Saturday, July 31, 2010 - Fly Back to the West Coast

Up and at 'em early with just a cup of coffee to go, caught the 6:30 hotel shuttle, arrived in time to see another HUGE line at the Delta counter. Tried to us the self-serve kiosk, no dice. Hubby sent down to the Delta shuttle counter as instructed yesterday, nobody home. So I stand in line another 30 minutes before someone finally waits on me, and in moments, she's issued boarding passes for both flights, but the one out of DC wasn't in the emergency row. I asked her, if they weren't in the ER, why couldn't they have issued them to us yesterday when we made a special trip to the airport. She had no answer, couldn't find any reason why I couldn't have gotten them yesterday! Needless to say I wasn't a happy camper by the time I finished in that line. Got through security fine, then grabbed some breakfast (fruit for me, a big honking breakfast for Hubby) and finally got on the plane, late as usual. There was some problem on that first flight, but I can't remember what it was now. First bit of good news was to discover our connecting flight was at a gate around the corner, not the other side of the airport as it had been on Wednesday. The plane was an AirBus and seemed to have more aisle space and even more leg room, even more so in the emergency row, so we were finally breathing a sigh of relief that this Delta nightmare was almost over. Then, naturally, when we reached cruising altitude and I tried to put my seat back to take a nap, the damned button was stuck, so I couldn't get it to recline no matter how hard I tried. Never, never, never again will we fly Delta, I don't care how many extra stops I need to take, I've had it with them. Arrived at 12:30 pm local time, made a quick stop at the grocery store, then headed back to the stables. All the kids were fine and glad to see us. Hubby decided to give the horse trailer a quick wash (we had washed the truck before we left, so he thought they should both be equally clean and/or dirty.) I did some work on our schedule, then we both crashed, exhausted from the days trials.

Friday, July 30, 2010 - More Work, Change of Hotels

We arrived at 7:50 after breakfast, and our client arrived just after 8:30, but he had cleared his schedule to stay with us until 11:00, so we had an excellent session. Afterward, we went back to the hotel, packed, and headed out to Crystal City. Since we had an early morning flight, and apparently the Metro doesn't start early on Saturday, so we decided to stay at the Sheraton, which was having an incredible room sale, just $87 for the night. First, though, we decided to take the Metro to National Airport to see if we could get our seating and boarding passes for the flight in the morning, now that we had changed our flight and we were less than 24 hours before we were leaving. Of course, after standing in line for 45 minutes, I was rather rudely told I couldn't get boarding passes yet, even though seats had apparently been assigned. I was told those seats couldn't be release in DC until 30 minutes before the flight, so I assumed that meant they were emergency row seats. Odd, because we had already been assigned emergency row seats for the second leg of the flight. The guy said to go to the Delta shuttle desk in the morning, and they would issue a temporary boarding pass to get us through security and a real boarding pass at the gate. It all sounded very inconvenient and unnecessary, so we ended up leaving dissatisfied, determined to never fly Delta again. Called the hotel, who sent out a shuttle to pick us up, we settled in, walked down to a little Chinese dive for dinner, than again, went to bed early in anticipation of an early morning.

Thursday, July 29, 2010 - Work

Slept late, had our usual complimentary breakfast at the hotel, then worked with our client for a while. Actually, we worked more on his script as he was delayed, when he finally arrived he could only stay half an hour. We arranged to meet again the following morning, we hoped between 8:00 and 8:30. Had an early dinner at our favorite Thai restaurant (we just can't resist this place!), then went to be early, still tired from the trip and cognizant of having to get up early.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 - Fly to DC

Woke up to the alarm before 7:00, made coffee, packed our bags, got the dogs settled in the lounge, checked on the horses, and were out the driveway by 8:30. Stopped at the grocery store to pickup sandwiches and snacks for the day, then went for breakfast at a Holiday Inn near the airport, then arrived at the airport around 10:00. No problem with security, at the gate by 10:15. While the flights were relatively uneventful, it just didn't seem like this airline, Delta, had the same professional level as our American, which we usually fly. The people seemed bored and tired of the tedium of their jobs, every time I asked a question I felt like I was imposing on them, the overhead compartments were very small and we had to put our carryon about 10 rows away from where we were sitting. They didn't have diet lemon-lime, our preferred drink, and they didn't bother to announce gate connections coming into Minneapolis. Then when I called to to change out return flight, I was told they couldn't do it because we were "in transit", therefore outside their system, and we'd have to wait until we got the DC. Crazy, and not very efficient. Arriving almost half an hour early, though, but by the time we changed our flights, it was nearly 9:30 anyway. Stepped outside and got blasted by 90 degrees temps and high humidity, despite the fact it was already dark. Caught the Metro to our favorite downtown hotel and settled in, having gained three hours, and will now need to adjust to, though our first meeting isn't until 1:00, so we'll have plenty of time to get ourselves straightened out. Coming back on Saturday will be the greater challenge.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010 - Travel Day to Spokane Equestrian Center

Had a fairly uneventful trip to Spokane, only challenge was that the Flying J in Post Falls, Idaho, where we had planned to dump, had a parking lot that was practically impossible to negotiate with an RV, then once I finally got there, there was a sign that said they charged $10 to dump! Well, sorry, but I'm a bit too :thrifty" for that, and discovered an RV dump at a future rest stop on I-90, so we're just going to hold off until then. Our trusty Verizon GPS Gracie led us straight to the Spokane Equestrian Center where we've arranged to board the horses and dogs and RV, and is just 15 minutes from the airport. Having gained an hour by moving into Pacific time, we settled in for the afternoon, taking a few minutes to wash the pickup (since that's the vehicle we'll be leaving at the airport and it really, really was dusty). Then we met a friend/client for dinner at a great Greek restaurant downtown called Niko's, though we took a quick pitstop at a mall just before that to get a new electrical tester for Hubby and a new slip for a white summer dress that I wanted to wear in DC for me. It was a great dinner, great fun to reconnect, and still got home before 9:00. Quick nightcap, then off to bed in anticipation of an early morning and busy day tomorrow!

