Yesterday really took it out of us, so we slept late. After breakfast, I drove 7 miles to find a cell phone signal good enough to get online, then spent about four hours finding a stable in Spokane to look after our horses while we fly to DC next week, and a horse camp between here and there that was convenient to the freeway, among other chores. I got back around 3:00, and spend the rest of the day relaxing, to bed early to prepare for our ride tomorrow!

We had so much to do today, and so far to go, we set the alarm for 6:15, up by 6:30, out by 7:15 with coffee to go. First stop was the Crosswinds RV store in Pocatello to pick up a new electrical cord we had ordered last week, then a stop for breakfast to go at Burger King on the way back to the freeway, then a quick gas stop just before crossing the border into Montana (high prices, but the only fuel for miles beyond. They had a wifi signal so I quick checked my email before moving on. Next stop was to pick up hay from a woman in Dillon, MT. Her bales were HUGE, so I couldn’t just pay her the $4 a bale she was asking, so I gave her more. The bales weren’t perfectly green (which, apparently, folks around here expect), but it was fine and fresh and certified weed free, which is good enough for us. That took us almost an hour to load. Then we headed to Wal-mart in Butte, then a liquor store at a gas station/casino (truly!), then onto a town called Deer Lodge where we picked up water, then finally, on to the Helena National Forest. Our original plan was to stay at the Kading Campground, which has a horse corral, but discovered they were “closed” for reasons I still can’t comprehend, (though they gave the impression there were trees down, which turned out not to be true), but they said there were many turnouts with the Little Blackfoot River next to them. As we traveled across 15 miles of gravel road, we saw quite a few turnouts, but most were occupied and many would never be able to accommodate a rig our size. We decided to go all the way to campground before turning back to look for something. We arrived at the campground (noticing that the campground looked fine, except the blockade that prevented us from entering), and saw that while there were corrals across the road from the campground, there was no running water, and no creek nearby. Hubby decided to follow the road to see where it went, and found a turnaround a little ways up, and signaled me to follow and take a look. We found the trail began at that point, but it seemed large enough to (maybe) get the RV down it to a little clearing next to the creek. We decided to give it a try. There was one sharp turn where I ended up dragging the back of the RV, which one of the stabilizers, which will need repairing later. Ultimately, we made ourselves a nice little camp, though the only way we could get level was to encroach a little on the trail, but there’s room enough to get a pickup truck by, as we discovered later, so no harm done. It was well after 7:30 by the time we got everything settled in, and we were exhausted from all the activity. Through together some dinner, then crashed!

While we had hoped for another short ride today, work got in the way, and I spent the day getting caught up on bookkeeping, while Hubby read and napped. Finally called it quits at dinner and rested the remainder of the evening.

Slept decadently late, Hubby even fed the horses for me because he figured I must’ve had a rough night if I was still in bed at 8:30 (he was right). Saddled up and was on the trail by 11:00. Headed southwest on the Boundary Trail (fortunately, dirt trails and creek crossings, no stones to speak of except the creeks) until we came to an intersection. One trail went to Robber’s Roost, the other was unmarked, and the third was the continuation of the Boundary trail. It kind of looked like the Boundary Trail got a little rocky, so we opted for Robber’s Roost, though we had no idea how long it was. We started climbing (what else is new!), and we hadn’t gone a quarter mile when the trail started getting really rocky, so opted out and turned around. Then we went down the unmarked trail, which stayed in the valley and followed the creek until it reached a fence about half mile away. So we turned around again, resigned to taking the Boundary trail and hoping that rocky bit was saw was short-lived. Fortunately, that turned out to be EXACTLY the case. The trail only climbed a little bit, and only a little bit at a time, with almost entirely dirt trails (with just the odd short rocky bit here and there), very moderate ups and downs, and, for the first time in what seems like weeks, opportunities to actually trot and canter! The forest was beautiful, a wonderful mix of aspen and conifers and in the occasional field, sagebrush. There were so many different types of evergreens I couldn’t identify them all, and some were so huge they must have been there for 400 years! I’m no expert, but I know I saw white pine, red cedar, probably blue fir, lodgepole and I don’t know what else. It was the nicest ride we’ve had in a while. We went about 5 miles to a lovely creek, stopped there to have lunch, and then headed home. We had decided early that because it was such a nice ride, we’d make it short and do another one in the opposite direction tomorrow. The entire Boundary Trail is too long for us to do in one day (I estimate more than 16 miles, which we might do if we had more time, but not this trip), so another short day tomorrow to keep us fit and the horses happy. One thing I discovered on the trail, I could, in fact, get a cell phone signal in many areas, so when we got back in camp, I turned the phone on and did my compass check (I turn to each point of the compass to see which direction I get the best signal) and discovered that I did, in fact, have a signal that should be good enough to retrieve my email. Once the horses were put up, and after a conversation with our departing neighbor (a pair of foster parents with 3 foster kids who live just on the other side of the mountain range to our West, in Inkom), I came in and sure enough, found I could download my email. I also have to get directions to an RV store from which I have ordered a new electrical cable, as well as to confirm where we are going to pick up hay. Apparently Dillon, MT is the hub for locally produced certified weed-free hay, and I spoke to several folks about price and availability, and, as always, the market systems works. The price is lower than I’ve found in a number of other places. Competition is great! We want to get a full load, which should get us into California.

