirt bikes were an Olympic sport, but the wilderness is off-limits to them, so that's where we headed. The ranger station had a fabulous, expensive, water-resistant map of the ORV trails, but nothing on the equestrian trails. I had managed to persuade one of the workers down at the ranger station to photocopy a map of the wilderness they had hanging on the door, just enough so we could plan our trail day, but it wasn't terribly revealing. At least it would (hopefully) keep us from getting lost. We headed out around 11:00. The first mile or so was pretty good, not too stony, fairly wide trails with just ordinary hill and dale kind of riding. Once we crossed the creek, it was another story! First there were two adolescents shooting off a gun or fireworks or something within 20 yards of the trail (in spite of a very visible sign at the trail head about having to be 150 yards off the trail), but some hikers we met earlier had warned u they were there, and we heard them as we approached. They didn't hear us, though, and there was a couple of exchanged with them getting them to quit while we passed, which they did for about 10 seconds. Fortunately our guys are getting so used to hearing gunshots in the forest they hardly pay it any mind anymore. Then, we started climbing... and climbing... and climbing. No pesky switchbacks here, most of the trail went practically straight up! The further we went, the narrower the trail got, and in some places, we were literally hugging the side of the mountain, with the trail only about a foot wide, and in some cases, sloping DOWNHILL, with a precipitous dropoff an inch away. The trail had gotten rocky, so we had stopped to put boots on, and parts of the trail was loose rocks and dirt, making the liklihood of a slip much greater. Five miles of uphill climb! Not fun unless your horse likes to pretend he's a mountain goat! We finally reached a point where we could stop for lunch, where I climbed up to a peak for a better view. It was an okay view, nothing as spectacular as many others I've seen, and certainly not worth all the work to get there. We hadn't quite reached the crossroads where several other loops joined this trail, and appeared to be more level on the top of the mountain, but frankly by this time, we had had enough. We headed back down, down, down, slipping and sliding a lot of the way. Going straight down isn't fun for anyone, but our guys were troopers the whole way. Thank goodness they're so good! If there had been even a little bit of a fuss, someone would have been down the slope at the bottom of the mountain, bleeding or dead. By the time we got home we were exhausted again. We gave the horses an extra ration of grain as a reward, then flung ourselves into our recliners. It was then that we made the decision to leave on Monday, although originally we were going to stay until Tuesday. Neither of us wanted to ride these trails again, and not being able to have a cell phone signal nearby was problematic, as we had so many irons in the fire work-wise right now. Freedom is wonderful, it certainly allows for last minute changes without any fuss!

Saturday, August 28, 2010 - Ride Day at Mendocino

Much of the National Forest is dedicated to ORV's, in fact, from the look of the place, this would be the place to train if dirt bikes were an Olympic sport, but the wilderness is off-limits to them, so that's where we headed. The ranger station had a fabulous, expensive, water-resistant map of the ORV trails, but nothing on the equestrian trails. I had managed to persuade one of the workers down at the ranger station to photocopy a map of the wilderness they had hanging on the door, just enough so we could plan our trail day, but it wasn't terribly revealing. At least it would (hopefully) keep us from getting lost. We headed out around 11:00. The first mile or so was pretty good, not too stony, fairly wide trails with just ordinary hill and dale kind of riding. Once we crossed the creek, it was another story! First there were two adolescents shooting off a gun or fireworks or something within 20 yards of the trail (in spite of a very visible sign at the trail head about having to be 150 yards off the trail), but some hikers we met earlier had warned u they were there, and we heard them as we approached. They didn't hear us, though, and there was a couple of exchanged with them getting them to quit while we passed, which they did for about 10 seconds. Fortunately our guys are getting so used to hearing gunshots in the forest they hardly pay it any mind anymore. Then, we started climbing... and climbing... and climbing. No pesky switchbacks here, most of the trail went practically straight up! The further we went, the narrower the trail got, and in some places, we were literally hugging the side of the mountain, with the trail only about a foot wide, and in some cases, sloping DOWNHILL, with a precipitous dropoff an inch away. The trail had gotten rocky, so we had stopped to put boots on, and parts of the trail was loose rocks and dirt, making the liklihood of a slip much greater. Five miles of uphill climb! Not fun unless your horse likes to pretend he's a mountain goat! We finally reached a point where we could stop for lunch, where I climbed up to a peak for a better view. It was an okay view, nothing as spectacular as many others I've seen, and certainly not worth all the work to get there. We hadn't quite reached the crossroads where several other loops joined this trail, and appeared to be more level on the top of the mountain, but frankly by this time, we had had enough. We headed back down, down, down, slipping and sliding a lot of the way. Going straight down isn't fun for anyone, but our guys were troopers the whole way. Thank goodness they're so good! If there had been even a little bit of a fuss, someone would have been down the slope at the bottom of the mountain, bleeding or dead. By the time we got home we were exhausted again. We gave the horses an extra ration of grain as a reward, then flung ourselves into our recliners. It was then that we made the decision to leave on Monday, although originally we were going to stay until Tuesday. Neither of us wanted to ride these trails again, and not being able to have a cell phone signal nearby was problematic, as we had so many irons in the fire work-wise right now. Freedom is wonderful, it certainly allows for last minute changes without any fuss!

