What a day! Despite assurances from the ranger that the trails here were suitable for horses, I wouldn’t recommend it until they’ve brought a crew with some chain saws for some serious heavy lifting! It started out innocently enough. The loop we planned was shorter than what we had taken on Friday, about 10 miles, so we figured it would take us about 3 ½ to 4 hours, including our lunch break. We brought oats for the horses and headed up the Mylius trail again to get to the crossroads. Fortunately, some nice hiker had cut down the branches that had tripped us up last time, so that made it easier, but with all the rain (it rained again last night), it was more slippery than ever. By now, though, the horses had learned to be more careful. Oh, I forgot to mention that Hubby’s mare Clio had lost one of her boots the other day, so we were looking out for it on the way up, and fortunately, we spotted it on the trail and managed to pick it up. He had an old one he had put on for the day, and we were double checking very regularly to make sure we didn’t lose any more. Anyway, we arrived at the crossroads, passing straight through the campsite to continue on Mylius trail. It immediately started going back downhill slightly, with lots of rhododendron bushes starting to crowd the trail. Then it opened up into a beautiful pine forest with a nice wide trail, and we were really loving it. Eventually, the trail led us down to Otter Creek, than followed along the creek for some time. Most of it was nice, but a few areas were so thick with mountain laurel (which were in beautiful bloom) and rhododendrons, it became pretty hard to pass through. The worse was a section that was like a tunnel. It was captivating to be in the middle of it, and would have been incredibly striking for a hiker, but it was just too low in some places for a rider. We had to get down and walk through several sections just to save our heads. If that was our only complaint, it would have been fine, but things got worse later. We went for several beautiful and uneventful miles, following the creek, listening to it’s wonderful babbling, before finally reaching the Condon Run trailhead, at about our halfway point. We found the other trail that led us out of there to the rest of the loop, the Hedrick Camp cutoff. We stopped there for lunch, feeling wonderful and enjoying the ride immensely. Despite warnings the trails weren’t very well marked, we had had no trouble pinpointing where we were, and the rock cairns always seemed to appear just when you started having doubts. After a lunch break, we headed off to finish off the rest of the loop, just a bit behind schedule because of the sections where we had to walk, and one hat diversion where Hubby had to backtrack to find his missing hat that had been pulled off on a low branch. Again, we managed to find the turnoffs with no problem, and began climbing Shaver Mountain. Alas, it started to rain, and we stopped and got out our ponchos, then, at Apollo’s suggestion, we waited under a very thick pine tree for a bit while the heaviest rain passed through. Once it thinned out to almost stopping, we headed out again, beginning our long climb up the mountain That’s when the real trouble started. It began with some downed trees across the trail, not a big deal generally, but the trees got larger and harder to traverse, then there were sections where three, four, five trees had fallen on top of each other, making it impossible to get over, and always at a place in the trail where it was very difficult to get around it, though we always managed it after considerable thought and effort. Then the trail started seriously climbing, with a good grade and some 350 degree switchbacks. We must have stepped over 200 trees by the time we leveled off near the top. My horse was sick and tired of stepping over high, thick logs, and the low logs were so commonplace, it seemed they were practically every other step. It’s hard enough climbing that hard, much less climbing and stepping to boot. Then, finally, we almost took a wrong turn because the rock cairn was right at what appeared to be a fork, but we didn’t know which fork. We started off to the left, because that was the high road and I figured the low trail might have been washed away, but that soon petered out. We turned around and came back, and took the low road. Now, bear in mind that we had already completed about 90 percent of the loop, figuring we were only about a mile from the original crossroads campsite. As we headed down the low road, about 100 feet down, on a trail that had a steep dropoff to the right and a mountain to the left, covered with thick rhododendrons on both sides, we suddenly came across a tree across the trail, about 10 inches in diameter. Too heavy to move, it was just about at shoulder height, so it was impossible to go under it or over it or around it. I dismounted and walked further down the trail, trying to reconnoiter a way to get around it, and it seemed nearly impossible. Well, since going back the way we came was not an option, we turned around and took the high road again, this time looking for a definitive way to get back to the trail, post-tree. This required another cross country trek, followed by a precipitous passage through several thick pine trees, and a quick turn to keep from falling off the mountain altogether. We were not happy campers by this point, now a good two hours behind schedule. We continued along the trail, and other than more and more trees to step over, and a few moments when the rock cairns had taken a hiatus, and that final mile lasting twice as long as we thought it would, we FINALLY arrived back at the crossroads, heaving a big sigh of relief that we managed to not break anyone’s legs in the process. I can’t believe how good these horses are, they are such incredible troopers! Needless to say, we rested there for quite some time, letting them graze all the grass they could stuff in their faces, as they had used up the oats we had given them at lunch LONG AGO! After everyone caught their breath and had their fill of grass (well, at least completed a full pass of all the grass available), we headed slowly down Mylius trail, which was even more slippery than ever because of the rain we had had earlier. Finally make it to the bottom, a good two and half hours later than we had anticipated, but at least we made it safe and sound, at last. Not happy about the condition of the trails or the misleading information that led us here, but they would be truly lovely trails with just a bit of maintenance. Next time we come this way, we’ll try Johnny Meadows, which is apparently where most of the horse campers go, since the trails are more likely to be better maintained as a result. At least, we hope so!