I say Caribou NF because there’s another Big Springs Campground just west of Yellowstone, though I since discovered they don’t allow horses there, though there are pullouts along some roads that are open to horses, and that have creeks apparently. No, this Big Spring is just north of Hot Lava Springs, just SE of Pocatello. On the way, we stopped at Flying J to dump, get gas, (though Hubby forgot to fill up the generator tanks, a habit we just haven’t gotten into yet) and have breakfast. Then we stopped at a little supermarket in Hot Lava Springs for groceries (which, when you enter this quaint little town, has a huge waterpark next to the entrance, and it was packed!), then proceeded to the horse camp. The last 7 miles was gravel road, mostly narrow with just a few passing areas, and with quite a few nice turnouts along the way, with a creek along most of them, providing us with an option if the horse camp doesn’t work out. We arrived, Hubby went up to check it out (only two horse sites!), while I went down to the regular campground to look for a trail map and get water in the holding tank. While I was filling the tank, the Camp host came by in his ATV, and I asked him about trail maps, and he said he had one that I could look at but none to give away (but if I wanted one I could go by the park ranger’s office in Pocatello!) Rather disappointing, but I had downloaded one, not a very good one, but it was better than nothing. Meanwhile, Hubby radioed that one space was open, and it looked like a nice spot, and besides, it was cooler up here that further down the road where we had come, so I drove up and we set up camp in no time, all done before 3:00, including satellite dish. I lost my cell phone signal miles down the road, so it doesn’t look like I’ll be checking any email while we’re here! Had a relaxing afternoon and evening, something that will be in short supply between now and our trip to DC, so we took full advantage of it! We did have a visit from a flock of sheep that strolled through the campsite during the afternoon, but the horses didn’t seem to mind them much, thank goodness.

Well, we decided to take the ranger’s suggestion, so we headed east back toward the trailhead he recommended. It was, in fact, a lot less rocky, though there were still sections that were pretty bad. Again, the trail climbed and climbed and climbed. After about 90 minutes of that, we just stopped, had lunch, and then descended, descended, descended again. There were a few beautiful views on the way, and it was more pleasant than the previous ride, but still not quite the kind of trails we prefer. Spent the late afternoon getting ready to leave in the morning. It’s a very shor trip, only about 60 miles, but we have a few stops on the way.

Made reservations for our flight from Spokane the week after next, checked out hotels, with the eternal debate of “do we stay out by the airport or do we stay closed to the Capitol.” Found half a dozen stables near the Spokane airport, I’ll need to call them next week if I don’t hear from my friends in Spokane as to whether they have a friend with a farm (the ideal solution, in my book:-). The ranger I spoke with about this campground last week stopped by to say hello today, asked if we would change the horses’ highline everyday to so they wouldn’t kill the grass. Funny, I thought they would have preferred to limit the damage to one area, but, whatever… We asked him about the least rocky trail, and he said that would probably be one that started in the opposite direction than the one our neighbor had recommended yesterday. Oh well, we’ll decide tomorrow. Spent most of the day working on the computer, planning the (new) next stage of our journey.