Monday, July 26, 2010 - Travel Day to Sloway Campground

Managed to get out without any problems despite our earlier concerns, got out by 10:00. Stopped in Missoula for a new electrical outlet and propane (at $.99/gallon!) for the RV and gas, then traveled to our overnight stop, arriving about 4:00. We had decided the drive to Spokane was too long to go in one day, so we decided to stop at a campground in the Lolo National Forest, at a campground that is, quite literally, under I-90. Convenience was great, there was a corral (actually a round pen), and it was right next to a river (Clark Fork, I believe) but of course, it was quite noisy, with a train track on the other side of the river, and the freeway above. An earplug night, for sure! At least it's convenient!

Sunday, July 25, 2010 - Chores Day

Had a few repairs to do, spent the day getting those done, as well as getting ready to leave tomorrow. Had a Ranger stop by this morning and inspect our hay (to make sure it was weed-free certified), and say hello to the horses. Later, someone stopped by to tell us there was a small forest fire not too far away, and to keep an eye in that direction, just to make sure if the wind picked up and brought it closer. We could see the smoke and glow off to the west, so we went ahead and hooked up the horse trailer to the pickup just in case. Fortunately, nothing came of it, as no wind ever picked up. Happy days!

Saturday, July 24, 2010 - A Great Ride in Montana

Saddled up and out by 10:15, following a pretty wide dirt road with some gravel. The first half mile was a mix of stone and dirt, so eventually we decided to put their boots on to be safe. Once we made the first river crossing, the trail got a bit narrower and less rocky, and really felt like a walk in the park. We decided to take the Blackfoot Meadows Trail, as the other Kading trail looked more rocky and seemed to climb a lot, and frankly, we've had enough rocky climbs for a while. This is an incredible forest, with only one kind of tree, lodgepole pine, all 3 or 4 stories high and straight as an arrow upward. They have obviously had some infestation, as quite a few trees were dead, particularly on the east side of the river, and the campground was the worst, where practically everything is dead. There's no work being done in the campground, however, so my only supposition as to why it was closed is because of fear of liability, not any actual trees being down yet. Seems like they could just put up a "Camp at your own risk" sign and leave it at that. Anyway, the trail was fantastic, only a few ups and downs, mostly to cross the river a few times, which were shallow, easy fords. There were a few places where the trail was narrow and hanging on the edge of the mountains, but nothing too dangerous for a seasoned horse. We passed one couple of runners and two fishermen, then the trail opened up to Blackfoot Meadows, a large gorgeous clearing with the creek running through it. It was so easy to imagine the meadow full of teepees and Indian families, as surely was the case a century and a half ago. We found a lovely campsite and stopped for lunch, with plenty of grass for the horses and a log for us to sit on. We spent more time at the stop than usual, simply because it was such a beautiful scene. Eventually, we set back on the same trail (we had no trail map, the first National Forest we've been to that didn't have any free trail maps anywhere, even at the ranger station), as we didn't know if there were any loops or other connecting trails. Passed a couple of other riders, fortunately at the creek where it was wide enough, and had a lovely ride the rest of the way home, arriving about 3:30. A perfect day, exactly the kind of day we are always striving to have!

Friday, July 23, 2010 - Crash Day

Yesterday really took it out of us, so we slept late. After breakfast, I drove 7 miles to find a cell phone signal good enough to get online, then spent about four hours finding a stable in Spokane to look after our horses while we fly to DC next week, and a horse camp between here and there that was convenient to the freeway, among other chores. I got back around 3:00, and spend the rest of the day relaxing, to bed early to prepare for our ride tomorrow!

Thursday, July 22, 2010 - LONG Travel Day to Kading Campground, MT

We had so much to do today, and so far to go, we set the alarm for 6:15, up by 6:30, out by 7:15 with coffee to go. First stop was the Crosswinds RV store in Pocatello to pick up a new electrical cord we had ordered last week, then a stop for breakfast to go at Burger King on the way back to the freeway, then a quick gas stop just before crossing the border into Montana (high prices, but the only fuel for miles beyond. They had a wifi signal so I quick checked my email before moving on. Next stop was to pick up hay from a woman in Dillon, MT. Her bales were HUGE, so I couldn't just pay her the $4 a bale she was asking, so I gave her more. The bales weren't perfectly green (which, apparently, folks around here expect), but it was fine and fresh and certified weed free, which is good enough for us. That took us almost an hour to load. Then we headed to Wal-mart in Butte, then a liquor store at a gas station/casino (truly!), then onto a town called Deer Lodge where we picked up water, then finally, on to the Helena National Forest. Our original plan was to stay at the Kading Campground, which has a horse corral, but discovered they were "closed" for reasons I still can't comprehend, (though they gave the impression there were trees down, which turned out not to be true), but they said there were many turnouts with the Little Blackfoot River next to them. As we traveled across 15 miles of gravel road, we saw quite a few turnouts, but most were occupied and many would never be able to accommodate a rig our size. We decided to go all the way to campground before turning back to look for something. We arrived at the campground (noticing that the campground looked fine, except the blockade that prevented us from entering), and saw that while there were corrals across the road from the campground, there was no running water, and no creek nearby. Hubby decided to follow the road to see where it went, and found a turnaround a little ways up, and signaled me to follow and take a look. We found the trail began at that point, but it seemed large enough to (maybe) get the RV down it to a little clearing next to the creek. We decided to give it a try. There was one sharp turn where I ended up dragging the back of the RV, which one of the stabilizers, which will need repairing later. Ultimately, we made ourselves a nice little camp, though the only way we could get level was to encroach a little on the trail, but there's room enough to get a pickup truck by, as we discovered later, so no harm done. It was well after 7:30 by the time we got everything settled in, and we were exhausted from all the activity. Through together some dinner, then crashed!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010 - Day of Bookkeeping and Rest

