Set the alarm for 8:00 to make sure we got out earlier, we have a good 14.5 mile ride planned today, and the forecast is calling for about 91 degrees, though since we’re riding up the mountain today, it should be a bit cooler up there anyway. According to Hubby, the music and noise went on until at least 4:00 this morning, though I don’t know how they have the energy after all their drinking and partying every night! Anyway, despite best laid plans, it was after 11:00 by the time we hit the trail, heading clockwise on the longest perimeter trail the park has to offer. It began wooded, and though it did climb, it was a fairly gentle climb with a couple of long switchbacks. We passed a couple of guys logging, and they immediately put everything in idle to let us pass, the kind of courtesy we’ve come to expect from loggers, who, despite the scars they leave behind, do exhibit respect for others in the forest. The first part of the climb was almost entirely through beautiful forest, the trail footing was mostly dirt and stones, a lot of shale rock that is prevalent throughout the area. As we reached the top, it opened up into an area that has obviously been clearcut previously, so it was wide open, and the sun grew hot as we passed through it. It wasn’t too long before we were back in the woods, on a trail that was mostly grass, wide enough to be a carriage road, and fairly level all along the top of the mountain. As we neared the north end of the west side, there were some intersections that created a little confusion, as they had trail maps posted, but then they had a "You Are Here" mark that indicated you weren’t on a trail (even though we were, it just wasn’t on the map!) When my GPS made it clear we were headed "off the reservation" we turned around and went back, picking up the trail at the previous intersection. This eventually took us to the maintenance buildings which were across from where I had been parking to check my email, and two young men were just getting ready to leave when we asked them if we could get some water for the horses (there hadn’t been any active streams, not surprising on the top of the mountain), and they gladly pulled a hose out of the building for us. We were glad we caught them, as they were just leaving, and there was not outside faucet, which we had expected. The horses both took a long draw, and we thanked the men and headed on our way. We almost stopped for lunch at a big rock along the way, but decided to press on until we crossed the road, signaling the true halfway mark. There was a fork in the trail just after we crossed East Trout Brook Road (which wasn’t marked on the map), so we started up the left trail (it was indicating it was shorter), but after a bit we didn’t see any markers, and decided to jump ship for the parallel trail which WAS marked. After about a mile, Hubby’s horse stumbled, and when he looked down he noticed she’d lost one of her Boa boots. He got down and started to look for it, thinking she’d just lost it and that’s was caused her to stumble, but no luck. So I headed back down the trail, thinking I would come across it fairly quickly, but again, no luck. I got all the way down to the road and still, no sign. Just as I was heading back, I heard Clio whinny nearby, and Apollo answered. Hubby had given up and headed back towards me (and Clio was anxious about not seeing her "baby"), so we joined up and kept backtracking. I remembered we had cantered across a field between the maintenance buildings and the road, so we kept going, as Hubby was almost certain she still had both boots on when we stopped for water. Sure enough, right at the beginning of the field where we started to canter, there lay the Boa. Well, since we had put off lunch to find the boot, and it was now about 3:00, we decided to stop there and eat lunch before we pressed on. After trail mix and granola bars for us and oats and feed for the horses, we headed back up the trail again, though we decided to shorten the route a bit by taking the shortcut we had done the other day, and skipping the "Box of Rocks" trail that everyone had warned us was, as the name implies, very rocky. We need to tackle that when we’re all not so tired. The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful, and by the time we reached home at 7:00 we had actually gone 17.5 miles. We struggled through putting everything and everyone away before we sat down to cool off enough to muster the energy for a shower and dinner. Watched a PBS movie before crashing into bed around 11:00, again with pounding music and loud voices yelling in the background. I finally convinced Hubby that no one was going to mess with the horses, and he put earplugs in for the night. It truly is the only way one could get a decent night sleep!
Set the alarm for 8:00 to make sure we got out earlier, we have a good 14.5 mile ride planned today, and the forecast is calling for about 91 degrees, though since we’re riding up the mountain today, it should be a bit cooler up there anyway. According to Hubby, the music and noise went on until at least 4:00 this morning, though I don’t know how they have the energy after all their drinking and partying every night! Anyway, despite best laid plans, it was after 11:00 by the time we hit the trail, heading clockwise on the longest perimeter trail the park has to offer. It began wooded, and though it did climb, it was a fairly gentle climb with a couple of long switchbacks. We passed a couple of guys logging, and they immediately put everything in idle to let us pass, the kind of courtesy we’ve come to expect from loggers, who, despite the scars they leave behind, do exhibit respect for others in the forest. The first part of the climb was almost entirely through beautiful forest, the trail footing was mostly dirt and stones, a lot of shale rock that is prevalent throughout the area. As we reached the top, it opened up into an area that has obviously been clearcut previously, so it was wide open, and the sun grew hot as we passed through it. It wasn’t too long before we were back in the woods, on a trail that was mostly grass, wide enough to be a carriage road, and fairly level all along the top of the mountain. As we neared the north end of the west side, there were some intersections that created a little confusion, as they had trail maps posted, but then they had a "You Are Here" mark that indicated you weren’t on a trail (even though we were, it just wasn’t on the map!) When my GPS made it clear we were headed "off the reservation" we turned around and went back, picking up the trail at the previous intersection. This eventually took us to the maintenance buildings which were across from where I had been parking to check my email, and two young men were just getting ready to leave when we asked them if we could get some water for the horses (there hadn’t been any active streams, not surprising on the top of the mountain), and they gladly pulled a hose out of the building for us. We were glad we caught them, as they were just leaving, and there was not outside faucet, which we had expected. The horses both took a long draw, and we thanked the men and headed on our way. We almost stopped for lunch at a big rock along the way, but decided to press on until we crossed the road, signaling the true halfway mark. There was a fork in the trail just after we crossed East Trout Brook Road (which wasn’t marked on the map), so we started up the left trail (it was indicating it was shorter), but after a bit we didn’t see any markers, and decided to jump ship for the parallel trail which WAS marked. After about a mile, Hubby’s horse stumbled, and when he looked down he noticed she’d lost one of her Boa boots. He got down and started to look for it, thinking she’d just lost it and that’s was caused her to stumble, but no luck. So I headed back down the trail, thinking I would come across it fairly quickly, but again, no luck. I got all the way down to the road and still, no sign. Just as I was heading back, I heard Clio whinny nearby, and Apollo answered. Hubby had given up and headed back towards me (and Clio was anxious about not seeing her "baby"), so we joined up and kept backtracking. I remembered we had cantered across a field between the maintenance buildings and the road, so we kept going, as Hubby was almost certain she still had both boots on when we stopped for water. Sure enough, right at the beginning of the field where we started to canter, there lay the Boa. Well, since we had put off lunch to find the boot, and it was now about 3:00, we decided to stop there and eat lunch before we pressed on. After trail mix and granola bars for us and oats and feed for the horses, we headed back up the trail again, though we decided to shorten the route a bit by taking the shortcut we had done the other day, and skipping the "Box of Rocks" trail that everyone had warned us was, as the name implies, very rocky. We need to tackle that when we’re all not so tired. The rest of the trip was relatively uneventful, and by the time we reached home at 7:00 we had actually gone 17.5 miles. We struggled through putting everything and everyone away before we sat down to cool off enough to muster the energy for a shower and dinner. Watched a PBS movie before crashing into bed around 11:00, again with pounding music and loud voices yelling in the background. I finally convinced Hubby that no one was going to mess with the horses, and he put earplugs in for the night. It truly is the only way one could get a decent night sleep!
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