Friday, August 27, 2010 - In Search of a Cell Phone Signal

Spent the day trying to find a cell phone signal. I actually found just up the hill from the campground, but for some reason I couldn't call out on it. Maybe it was roaming, or a competitor or something, but I just couldn't get through. One of the rangers had told me that sometimes you can get a signal down by the lake, which was another 5 or 6 miles further up the road, so off I went. The road quickly turned to gravel, in some places very rough, mostly narrow. Again, it took a long time to get there. Once there, I couldn't even get a signal, much less a usable one. Rather than let the trip go to waste, I took the time to refill the horses' barrel, as we had already used up a third of it, and I didn't want to make that trip again! I headed back to the campsite, filled all the buckets and tubs again, then headed down the mountain, still searching. I finally received a signal... about the time I got to the ranger station! I've never seen such a dead zone! Well, I filled up the barrel again, then went down to the local general store (one of about 3 buildings in town), bought some tomatoes, then found a shady spot to get online, which, at last, I could do. Did some work, even got a phone call from a potential new client, would you believe! After about an hour or so, I headed back up the mountain, which only took 45 minutes in the pickup truck. I only hope the trails are worth it!

Thursday, August 26, 2010 - Another Long and Windy Drive Day

Got out by 8:30, after putting the 5-gallons of gas into the van, which was in the red and dinging at me, drove through the Redwood Forest, which, of course, is gorgeous, but it was a narrow road, and although it was paved, it was rough, like there was no foundation, which seems to be typical in the area for some reason. This area of California has the worst roads we've ever seen, and it's not just a recent phenomenon, they show signs of long-term neglect. Things improved somewhat once we got onto 101, but even that was only freeway part of the way, some of it was windy, twisty back roads. Stopped for gas and a sub at the first place we could before pressing on. We arrived at our crossroads before noon, trying to decide whether to go to Jackson State Forest, 17 west, or Mendocino National Forest, which was east, then north, then west. A lot farther, but at least it would be at a higher elevation, so probably cooler. It didn't make sense to stop that early, so we decided on the latter, also knowing it would be hotter in the valley. So off we went. Route 20 across the south end of the forest was a good road, and it didn't take us long to get to I-5. Though Gracie was telling me to take a shortcut, I had already spoken to the woman at the ranger's office, and she said that shortcut was twisty and gravel and hilly, so we took the longer way. We arrived at the ranger station just after they had closed, but had been told we could help ourselves to the hose outside the office, so we filled up the RV, the big horse tank, and everything else we could get our hands on, as there was no water at the campground, not even for the horses. Then things REALLY started getting interesting. The road into the forest was by far one of the scariest, twistiest, and more heartstopping we had ever been on. The first climb was very twisty and steep and narrow, but fortunately, not too long. The subsequent descent was not as steep, but still narrow and twisty, so we took our time. The next climb wasn't quite as steep as the first, but it was LONG and twisty, very narrow, and had dropoffs that put the fear of God into us. You remember "the bus to Cartegena" that Joan Wilder climbed onto in the movie Romancing the Stone? When she looked out her window and it went straight down? It was like that, only without the comfort of a jungle to land on, only rock. Just when we didn't think it could get any worse, the last mile or so had potholes big enough to swallow a VW bug, absolutely impossible to get around. So needless to say, it was slow, slow, slow going. Although it was only 12 miles from the ranger station to the campground, it took us over an hour to get there. A white-knuckle drive like this one wasn't exactly what we had in mind for this late in the day, but we didn't have any choice. In for a penny, in for a pound! The entrance to the campground was down about 20 yards, then a sharp switchback for another 20 before entering. None of the campsites were really big enough for us, (or anything in the form of a camper, really), except one site that was fortunately next to the corrals, which was really a two-sided group corral. We managed to fit in well enough to not block any traffic, got set up and tried to relax. What a couple of tough days!