While Hubby wasn’t looking yesterday, I managed to slip out of the store with an anniversary card in celebration of our 22nd (and second since we started horse camping), and left it for him on the breakfast table while I fed the horses. When I walked in, he said, "I guess it’s June 10?" He’d lost track of the days (no surprise there) and gave me a big hug and kiss in remembrance. Not unusual, we aren’t in the habit of giving gifts for any holiday, so it was a typical celebration for us. Anyway, we were going to spend the day doing our favorite thing, riding! We had had a terrific thunderstorm the night before, lots of lightning and rain coming down in sheets just after we went to be, though fortunately there wasn’t any wind (or we were so protected from it that we didn’t notice it), and we didn’t even have to put up or awning. The horses got a good shower, and none of the lightning was so close as to be too frightening. After breakfast we saddled up, raring to go under a perfectly clear blue sky and perfect temps in the upper 60’s on their way to low 70’s. We headed out to do some basic exploring today, starting with backtracking on the road to the entrance of Mylius trail, a lovely old grass road that soon began climbing. We passed several clearings that were obviously old homesteads from 100 years ago, until the road finally narrowed to a ridge-hugging trail that was a bit slippery from the previous night’s rain. As we neared the top, a small tree had fallen across the road at such a height that my horse thought he could go under it, even though I couldn’t. I tried to move the limb as I got closer, but it was too heavy. Too committed on the narrow trail, Apollo kept going forward while I leaned back like a limbo, trying to get under it. How I got under it with only a few scraps I’ll never know. I know my spine was laying along his back, and near the end I was along the side of his hindquarters like a trick rider. I thought I was going to fall out of my saddle, but just managed to clear the tree, grab onto the horn and haul myself up before it was too late. I strongly urged Hubby to get off and walk his mare under (she’s a tiny bit shorter, but still over 15.1 hands) and he did, but then the saddle horn got caught and she almost lost her balance as Hubby grabbed it and managed to get it loose just in time. Scary! There were a few more slippery spots along the way, all the time being grateful that horses have four-wheel drive! We finally made it to the crossroads, just under two miles up, and rested the horses, letting them graze on fresh grass in the clearing. It had been fixed up as a camping area, with a well-used fire ring, and all the trails had rock cairns at their heads to clearly mark this first intersection. Having seen it, and knowing what was in store for us for our "longer" ride tomorrow, we headed back down the same trail, my horse being more cautious now that he knew how slippery it was. Once we reached the bottom and headed back up the road toward camp, we decided we hadn’t had enough, and headed out on what started out as a cleary marked alternate forest road, albeit grassy, with no motor vehicles allowed. According to the map, it was just a couple of miles until it looped back to the road just past where we were camped, looking deceptively simple. It started out beautifully, with a much gentler grade, though it was a bit more gravelly in spots. Nevertheless, we got in some trots and canters, thoroughly enjoying ourselves. Eventually, the trail became more and more narrow, until it was barely a trail anymore, but we had never seen any turnoffs to the right, so we kept going until the trail started to get wider, then turn into a road, then pass through a gate, then start to pass private property and buildings and houses. We knew we had come too far, and were getting way off track, so we turned around and heading back, looking for that turnoff we missed. Finally we came to a clearing that seemed to have tracks on it, so we followed those for a while, along an unused trail that followed a creek down the mountain. It seemed to be a beeline for the bottom, which is just what we wanted, but the further we went the less traveled the trail became, until we were blocked by trees and forces to go cross country down a deer trail. That led us back to the same creek, I guess, and then the trail disappeared again. Although I knew we were heading in the right direction, and would eventually run into either the Forest Road or Gandy Creek, I wasn’t sure if we hadn’t gotten on the wrong side of a big ridge I knew was there, so my fingers were crossed! Then, thankfully, I heard the sound of children’s voices, and a few minutes later, a vehicle starting up, so I knew we had to be close. Just as we were threading through the thickest part of the underbrush, the road suddenly appeared just below us, and with a little maneuvering, we landed safely on it. We turned right to head back toward camp, which, thankfully, was less than a mile away! By now, we were exhausted, the horses were tired, but brilliant and unhurt (they are SO good!), and we finally made our way back to camp, arriving after 6:00. By the time we got the horses watered and fed and we got ourselves settled in, it was past 7:00, WAY later than we like to get back. But, we made it, that’s the important thing. We decided to take tomorrow off and ride on Sunday. With no satellite and no cell phone signal, we watched PVR’s movies and shows, and crashed early, exhausted. No alarms for tomorrow!