While we had hoped for another short ride today, work got in the way, and I spent the day getting caught up on bookkeeping, while Hubby read and napped. Finally called it quits at dinner and rested the remainder of the evening.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010 - Fabulous Ride, At Last!

Slept decadently late, Hubby even fed the horses for me because he figured I must've had a rough night if I was still in bed at 8:30 (he was right). Saddled up and was on the trail by 11:00. Headed southwest on the Boundary Trail (fortunately, dirt trails and creek crossings, no stones to speak of except the creeks) until we came to an intersection. One trail went to Robber's Roost, the other was unmarked, and the third was the continuation of the Boundary trail. It kind of looked like the Boundary Trail got a little rocky, so we opted for Robber's Roost, though we had no idea how long it was. We started climbing (what else is new!), and we hadn't gone a quarter mile when the trail started getting really rocky, so opted out and turned around. Then we went down the unmarked trail, which stayed in the valley and followed the creek until it reached a fence about half mile away. So we turned around again, resigned to taking the Boundary trail and hoping that rocky bit was saw was short-lived. Fortunately, that turned out to be EXACTLY the case. The trail only climbed a little bit, and only a little bit at a time, with almost entirely dirt trails (with just the odd short rocky bit here and there), very moderate ups and downs, and, for the first time in what seems like weeks, opportunities to actually trot and canter! The forest was beautiful, a wonderful mix of aspen and conifers and in the occasional field, sagebrush. There were so many different types of evergreens I couldn't identify them all, and some were so huge they must have been there for 400 years! I'm no expert, but I know I saw white pine, red cedar, probably blue fir, lodgepole and I don't know what else. It was the nicest ride we've had in a while. We went about 5 miles to a lovely creek, stopped there to have lunch, and then headed home. We had decided early that because it was such a nice ride, we'd make it short and do another one in the opposite direction tomorrow. The entire Boundary Trail is too long for us to do in one day (I estimate more than 16 miles, which we might do if we had more time, but not this trip), so another short day tomorrow to keep us fit and the horses happy. One thing I discovered on the trail, I could, in fact, get a cell phone signal in many areas, so when we got back in camp, I turned the phone on and did my compass check (I turn to each point of the compass to see which direction I get the best signal) and discovered that I did, in fact, have a signal that should be good enough to retrieve my email. Once the horses were put up, and after a conversation with our departing neighbor (a pair of foster parents with 3 foster kids who live just on the other side of the mountain range to our West, in Inkom), I came in and sure enough, found I could download my email. I also have to get directions to an RV store from which I have ordered a new electrical cable, as well as to confirm where we are going to pick up hay. Apparently Dillon, MT is the hub for locally produced certified weed-free hay, and I spoke to several folks about price and availability, and, as always, the market systems works. The price is lower than I've found in a number of other places. Competition is great! We want to get a full load, which should get us into California.

Monday, July 19, 2010 - Drive Day to Big Springs Horse Camp-Caribo NF

I say Caribou NF because there's another Big Springs Campground just west of Yellowstone, though I since discovered they don't allow horses there, though there are pullouts along some roads that are open to horses, and that have creeks apparently. No, this Big Spring is just north of Hot Lava Springs, just SE of Pocatello. On the way, we stopped at Flying J to dump, get gas, (though Hubby forgot to fill up the generator tanks, a habit we just haven't gotten into yet) and have breakfast. Then we stopped at a little supermarket in Hot Lava Springs for groceries (which, when you enter this quaint little town, has a huge waterpark next to the entrance, and it was packed!), then proceeded to the horse camp. The last 7 miles was gravel road, mostly narrow with just a few passing areas, and with quite a few nice turnouts along the way, with a creek along most of them, providing us with an option if the horse camp doesn't work out. We arrived, Hubby went up to check it out (only two horse sites!), while I went down to the regular campground to look for a trail map and get water in the holding tank. While I was filling the tank, the Camp host came by in his ATV, and I asked him about trail maps, and he said he had one that I could look at but none to give away (but if I wanted one I could go by the park ranger's office in Pocatello!) Rather disappointing, but I had downloaded one, not a very good one, but it was better than nothing. Meanwhile, Hubby radioed that one space was open, and it looked like a nice spot, and besides, it was cooler up here that further down the road where we had come, so I drove up and we set up camp in no time, all done before 3:00, including satellite dish. I lost my cell phone signal miles down the road, so it doesn't look like I'll be checking any email while we're here! Had a relaxing afternoon and evening, something that will be in short supply between now and our trip to DC, so we took full advantage of it! We did have a visit from a flock of sheep that strolled through the campsite during the afternoon, but the horses didn't seem to mind them much, thank goodness.