What a day! Despite assurances from the ranger that the trails here were suitable for horses, I wouldn’t recommend it until they’ve brought a crew with some chain saws for some serious heavy lifting! It started out innocently enough. The loop we planned was shorter than what we had taken on Friday, about 10 miles, so we figured it would take us about 3 ½ to 4 hours, including our lunch break. We brought oats for the horses and headed up the Mylius trail again to get to the crossroads. Fortunately, some nice hiker had cut down the branches that had tripped us up last time, so that made it easier, but with all the rain (it rained again last night), it was more slippery than ever. By now, though, the horses had learned to be more careful. Oh, I forgot to mention that Hubby’s mare Clio had lost one of her boots the other day, so we were looking out for it on the way up, and fortunately, we spotted it on the trail and managed to pick it up. He had an old one he had put on for the day, and we were double checking very regularly to make sure we didn’t lose any more. Anyway, we arrived at the crossroads, passing straight through the campsite to continue on Mylius trail. It immediately started going back downhill slightly, with lots of rhododendron bushes starting to crowd the trail. Then it opened up into a beautiful pine forest with a nice wide trail, and we were really loving it. Eventually, the trail led us down to Otter Creek, than followed along the creek for some time. Most of it was nice, but a few areas were so thick with mountain laurel (which were in beautiful bloom) and rhododendrons, it became pretty hard to pass through. The worse was a section that was like a tunnel. It was captivating to be in the middle of it, and would have been incredibly striking for a hiker, but it was just too low in some places for a rider. We had to get down and walk through several sections just to save our heads. If that was our only complaint, it would have been fine, but things got worse later. We went for several beautiful and uneventful miles, following the creek, listening to it’s wonderful babbling, before finally reaching the Condon Run trailhead, at about our halfway point. We found the other trail that led us out of there to the rest of the loop, the Hedrick Camp cutoff. We stopped there for lunch, feeling wonderful and enjoying the ride immensely. Despite warnings the trails weren’t very well marked, we had had no trouble pinpointing where we were, and the rock cairns always seemed to appear just when you started having doubts. After a lunch break, we headed off to finish off the rest of the loop, just a bit behind schedule because of the sections where we had to walk, and one hat diversion where Hubby had to backtrack to find his missing hat that had been pulled off on a low branch. Again, we managed to find the turnoffs with no problem, and began climbing Shaver Mountain. Alas, it started to rain, and we stopped and got out our ponchos, then, at Apollo’s suggestion, we waited under a very thick pine tree for a bit while the heaviest rain passed through. Once it thinned out to almost stopping, we headed out again, beginning our long climb up the mountain That’s when the real trouble started. It began with some downed trees across the trail, not a big deal generally, but the trees got larger and harder to traverse, then there were sections where three, four, five trees had fallen on top of each other, making it impossible to get over, and always at a place in the trail where it was very difficult to get around it, though we always managed it after considerable thought and effort. Then the trail started seriously climbing, with a good grade and some 350 degree switchbacks. We must have stepped over 200 trees by the time we leveled off near the top. My horse was sick and tired of stepping over high, thick logs, and the low logs were so commonplace, it seemed they were practically every other step. It’s hard enough climbing that hard, much less climbing and stepping to boot. Then, finally, we almost took a wrong turn because the rock cairn was right at what appeared to be a fork, but we didn’t know which fork. We started off to the left, because that was the high road and I figured the low trail might have been washed away, but that soon petered out. We turned around and came back, and took the low road. Now, bear in mind that we had already completed about 90 percent of the loop, figuring we were only about a mile from the original crossroads campsite. As we headed down the low road, about 100 feet down, on a trail that had a steep dropoff to the right and a mountain to the left, covered with thick rhododendrons on both sides, we suddenly came across a tree across the trail, about 10 inches in diameter. Too heavy to move, it was just about at shoulder height, so it was impossible to go under it or over it or around it. I dismounted and walked further down the trail, trying to reconnoiter a way to get around it, and it seemed nearly impossible. Well, since going back the way we came was not an option, we turned around and took the high road again, this time looking for a definitive way to get back to the trail, post-tree. This required another cross country trek, followed by a precipitous passage through several thick pine trees, and a quick turn to keep from falling off the mountain altogether. We were not happy campers by this point, now a good two hours behind schedule. We continued along the trail, and other than more and more trees to step over, and a few moments when the rock cairns had taken a hiatus, and that final mile lasting twice as long as we thought it would, we FINALLY arrived back at the crossroads, heaving a big sigh of relief that we managed to not break anyone’s legs in the process. I can’t believe how good these horses are, they are such incredible troopers! Needless to say, we rested there for quite some time, letting them graze all the grass they could stuff in their faces, as they had used up the oats we had given them at lunch LONG AGO! After everyone caught their breath and had their fill of grass (well, at least completed a full pass of all the grass available), we headed slowly down Mylius trail, which was even more slippery than ever because of the rain we had had earlier. Finally make it to the bottom, a good two and half hours later than we had anticipated, but at least we made it safe and sound, at last. Not happy about the condition of the trails or the misleading information that led us here, but they would be truly lovely trails with just a bit of maintenance. Next time we come this way, we’ll try Johnny Meadows, which is apparently where most of the horse campers go, since the trails are more likely to be better maintained as a result. At least, we hope so!
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