While Hubby wasn’t looking yesterday, I managed to slip out of the store with an anniversary card in celebration of our 22nd (and second since we started horse camping), and left it for him on the breakfast table while I fed the horses. When I walked in, he said, "I guess it’s June 10?" He’d lost track of the days (no surprise there) and gave me a big hug and kiss in remembrance. Not unusual, we aren’t in the habit of giving gifts for any holiday, so it was a typical celebration for us. Anyway, we were going to spend the day doing our favorite thing, riding! We had had a terrific thunderstorm the night before, lots of lightning and rain coming down in sheets just after we went to be, though fortunately there wasn’t any wind (or we were so protected from it that we didn’t notice it), and we didn’t even have to put up or awning. The horses got a good shower, and none of the lightning was so close as to be too frightening. After breakfast we saddled up, raring to go under a perfectly clear blue sky and perfect temps in the upper 60’s on their way to low 70’s. We headed out to do some basic exploring today, starting with backtracking on the road to the entrance of Mylius trail, a lovely old grass road that soon began climbing. We passed several clearings that were obviously old homesteads from 100 years ago, until the road finally narrowed to a ridge-hugging trail that was a bit slippery from the previous night’s rain. As we neared the top, a small tree had fallen across the road at such a height that my horse thought he could go under it, even though I couldn’t. I tried to move the limb as I got closer, but it was too heavy. Too committed on the narrow trail, Apollo kept going forward while I leaned back like a limbo, trying to get under it. How I got under it with only a few scraps I’ll never know. I know my spine was laying along his back, and near the end I was along the side of his hindquarters like a trick rider. I thought I was going to fall out of my saddle, but just managed to clear the tree, grab onto the horn and haul myself up before it was too late. I strongly urged Hubby to get off and walk his mare under (she’s a tiny bit shorter, but still over 15.1 hands) and he did, but then the saddle horn got caught and she almost lost her balance as Hubby grabbed it and managed to get it loose just in time. Scary! There were a few more slippery spots along the way, all the time being grateful that horses have four-wheel drive! We finally made it to the crossroads, just under two miles up, and rested the horses, letting them graze on fresh grass in the clearing. It had been fixed up as a camping area, with a well-used fire ring, and all the trails had rock cairns at their heads to clearly mark this first intersection. Having seen it, and knowing what was in store for us for our "longer" ride tomorrow, we headed back down the same trail, my horse being more cautious now that he knew how slippery it was. Once we reached the bottom and headed back up the road toward camp, we decided we hadn’t had enough, and headed out on what started out as a cleary marked alternate forest road, albeit grassy, with no motor vehicles allowed. According to the map, it was just a couple of miles until it looped back to the road just past where we were camped, looking deceptively simple. It started out beautifully, with a much gentler grade, though it was a bit more gravelly in spots. Nevertheless, we got in some trots and canters, thoroughly enjoying ourselves. Eventually, the trail became more and more narrow, until it was barely a trail anymore, but we had never seen any turnoffs to the right, so we kept going until the trail started to get wider, then turn into a road, then pass through a gate, then start to pass private property and buildings and houses. We knew we had come too far, and were getting way off track, so we turned around and heading back, looking for that turnoff we missed. Finally we came to a clearing that seemed to have tracks on it, so we followed those for a while, along an unused trail that followed a creek down the mountain. It seemed to be a beeline for the bottom, which is just what we wanted, but the further we went the less traveled the trail became, until we were blocked by trees and forces to go cross country down a deer trail. That led us back to the same creek, I guess, and then the trail disappeared again. Although I knew we were heading in the right direction, and would eventually run into either the Forest Road or Gandy Creek, I wasn’t sure if we hadn’t gotten on the wrong side of a big ridge I knew was there, so my fingers were crossed! Then, thankfully, I heard the sound of children’s voices, and a few minutes later, a vehicle starting up, so I knew we had to be close. Just as we were threading through the thickest part of the underbrush, the road suddenly appeared just below us, and with a little maneuvering, we landed safely on it. We turned right to head back toward camp, which, thankfully, was less than a mile away! By now, we were exhausted, the horses were tired, but brilliant and unhurt (they are SO good!), and we finally made our way back to camp, arriving after 6:00. By the time we got the horses watered and fed and we got ourselves settled in, it was past 7:00, WAY later than we like to get back. But, we made it, that’s the important thing. We decided to take tomorrow off and ride on Sunday. With no satellite and no cell phone signal, we watched PVR’s movies and shows, and crashed early, exhausted. No alarms for tomorrow!
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