Sunday, July 18, 2010 - Another Ride Day

Well, we decided to take the ranger's suggestion, so we headed east back toward the trailhead he recommended. It was, in fact, a lot less rocky, though there were still sections that were pretty bad. Again, the trail climbed and climbed and climbed. After about 90 minutes of that, we just stopped, had lunch, and then descended, descended, descended again. There were a few beautiful views on the way, and it was more pleasant than the previous ride, but still not quite the kind of trails we prefer. Spent the late afternoon getting ready to leave in the morning. It's a very shor trip, only about 60 miles, but we have a few stops on the way.

Saturday, July 17, 2010 - Work Day

Made reservations for our flight from Spokane the week after next, checked out hotels, with the eternal debate of "do we stay out by the airport or do we stay closed to the Capitol." Found half a dozen stables near the Spokane airport, I'll need to call them next week if I don't hear from my friends in Spokane as to whether they have a friend with a farm (the ideal solution, in my book:-). The ranger I spoke with about this campground last week stopped by to say hello today, asked if we would change the horses' highline everyday to so they wouldn't kill the grass. Funny, I thought they would have preferred to limit the damage to one area, but, whatever... We asked him about the least rocky trail, and he said that would probably be one that started in the opposite direction than the one our neighbor had recommended yesterday. Oh well, we'll decide tomorrow. Spent most of the day working on the computer, planning the (new) next stage of our journey.

Friday, July 16, 2010 - Ride Day at Summit Campground

Tried again to find a trail map of the area, no luck. Just as we were getting saddled up, though, a couple with a horse trailer drove in, and Hubby asked them about the trails here. They told him about a loop that was about 5-6 miles long, so we headed out on the South Canyon Trail. We had to ride a mile on a gravel road to get to the trailhead (we had put the boots on), crossed the bridge, then turned left at the sign. Within a hundred yards or so, the trail started getting very rocky, and, unfortunately, stayed that way. This is a multi-use trail, and twice we had to get off the trail to let ATVers pass. We climbed and climbed on this rocky trail, and it wasn't much fun. We finally reached the top, and stopped for lunch before descending on the other side. Fortunately, this side of the mountain was much less rocky, so it was a bit more enjoyable. We finally passed out of the forest (a mix of conifers up top and aspen down below, typical throughout this part of the West) onto a plain-like area that let us back to civilization and the gravel road. The couple that came in after us showed up some time later, and I asked them if there were other, less rocky trails, preferably non-motorized, but it seems pretty much all the trails here cater to the OHV folks. They did say that if we turn right at the bridge instead of left that the main trail in that direction is less rocky, so maybe we'll try that on Sunday. Hubby and I spent some time this afternoon discussing the schedule and the travel plans, and just about the time we had settled on the next few weeks, I received an email from a client who wants us in DC at the end of the month, so now our plans will have to change again, though only slightly. Seems we'll be flying out of Spokane now, I'll have to find a place for the critters and the vehicles while we go. More research on tap for tomorrow!

Thursday, July 15, 2010 - Hay and Research Day

Once again woke up to the sound of livestock, this time a small herd of cows were mooing next to our bedroom window. We saw a couple wandering around when we came in yesterday, didn't expect them to visit us so early. Horses were a bit calmer, though they were scrutinizing them suspiciously until the dogs were let out and ran them off. Spent the day on the computer researching the next few legs of our journey to make sure we don't run out of time before we run out of road, while Hubby went in search of some hay, as there wasn't much on craigslist for this area. Apparently most people here produce alfalfa, and our horses just aren't used to anything that rich, at least not by itself. We'll need to pick up some more certified weed free grass hay somewhere before moving on, or at least mixing alfalfa with our certified grass hay until we can find some upstate. It seems Montana has quite a few providers just over the border, we'll probably load up then. Meanwhile, the few bales Hubby picked up will last until then. Otherwise, an uneventful day.

Wednesday, July 14, 2010 - Late Night/Early Morning Excitement before Drive to Idaho

Just as Hubby was getting wet in the shower last night, a terrific blast of wind came out of nowhere and blew our awning all askew, so he had to quick jump out naked and help me roll it up. (no, we didn't have any neighbors!) The wind continue through most of the night, but seemed to be gone before dawn. We were both sound asleep when just after 7:00 we heard a terrific crash from the corral, then moments later, before we could even register what might have happened, we hear horse hooves running across the campground. Knowing that wasn't good, I jumped out, threw on a nightshirt and ran out the door, only to see the corral had come apart and our horses were running away toward the trailhead. I called to them, but they were having none of it. As I turned around to get Hubby to come help me, I was nearly face to face with a giant buffalo, trundling along toward me, coming between the corral and the RV (which, as you can see from yesterday's pic, is only a few yards away!) I leaped back into the RV and let it pass, at a pace so slow I never thought it would get by. Meanwhile, Hubby got dressed, and I said, "Well, I know what spooked the horses," and pointed toward the passing buffalo, which, unfortunately, was heading in the same direction as the horses, who had continued to trot and canter away from the critter, and thus us. Hubby started after them while I ran inside and dressed, then drove the pickup truck to the trailhead. Hubby had almost reached the horses by then, (they'd gone at least a half mile from the campsite) and we walked them back to the pickup and loaded them into the trailer, while the bison look on from afar. We decided to skip breakfast for now, and quickly finished packing, out before 8:30. Headed up the highway, stopping at a Flying J in North Ogden to dump, get propane, have breakfast, and do laundry (which started out slow as only one of the four machines was working.) The manager came after a while and fixed two more, and generously paid for my first two loads, so at least he made up for the inconvenience. After breakfast, while I continued washing, Hubby ran down to the nearest Walmart to do some shopping, so we'd be all set until Monday. We stopped once more in the little town of Malad to pick up water at a gas station, then arrived at the campground shortly thereafter, with Gracie (my Verizon GPS) showing me almost all the way. When we reached the developed campground, I sent Hubby up the road to check out the camping spur that the Ranger here had told me about, which he said was big enough for us and where horses were allowed, and where there were no fees. Hubby called back on the radio a few minutes later, saying the spot was "perfect." I drove up with the RV and saw it was very nice, the only problem was the turning radius, it would take several K turns to maneuver around, but after a few attempts, we managed to get it situated perfectly, just several yards from an abundant creek, trees that were perfect for high lining, and what seemed like a very quiet spot. We soon learned all but the last was true, apparently this road is a popular one for ATV's, hikers, and just plain casual drivers. Not too bad, though, just a few a day. Just three miles off the freeway, I get a pretty good cell phone signal, but it's far enough away as to have no traffic (or any other) noise at all. Hubby managed to get a satellite signal, the horses are munching away on some long grass, the dogs are off exploring, so we're all in 7th heaven! Looking forward to seeing what the trails are like!

