Slept rather late, nothing like a patch of peace and quiet to get a good night's sleep! We headed out on the trail about 11:00. The trailhead has two separate trails leading out, one is Fossil Trail on the left, the other is Toutle Trail, which forks out later into Cinnamon Trail as well. We took Toutle Trail (328) toward Red Rocky Pass, which was a lava field with a great view of the mountain. We had heard Cinnamon Trail was very difficult, so we took a pass on that one. Toutle Trail took us past some huge pine trees, even larger than the ones we saw at White Pass. I guess the further west we go, the bigger the trees will get! The day was a bit misty, with a forecast calling for afternoon rain, but that is obviously quite typical here, as these massive trees also had moss hanging from their limbs, something we haven't see since Louisiana. It was quite a nice ride to Red Rocky pass, albeit a constant climb, though the trail was a bit more rocky in places than we would have liked. The first part of the trail was covered with a fine gray ash, obviously a remnant of the volcano exploding some years back. We passed McBride Lake, circling on a rather narrow trail with steep drop that I wouldn't recommend for an unseasoned horse. The climb ended at the trailhead near the lava field, which was a bit harrowing. Though some effort had been made to create a path on top of it by filling in the gaps with gravel, there were a few spots that were straight sharp-edged black rock. Thank goodness for Easy Boots! The unfortunate thing was that it was still so misty, we couldn't see anything but the base of the mountain, and a quick glimpse of a bit of snow during one brief moment when the clouds moved a bit. We stopped for lunch shortly after at the junction of 238 and 231, where Hubby inadvertently left behind his gloves on a stump, then headed back toward the camp on 231, a decision we somewhat regretted, because there were long section of very rocky trail, including two lava flows we had to cross, that were nothing but big boulders and sharp rocks, and almost no trail to speak of. In fact, we never would have found our way across if it hadn't been for ribbons someone had put up for a "Fun Ride" a few weeks earlier. I'm not sure I would consider taking my horse across a quarter mile of rocks "fun", but trooper that he is, we made it with minimal discomfort. The trail was very rocky most of the next few miles, with signs that the last explosion of Mt. St. Helens everywhere, dead trees and large black rocks that had obviously just landed hither and yon. Eventually the rocks diminished a bit as we slowly descended. We reached a steep section, and part way down we started hearing firearms, as though someone were target shooting at the bottom of the hill. As we got closer, I yelled to hold your fire, horses coming, but the firing continued. Between earplugs and a radio blasting rock and roll, there was no chance of them hearing me until we were practically on top of them. I finally did manage to get their attention (there were three of them, two men and a woman), and they were kind enough to stop while we passed, though they started up again before we even left the parking area where they were set up. Fortunately, the horses were only mildly concerned, they've heard guns before, just not that close up. We crossed the road where the trail go a little less rocky, and were back in the camp in no time. In all, the ride was about 4 ½ hours long, a good length, though everyone was tired. Gave the horses an extra ration of oats, then made a quick dinner for Hubby (I'm dieting :-) before we went down to visit with the folks down the road. We spent a pleasant evening chatting, with a bit of theatrical entertainment provided by Hubby, which met with warm enthusiasm from the group. Having not made a habit of socializing, it was a nice change. Came back around ten, to bed soon after.
