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.