Tuesday, July 13, 2010 - Ride Day at Antelope State Park

Had the alarm set for 6:30, had breakfast, saddled and booted up and on the trail by 8:30. Beautiful cool morning, but no breeze yet, we're hoped we would get one before the heat of the day. Set out counterclockwise on the White Rock Loop, had a lovely canter across a long open field, stopping for a few minutes at the other side under a lone tree with a hitching post next to it. We took a side trip out to Elephant Head Trail, which took us out to a high point on the west side of the island, with grandiose views of the entire Salt Lake from north to south. Trails were sandy and rocky combined, so we were glad we had the boots on. After admiring the beautiful west side view, we headed back down, stopped again under the tree, had lunch, fed and watered the horses, then continued on the rest of the loop. Only saw a few antelopes, though we had our eyes peeled for buffalo, no luck yet. This trail crossed to the east side of the island, with another view of the smaller part of the lake, and the towns and cities on the other side. Got back about 1:00, a boring ride with spectacular views, boring because you could see the trail for miles ahead. Of course, the point was to experience every type of terrain with our horses, and we missed the grasslands on our way west, so this arid little island will do nicely. We relaxed in the afternoon, even took a little siesta, because we had decided to take a second, short ride this evening to watch the sun set over the Great Salt Lake. We saddled up around 8:00, arrived at the perfect spot for sunset viewing at about 8:50, awaiting the scheduled 9:00 sunset. It was beautiful. Blue sky with just enough clouds in the west to make it absolutely gorgeous. There's just something about a sunset over water that just floats my boat. Growing up with a cottage near Lake Ontario, I used to walk several miles every night after dinner just to watch the sun set over the lake. It was the first time ever that we rode the horses two times in one day, and I think they were a bit confused, but seemed to take it in stride. They'll likely have a few days off to recover anyway, as our trip tomorrow to Idaho is short, and we need to find more hay and a laundromat in the next few days. We should be able to ride again Friday if all goes well. A great day! Particularly as it washed away the memory of that last awful place!

Monday, July 12, 2010 - Drive Day to Antelope State Park in Salt Lake

Slow drive out of China Meadow, stopped in Evanston to get gas, shop at Wal-Mart, and stop at Murdock's Farm Store for oats and other horse sundries. Made a few directional errors, stopped again at Wal-mart in Syracuse, Utah to pick up water because I couldn't remember the specifics about if there was potable water for us near the campsite. Good thing, too, because it turned out there wasn't. We arrived about 4:30, later than we had anticipated, but we paid and got in easily enough. I asked about water for the horses at the gate, and the attendant said she would check with maintenance. We arrived at the equestrian site, which is an open area next to White Rock Bay. Actually, the entire island is an open area, with hills and trails allowing for spectacular views from every angle. We unloaded the horses and got them into the pipe corrals, fed them, then waited for the water truck to arrive, as there is no running water anywhere. He arrived in short order (thankfully, as it was over 90 degrees, plus direct sunlight), and we filled up all of our tubs plus two huge metal troughs, plenty to get us through Wednesday morning. One of the big tubs had a small leak, so I opted to use that for other purposes, beginning with dunking the dogs, as they couldn't seem to stop panting. They really appreciated it. Fixed a quick meal, watched a beautiful sunset, and went to be early, planning on taking an early morning ride, before it gets too hot, as they're calling for another 93 degree day.

Sunday, July 11, 2010 - Total Rest Day

Slept great, woke up at 8:45, got up to feed horses, did one water run in the afternoon, spent the rest of the day watching a Larry McMurtry mini-series I had recorded last week, totally vegged out, both of us surprised at how fit we feel despite yesterday's toils. Guess we're both getting in better shape!

Saturday, July 10, 2010 - Worst Ride Ever!

