Called the local post office and learned my package was there, so I ran down to pick it up and ran right back again, because the weather was picture perfect and we were determined to get a ride in while it was! Managed to get saddled up and out before 1:00, with a 10 mile trip planned on the GPS. We headed out to Kingsbury Road first, heading north to a trailhead near the ranger station, not following a particular trail other than the combination of trails I had strung together to make a couple of loops. The first part of the trail was nice, a bit rocky but wide and easy up to a lean-to camping area. The map seemed to indicate the trail came out the other side of the camp area, but we couldn’t find it. Instead we headed up a trail that was marked "To Parking", which indeed is where it led us, parking where the old homestead of General Nathaniel Lyon, the first Union General to be killed in the War Between the States. All that’s left are some stone walls and an incredible stone fireplace that had a hearth on every one of it’s four sides. Incredible workmanship that it’s still standing. As interesting as that was, we still couldn’t find the trail out of there, so we headed back up to the lean-to and finally discovered a trail leading off the trail we were on, which then promptly split. Only one side was marked with blue blazes, but we understood that that meant foot traffic only. In some places, foot traffic means hikers and in others it means hikers AND horses. We weren’t sure about here, and in any event, the left fork seemed to be going in the direction I had planned with my GPS, we headed west along a much narrow and less-traveled trail. It got quite steep going downhill in several places, and it was definitely more of a footpath than a horse trail, but we kept going, until it finally ended up on the road that led to where we picked up the trailhead. So we actually were in the right place all along, it just felt a bit off because the trail was so narrow. We headed back south on the road until we picked up the trail that follows the gas line, and we took that up a ways until we came to an intersection that, again, didn’t seem to be on the map. We opted to go right, and before long we realized we were on a trail that was taking us straight back to camp, which was DEFINITELY not on the map. By that time we had gone nearly five miles, so we decided to call it a day. I had checked the forecast on my smartphone, and it seemed to indicate that the rain due tomorrow wouldn’t arrive until mid- to late afternoon, so we decided to get up early and ride again tomorrow instead. Got another nice long canter in as we headed back to camp, a very enjoyable day all around!
Called the local post office and learned my package was there, so I ran down to pick it up and ran right back again, because the weather was picture perfect and we were determined to get a ride in while it was! Managed to get saddled up and out before 1:00, with a 10 mile trip planned on the GPS. We headed out to Kingsbury Road first, heading north to a trailhead near the ranger station, not following a particular trail other than the combination of trails I had strung together to make a couple of loops. The first part of the trail was nice, a bit rocky but wide and easy up to a lean-to camping area. The map seemed to indicate the trail came out the other side of the camp area, but we couldn’t find it. Instead we headed up a trail that was marked "To Parking", which indeed is where it led us, parking where the old homestead of General Nathaniel Lyon, the first Union General to be killed in the War Between the States. All that’s left are some stone walls and an incredible stone fireplace that had a hearth on every one of it’s four sides. Incredible workmanship that it’s still standing. As interesting as that was, we still couldn’t find the trail out of there, so we headed back up to the lean-to and finally discovered a trail leading off the trail we were on, which then promptly split. Only one side was marked with blue blazes, but we understood that that meant foot traffic only. In some places, foot traffic means hikers and in others it means hikers AND horses. We weren’t sure about here, and in any event, the left fork seemed to be going in the direction I had planned with my GPS, we headed west along a much narrow and less-traveled trail. It got quite steep going downhill in several places, and it was definitely more of a footpath than a horse trail, but we kept going, until it finally ended up on the road that led to where we picked up the trailhead. So we actually were in the right place all along, it just felt a bit off because the trail was so narrow. We headed back south on the road until we picked up the trail that follows the gas line, and we took that up a ways until we came to an intersection that, again, didn’t seem to be on the map. We opted to go right, and before long we realized we were on a trail that was taking us straight back to camp, which was DEFINITELY not on the map. By that time we had gone nearly five miles, so we decided to call it a day. I had checked the forecast on my smartphone, and it seemed to indicate that the rain due tomorrow wouldn’t arrive until mid- to late afternoon, so we decided to get up early and ride again tomorrow instead. Got another nice long canter in as we headed back to camp, a very enjoyable day all around!
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