Tried again to find a trail map of the area, no luck. Just as we were getting saddled up, though, a couple with a horse trailer drove in, and Hubby asked them about the trails here. They told him about a loop that was about 5-6 miles long, so we headed out on the South Canyon Trail. We had to ride a mile on a gravel road to get to the trailhead (we had put the boots on), crossed the bridge, then turned left at the sign. Within a hundred yards or so, the trail started getting very rocky, and, unfortunately, stayed that way. This is a multi-use trail, and twice we had to get off the trail to let ATVers pass. We climbed and climbed on this rocky trail, and it wasn’t much fun. We finally reached the top, and stopped for lunch before descending on the other side. Fortunately, this side of the mountain was much less rocky, so it was a bit more enjoyable. We finally passed out of the forest (a mix of conifers up top and aspen down below, typical throughout this part of the West) onto a plain-like area that let us back to civilization and the gravel road. The couple that came in after us showed up some time later, and I asked them if there were other, less rocky trails, preferably non-motorized, but it seems pretty much all the trails here cater to the OHV folks. They did say that if we turn right at the bridge instead of left that the main trail in that direction is less rocky, so maybe we’ll try that on Sunday. Hubby and I spent some time this afternoon discussing the schedule and the travel plans, and just about the time we had settled on the next few weeks, I received an email from a client who wants us in DC at the end of the month, so now our plans will have to change again, though only slightly. Seems we’ll be flying out of Spokane now, I’ll have to find a place for the critters and the vehicles while we go. More research on tap for tomorrow!

Once again woke up to the sound of livestock, this time a small herd of cows were mooing next to our bedroom window. We saw a couple wandering around when we came in yesterday, didn’t expect them to visit us so early. Horses were a bit calmer, though they were scrutinizing them suspiciously until the dogs were let out and ran them off. Spent the day on the computer researching the next few legs of our journey to make sure we don’t run out of time before we run out of road, while Hubby went in search of some hay, as there wasn’t much on craigslist for this area. Apparently most people here produce alfalfa, and our horses just aren’t used to anything that rich, at least not by itself. We’ll need to pick up some more certified weed free grass hay somewhere before moving on, or at least mixing alfalfa with our certified grass hay until we can find some upstate. It seems Montana has quite a few providers just over the border, we’ll probably load up then. Meanwhile, the few bales Hubby picked up will last until then. Otherwise, an uneventful day.

Just as Hubby was getting wet in the shower last night, a terrific blast of wind came out of nowhere and blew our awning all askew, so he had to quick jump out naked and help me roll it up. (no, we didn’t have any neighbors!) The wind continue through most of the night, but seemed to be gone before dawn. We were both sound asleep when just after 7:00 we heard a terrific crash from the corral, then moments later, before we could even register what might have happened, we hear horse hooves running across the campground. Knowing that wasn’t good, I jumped out, threw on a nightshirt and ran out the door, only to see the corral had come apart and our horses were running away toward the trailhead. I called to them, but they were having none of it. As I turned around to get Hubby to come help me, I was nearly face to face with a giant buffalo, trundling along toward me, coming between the corral and the RV (which, as you can see from yesterday’s pic, is only a few yards away!) I leaped back into the RV and let it pass, at a pace so slow I never thought it would get by. Meanwhile, Hubby got dressed, and I said, “Well, I know what spooked the horses,” and pointed toward the passing buffalo, which, unfortunately, was heading in the same direction as the horses, who had continued to trot and canter away from the critter, and thus us. Hubby started after them while I ran inside and dressed, then drove the pickup truck to the trailhead. Hubby had almost reached the horses by then, (they’d gone at least a half mile from the campsite) and we walked them back to the pickup and loaded them into the trailer, while the bison look on from afar. We decided to skip breakfast for now, and quickly finished packing, out before 8:30. Headed up the highway, stopping at a Flying J in North Ogden to dump, get propane, have breakfast, and do laundry (which started out slow as only one of the four machines was working.) The manager came after a while and fixed two more, and generously paid for my first two loads, so at least he made up for the inconvenience. After breakfast, while I continued washing, Hubby ran down to the nearest Walmart to do some shopping, so we’d be all set until Monday. We stopped once more in the little town of Malad to pick up water at a gas station, then arrived at the campground shortly thereafter, with Gracie (my Verizon GPS) showing me almost all the way. When we reached the developed campground, I sent Hubby up the road to check out the camping spur that the Ranger here had told me about, which he said was big enough for us and where horses were allowed, and where there were no fees. Hubby called back on the radio a few minutes later, saying the spot was “perfect.” I drove up with the RV and saw it was very nice, the only problem was the turning radius, it would take several K turns to maneuver around, but after a few attempts, we managed to get it situated perfectly, just several yards from an abundant creek, trees that were perfect for high lining, and what seemed like a very quiet spot. We soon learned all but the last was true, apparently this road is a popular one for ATV’s, hikers, and just plain casual drivers. Not too bad, though, just a few a day. Just three miles off the freeway, I get a pretty good cell phone signal, but it’s far enough away as to have no traffic (or any other) noise at all. Hubby managed to get a satellite signal, the horses are munching away on some long grass, the dogs are off exploring, so we’re all in 7th heaven! Looking forward to seeing what the trails are like!