We started the ride today thinking we'd take two short rides over the weekend, today and tomorrow, but open to the possibility, if Hubby felt okay, to make it a long ride today and rest tomorrow. It turned into an interminable trail we wished would just END! Here it is in a nutshell: sunny, rocks, rocks, stopped to put boots on, more rocks, rocks, then bog, then bog with rocks, hikers, more rocks, more hikers, more hikers (turned out to be a three-mile long stream of three large groups of boy scouts who had camped ten miles away and were hiking back), more bog, short boardwalks over bog, long boardwalk over bog, rocks, cold wind, hail, rain, stopped for lunch, horses grazing on grass, got spooked and ran off, had to walk back half a mile to retrieve them, met up with Hubby (who should have stayed put but didn't), had lunch, continued on more rocks and bogs, came to a sign, we proceed on, went about two miles before realizing we had misread the map and missed a turn, retraced our steps, past our initial lunch spot, passed our actual lunch spot, past where I caught up with the horses, finally found the turn marked with a itsy-bitsy carved wood sign the same color as the tree it was nailed to, pointing up what looked like a creek bed, which is why we obviously missed it in the first place. Headed up the creek bed, climbing, climbing, climbing (the last thing we needed was higher altitude!), climbing some more, dead trees everywhere, both standing and lying down, looked like a clear cut years ago with no cleanup afterward, truly ugly forest, then we crossed to a ridge, then more climbing, then an intersection with a sign that wasn't very helpful, (all the signs had trail names, whereas our Forest Service map only had numbers) finally opened into a meadow (with rocks and bogs), weren't sure which way the trail went, finally realized that piles of rock were the markers, followed those, back in the woods, more rocks, another climb, more meadows, more piles of rock, more dead trees, some across the trail with difficult bypasses, felt like we were going in the wrong direction and for too long, finally found what looked like a turn to the left and took it, more dead trees, more rocks, suddenly opened up into a forest of baby pines with branches that overlapped the trail, sunny again, by now it seems to us as though we have missed at least two left turns and traveled miles farther than we had anticipated, than another look at the map suggested maybe we were actually still on track, just that our travel speed was so slow (probably down to about 1.5 mph from our usual 3 mph) that my calculations were just wrong. I recalculated and estimated we'd find the turn in the next 25-30 minutes, and sure enough, there it was, a stake in the ground saying "China Meadows", pointing to what looked like a sheer dropoff the mountain. I couldn't believe that was a trail, but alas, it was. With the horses exhausted, it was a dangerous move, but we had no choice. We headed down the rocky trail (what else), dropping almost straight down for the first 100 feet, then gradually eased, then opened up into a giant field of grass and rocks. Managed to find a few more piles of rocks to follow, finally one had a sign stuck in the middle of it indicated it was an intersection (though the trails weren't visible at all, and didn't mention the horse camp or China Meadow, only other trails going off in other directions), managed to keep following rocks until a trail appeared in a small aspen section of forest, stopped to water the horses at a lake, then came to what looked like a fork (with no signs), one that crossed a small creek and the other, more used trail, that followed the creek). We followed the creek, soon realizing it was the creek that we had been getting water from, and we were on the wrong side of it. Found a place to ford that had a trail on the other side, mostly washed out. By now we had seen the campground at the start of the road that leads to the horse camp, so we at least had our bearings. Probably should have taken the creek crossing earlier, but who knew? Trail finally led to an ATV trail (more rocks), and I turned left, Hubby argued we should turn right but I convinced him I knew where we were, and ended up exactly where I thought, at the trailhead. Unfortunately there was a cattle guard, so we had to follow the fence to a break, and ended up right where we started, arriving home at 6:50. It's the only time we can remember arriving home grateful it was over, and not able to find hardly any redeeming factors on the trail. Granted, our view might have been a little tainted because of the problems with the altitude, but it was by far the worst, rockiest, most uncomfortable, poorly marked and maintained trail ever. Yuck! Hubby could barely walk when he got of his mare, I sent him in to feed the dogs and took care of the horses myself. We struggled through dinner, both took some painkillers, and crashed into bed.

Friday, July 9, 2010 - Acclimatize Day

Well, the hat did the trick, I had the best night's sleep in a week. It seems that it helped equalize my body temp, so instead of going from hot flash to freezing in a matter of moments, I actually kept pretty comfortable all night long, though it was quite cold in the RV this morning. I fed and watered the horses (it was actually warmer outside) while Hubby got breakfast going, though he was still having some problems getting a little short of breath. Because we had to set up in the cold rain yesterday, he took a little chill in his chest, so that exacerbates the problem a bit, so I made some hot oatmeal, then sent him back to bed. I also spent a little time working on his mare's front hooves, they were due for a trim. Meanwhile, a number of large horse trailers have arrived, and a group or two have gone off for a trail ride. I don't know if they're staying for the weekend or if they are just here for the day, we'll soon find out. During the afternoon, I decided to do a good deed and spend some time doing some "yard work." So many trees had been cut down, and no cleanup had been done, so there was thousands of sticks and branches all over the ground, so many that it actually made it hard to walk from the RV to the horse corrals, even though they're only 50 feet away. So I started a fire in the fire pit and threw in as much loose stuff as I could, at least getting all the medium-sized and a lot of the smaller stuff burned. Still a bit of a mess, but at least it's better than before. It tired me out though, with the thin air, so I was ready to come in for dinner. Hubby felt better after having spent more time in bed, so we did a water run, then settled down for the night.

Thursday, July 8, 2010 - Travel Day to China Meadows - Wasatch National Forest, UT

