Getting
used to the shorter days and waking up earlier, we both had a better
night sleep out here, it's so quiet for a change! No planes, no trains,
and hardly any automobiles, even though we're right off a pretty good
FM (Farm to Market) road. We were out on the trail by about 11:30 or
so, heading out what appears on the map as the Pink Trail, or Trail #3
as it's marked. We took the extended loop, and fell in love with the
footing! After so much rocky terrain, we were so happy to at last have
dirt and sand footing, with just a few roots occasionally, as you'd
expect in a forest. Despite being part of the National Grasslands,
there's nothing grassy about this trail, it's all through woods, with
only one short stretch in the open that looks like a utility track, but
no poles or wires, just a narrow stretch of field. Loved it! The
horses started out expecting something else, and we could just feel them
relax as the trail went on without incident. We were finally able to
do some trotting, but other than the short field I just described, there
really wasn't any place suitable to get in a good canter, though we did
a little on short stretches up small grades. The trail winded around
the northwest corner of the park, then dropped south to a river, which
then flowed into a lake, with the trail followed east and finally back
to camp It was just 6 miles, so we were back within a couple of hours.
Just the right length for our first exploratory ride, and apparently
about the same length as most of the other loops out of the campground,
making this a perfect place to ride for a week, maybe more. Hoping the
weather holds out for that! Might even retrieve the parkas from storage
so we can ride when the weather is cooler, this is so nice here! Plus,
since it's a national forest, with a Golden Age passport, it's only $3 a
night. Just our kind of place! As we were putting the horses up, a
guy we had seen earlier on a tractor, drove over and asked if we minded
if he parked his tractor next to us. He and a partner were cutting up a
downed tree and he didn't want to have to keep trailering it is. Of
course, we said we didn't mind (though I did mention I might want to
take it for a joy ride later : -), to which he said the tank was full,
have a good time! I like the folks here, everyone has been really
friendly so far. Must be Texas! Anyway, had some chores to do in the
afternoon before settling in for the night, wishing we had gotten here a
week or two earlier so that we could enjoy the weather longer. Fingers
crossed it's not as cold as they're forecasting now for next week!
Getting
used to the shorter days and waking up earlier, we both had a better
night sleep out here, it's so quiet for a change! No planes, no trains,
and hardly any automobiles, even though we're right off a pretty good
FM (Farm to Market) road. We were out on the trail by about 11:30 or
so, heading out what appears on the map as the Pink Trail, or Trail #3
as it's marked. We took the extended loop, and fell in love with the
footing! After so much rocky terrain, we were so happy to at last have
dirt and sand footing, with just a few roots occasionally, as you'd
expect in a forest. Despite being part of the National Grasslands,
there's nothing grassy about this trail, it's all through woods, with
only one short stretch in the open that looks like a utility track, but
no poles or wires, just a narrow stretch of field. Loved it! The
horses started out expecting something else, and we could just feel them
relax as the trail went on without incident. We were finally able to
do some trotting, but other than the short field I just described, there
really wasn't any place suitable to get in a good canter, though we did
a little on short stretches up small grades. The trail winded around
the northwest corner of the park, then dropped south to a river, which
then flowed into a lake, with the trail followed east and finally back
to camp It was just 6 miles, so we were back within a couple of hours.
Just the right length for our first exploratory ride, and apparently
about the same length as most of the other loops out of the campground,
making this a perfect place to ride for a week, maybe more. Hoping the
weather holds out for that! Might even retrieve the parkas from storage
so we can ride when the weather is cooler, this is so nice here! Plus,
since it's a national forest, with a Golden Age passport, it's only $3 a
night. Just our kind of place! As we were putting the horses up, a
guy we had seen earlier on a tractor, drove over and asked if we minded
if he parked his tractor next to us. He and a partner were cutting up a
downed tree and he didn't want to have to keep trailering it is. Of
course, we said we didn't mind (though I did mention I might want to
take it for a joy ride later : -), to which he said the tank was full,
have a good time! I like the folks here, everyone has been really
friendly so far. Must be Texas! Anyway, had some chores to do in the
afternoon before settling in for the night, wishing we had gotten here a
week or two earlier so that we could enjoy the weather longer. Fingers
crossed it's not as cold as they're forecasting now for next week!
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