Woke up at 7:00, got packed up and out by 8:30. Crossed country through a bit more interesting terrain on our way to Mountain View, where we stopped at the Forest HQ and got a trail map and a tank of water. Got gas, stopped at a local pharmacy and grocery store for a few things, made a few essential phone calls, then headed south to China Meadows. Though we had to travel from 6800' to 9400', it was so gradual that it was no problem at all. The last 20 miles or so was on a dirt and gravel road with a few rough spots, but not bad compared to many that we have been on before. Along the way, the sky went from sunny to stormy, and we ran into some rain. Further along, I noticed patches of white on the ground, and upon closer inspection, realized that it was hail that must have fallen just before we got there. It was definitely cooler by about 20 degrees. Can't help but think of what a change it will be when we move to Salt Lake City on Monday, where temps are in the low 90's! Apparently this had once been a really pretty campground, but many of trees had been cut down, and very little cleanup had been done, so it's pretty ugly at the moment. The corrals are an original design, a large circle cut into triangular sections, like a pie, with each section being big enough for two or three horses (so of course the first thing the big guys did was roll in the soft dirt!). The big problem here is that, despite reassurances from the Forest Service people that water for the horses was "nearby", that turned out to be a huge exaggeration. The nearest water is a creek that's a good 100+ yards from the campground, down a steep incline with no vehicle access. In other words, we had no nearby water except if we were trail riding. We finally solved the problem by driving to an easier access point along the creek, about a half mile away, and using our little drill pump (with a new high powered electric drill we had picked, plus the generator) to fill the tubs up, much like we had to do in Wyoming. I still used the portable bucket to speed things up, so it didn't take long. The only trouble is that at this altitude, it's really hard on Hubby, who has some breathing problems anyway, so he really has to take his time doing anything, and gets short of breath almost instantly. We're hoping we'll both acclimate after a day or two, and will be happy if we get at least one ride in. No trouble getting a satellite signal here, so we settled down for the evening, taking everything nice and slow. Looks like a cold night, so I'm wearing my wool cap to bed!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010 - Work/Rest Day

Woke up in dawn's early light, sensing something was not quite right. When I peaked out my bedroom window, I saw that our highline had stretch so much overnight that Hubby's mare had gotten her foot over her lead rope, so we threw some clothes on and went out to get her out of trouble. We tightened the highline by pulling the truck forward a bit, then we both went back to bed. For some reason, we were both feeling very tired. I woke up with a jolt at 8:00, suddenly remembering a bill that should have been paid yesterday, so again I leaped out of bed, got on the computer, which amazingly I had enough of a cell phone signal to get on the internet, and took care of that bill, plus a few others that were coming close. I'll just have to throw myself on the mercy of the credit card company if they charge me a late fee. (It was a holiday weekend, after all :-). Anyway, I kept busy until about 10:00, but then felt so tired I joined Hubby, who still hadn't felt rested enough to get out of bed. He got up about an hour later, and I finally got up around noon, having gotten another good hour plus of sleep. Don't know why we're so tired, I guess the thin air and the rough trail took more out of us than we thought. Anyway, I got caught up with work, so we decided to just take it easy for the rest of the day. Shortly afterward, clouds rolled in and it started to rain, lightly at first, but then it looked even more threatening with thunder and lightning, so I ran out and put the horses in trailer, luckily just before the rain started getting really heavy. A few minutes after I got back inside, the precipitation turned to into HAIL for several minutes, pounding away so loudly we could hardly hear each other. It didn't last too long, so I was able to get the horses back out after about an hour. Later in the afternoon we were joined by another RV'er by the name of Wayne, who had three dogs that immediately started sniffing the whole place. Fortunately, nobody minded the horses wandering around, and our dogs got along fine with their dogs, so it was a (thankfully) pleasant encounter. Going to bed early, as tomorrow is a travel day.

Tuesday, July 6, 2010 - Beautiful Views, Very Rocky Trail

Not having a trail map for the immediate area where we were camped, we decided to trailer the horses to the trail I thought would be most interesting, the Canyon Rim Trail, which starts right at the Visitor Center and goes to a roadside overlook. We went inside to get a better trail map than what we had, but theirs was worse than the one I got off the internet. The two people running the place claimed they had never seen horses on that trail, and when asked, they told us it wasn’t very rocky, just "a few big rocks here and there." Well, I don’t know what they consider rocky, but the only trail that I’ve ever seen that was more rocky was a creek bed! Fortunately, we had our Easy Boots with us, so we stopped and put those on before going very far. Fantastic, incomparable views of Flaming Gorge from this trail. This is an incredible geological anomaly, a huge rift in the earth, exposing a bright red soil that, rumor has it, the pioneers crossing the continent could see more than 50 miles away. Then, of course, we decided to dam off a river and fill it with water. Well not, fill it, but fill the bottom of it, as the canyon walls are very high. Though they had told us in the Visitor Center that is was 9 miles to the overlook at the end of the trail, it was actually only 4.5, so we decided to do the whole thing. Once we got past the views of the gorge, we were on a pretty ordinary trail, other than the rocks, which slowed us down. It started to rain lightly at one point, so out came the ponchos. We reached the overlook just before a thunderstorm brought in some heavier rain, so we put the horses under the covered picnic area (they barely fit), and enjoyed our respective lunches dodging stray raindrops that were being blown in by the strong cold wind. Fortunately, the whole thing only lasted for about 15 minutes, and the wind changed directions and went from cold to warm to just a breeze. We headed back, took an optional loop toward Red Canyon Lodge (where they rent horses, so I REALLY don’t know how those folks at the Visitor Center couldn’t have ever seen horses on that trail), arrived back at the parking area at 5:00, then headed back to the RV for a relaxing evening.

Monday, July 5, 2010 - Travel Day to Flaming Gorge, UT

Set the alarm for 7:00 knowing it would be a long drive day today. Of all the places along the route, Southern Wyoming has the longest stretch without a place to horse camp, so we had to push ourselves to get to Flaming Gorge, Utah. The drive along I-80 was one of the most boring we’ve been on, and of course, there had to be a strong headwind today. Our first stop was at the Flying J in Rawlins, where we dumped, got fuel, and had a big breakfast to get us through the rest of the day. We also went to Walmart and Home Depot in Rock Springs to pick up a bunch of things. Finally headed south and gradually climbed out way to Manila, UT, where we picked up water at the ranger station just before heading out to Flaming Gorge. I wasn’t able to reach anyone on the phone there today (forgot it was technically still a holiday weekend), so we were on our own, though I had done enough research previously to know about where we were going. Eventually we came to the place I had seen on Google Earth, just past two small campgrounds on Route 44 at Sheep’s Creek. It’s a pull-out area that leads below the road toward the creek, there are several campsites there. The first one had an entrance that we judged to be just too rough for the RV (if it had been wet, this drive would have required 4 wheel drive), so Hubby went a little further until he found a perfect spot right next to the creek. After some crafty maneuvering to get us level (the first time in months!), we had a gorgeous site. As you can see from the pic, there was an abundant patch of grass, so we decided to let the horses enjoy themselves for a while.
No convenient trees, so we set up a high line stretched between the RV and the horse trailer that will work just fine. We didn’t get finished settling in until nearly 7:30, exhausted, so we went to bed early with plans to ride tomorrow.

Sunday, July 4, 2010 - Another Ride Day

We've been joined my two more groups, one from Cheyenne that showed up on Friday (and who thought it was perfectly oky to start shooting a high powered rifle in the middle of the camp, scaring our poor little dog Billy half to death!), and another group from Kansas on Saturday (who thought it was perfectly okay to run a generator all night long...), plus the guy and his wife from the Backcountry Riding Club that did the cleanup last week, so it's not as delightfully quiet as it's been all week. Took a short ride today, out for about an hour up the Platte Ridge Trail and back again, then just to say we've done it, we took the trail that went out of the back of the campground for ¾ of a mile to the creek and back. Spent the afternoon preparing for tomorrow's departure.

Thursday, July 1, 2010 - FABULOUS Ride Day

Put this one at or near the top of the list! An absolutely fantastic, almost indescribably wonderful ride today! We started out on the Platte Ridge Trail, the one we started on Wednesday. We again enjoyed the open valley as we gradually inclined toward the top. At the end of the field, we came into the woods. While the woods aren't terrible attractive because of the damage done by the pine beetles, the trail we delightful nevertheless. We ran into some boggy areas, but nothing too terrible. Some areas we almost lost the trail, but the local saddle club had been up the previous weekend clearing the trails (part of the Adopt-a-Trail program), so there were enough horse signs to follow to keep us on track. Then we came to an intersection with a skull on a post and a sign that said Platte Ridge Trail, continuing in the direction we were going, and another unmarked trail that went off to the right, which we figured was the connector trail we wanted, so we went right. Theoretically, if we were where we thought we were, we should have reached the Douglas Creek Trail in about a mile. The trail gradually got more and more wild, looking less and less traveled, and though it started out with horse signs, that eventually diminished. We had more and more obstacles in the way, so the club certainly didn't get that far (though on the day they went out they had serious thunderstorms in afternoon, so we reasoned that maybe they came back the way they came when it started raining). Soon we were starting to think we had made a wrong turn, and began debating whether we should turn back (something we hate to do unless absolutely necessary.) I looked at the map and reasoned that if we kept going the way we were going, eventually we had to run into either the Platte River or Douglas Creek, and once there we should be able to find the Douglas Creek Trail, which would take us back home. After some spirited persuasion, Hubby agreed. Then we came up on this fabulous sage-covered hill on a side trail, and we went up and saw an incredible view. We could see snow covered mountains in Colorado to the southwest, the Platte River down below to the northwest, and fantastic terrain in between. Absolutely gorgeous! After taking a few pix, we headed back in the same direction, keeping our fingers crossed we were on a trail that led somewhere, especially since it had started to go downhill in a hurry. I reasoned that we needed to go down to get to the river anyway, so we kept going. There was a lot of trees down on that particular section, but eventually the trail started to open. Suddenly, out of nowhere, and intersection with a sign! It seems we were on the right trail all the time, that if we had gone straight at the first intersection it would have just looped around to the trail we were on anyway! The signs indicated Douglas Creek Trail to our right, Platte River Trail to our left, and a broken sign that indicated Platte Ridge Trail back up the way we had come. Phew! That was a relief! Knowing now exactly where we were (after four hours of riding), we stopped for lunch. The horses got a nice portion of feed and we munched on nuts, carrots and cold hot dogs. After a rest, we proceeded right down Douglas Creek Trail. Now THIS was a fantastic trail. While the first trail had been a nice forest trail, DCT had an incredible variety of terrain. THIS IS NOT A TRAIL FOR THE FAINT-HEARTED RIDER OR THE SKITTISH HORSE! This trail had grassy fields, sage brush clearings, narrow rocky trails that barely clung to the side of the hills, with very long drops right on the edge of the trail, fast water crossings, boggy areas, moments when you felt like you were in a rain forest, the next like you're in a desert, this trail had it all! Quite challenging, but don't try this with an animal you don't trust or it could be a disaster in the making. Beautiful rock outcroppings above in many places, making us feel like we should be looking for Indians above us, several lovely spots for a picnic, and so on. It was almost an indescribably fantastic experience, and one that will definitely place in the top five or better of all the trails we've been on. SO glad we decided to stay here the extra week! Got home in good shape at around 5:00, just as I thought we would, fourteen plus fabulous miles under our belts, and the horses hadn't even broken out in a sweat (The weather was perfect, too! Though there was a brief threat of a thunderstorm in the distance at one point, we only felt a drop or two of rain before it headed off into the distance). Bedded everyone down, got everyone fed, and relaxed for the evening. Motto of the day, "This is more fun than two people should be allowed to have!"