Hi Sweetie!
Had a good night sleep with my earplugs again, got up around 9:00 after reading for an hour plus, did my chores, had breakfast, then chatted for a bit with Mike before we finally started to get ready to ride. There’s a land trust area across the river from the state forest called Kokiwanee, and we had heard that some of the riders from camp had gone over there yesterday, so I downloaded a map and we headed out in that direction. We took the yellow trail to the end, then found a trail on the other side by a waterfall (Kissing Falls, apparently), and followed the trail up. That led to a series of steps which didn’t really look like it was fit for horses, but there didn’t seem to be an alternative, so I went ahead and headed up there. There were some nails that were sticking up, but we managed to avoid them all. We plowed on to a number of other trails that really looked like they were only hiking trails, and we didn’t see any indication that horses had been on the trails, so I could never figure out where those other horses were going. Several times we would start down a trail and turn around when it became to narrow, so my plan went out the window. Eventually, we headed back to see if we could find another way down to the river, and there was one other trail, but I was worried about it being right on the edge of a drop off, so I dismounted and walked down a ways, and sure enough, there was a corned with a little piece of fence someone had put in, and the only way around it was too sharp a turn and too close to the edge for a horse to get through safely. I wasn’t about to take that risk! So we went back up and tried to find another way, but that trail had a little bridge that didn’t seem safe even for horses, and another climb of steps even steeper than the first one! Eventually we decided to head back down the main trail (the only one really fit for horses, and way too short and boring to be worth riding more than once), to a parking lot and a road, and we ended up taking the road back around to where we crossed the river, finally getting back on track and into the state forest again. Came across some other riders who were trying to figure out how to get around a downed tree, and I lent him my camp saw so he could cut off a limb and make it more easily passable (we had found a way around it previously), and before long, we were back in camp. Not exactly how I planned it, but it was still an adventure! By now most of the camp was empty, and within an hour or so, everyone else had gone as well. I let the horses out to graze and started putting stuff away, then made us some dinner, which I preferred to do rather than go out again, then finished putting pretty much everything else away, so I’ll be ready to get an early start in the morning. Less than 300 miles, but I either have to go cross country, or go a bit out of the way to stay on highways, so it will take longer than usual. At least I know where I’m going this time, hopefully the spot I like will be open. It’s been a lot of fun here, but it was a lot busier that I expected over the weekend, particularly with the cooler weather. Anyway, time to move on! Getting a little ahead of the weather, but at least I’m not sweating like a pig! I can always add layers! We’ll worry about that tomorrow. Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie!
Had another good night sleep, a quiet morning, then my friend Mike, who was going to meet me for a ride today, said he wouldn’t be here until after lunch, so I saddled up Flash to go on a ride on my own. I didn’t take Lola because I thought there might be too many riders that might not like meeting up with a dog on the trail, but as it was, I only met one other rider and he had his dog with him, so I supposed I could have taken her. She pouted the rest of the day after I got back. I took a shorter route, but one that captured a lot of the trails I missed the other day, then ended up getting turned around at one point and still missed some. We had another mishap, we took a trail that went along the river but quickly sent from what I thought was a horse trail down to MAYBE a hiking trail, but ultimately a very dangerous game trail, but by the time I figured that out, we were stuck with no place to turn around. Then Flash’s foot went deep into soft dirt, so deep he ended up on the ground, so I climbed off so he could get up. Unfortunately, he had no place to maneuver, and the only thing that kept him from falling thirty or forty feet down to the river was a couple of trees that were on the edge of the trail. He didn’t panic, thank goodness, and I let him rest for a few minutes and get calm, and finally he managed to get himself righted, but there was hardly any room for him to turn around. He finally managed it, but he had to take about a four foot step straight up to accomplish it. Once he got himself settled down, I climbed back on and we carefully made out way back to the main trail, though my foot started hurting a bit again, I must have banged it again. The rest of the ride was good, though, except I couldn’t find a trail that my GPS said was there, so we ended up going out of our way from the original plan, but no matter, we arrived back in camp safe and sound by 1:30 or so. I read for much of the afternoon, then my friend Mike finally showed up around 4:00. I thought he was only coming to day ride, but I was mistaken, he was coming to camp for the weekend, which was a good thing, since it was too late in the day to take another ride, and rain arrived shortly thereafter! We sat and chatted for awhile, then drove down to CoCoJo’s campground and restaurant and had dinner there, then chatted under my awning till dark, which is now nearly 10:00 (stupid Daylight Savings!) I put a blanket on Flash because it’s supposed to get cold tonight, but not so cold that Apollo needed one. Anyway, it’s late, I’m having my tea, doing my Spanish lesson, and soon will be taking my shower and going to bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hiya Babe!
Stayed in bed a bit late today, reading and keeping warm. It was a bit chilly overnight, and I was finishing off a book, and my only activity today was to get a ride in, so I indulged myself a bit! Finally did get up, fed the horses and Lola and me, finished my final two chapters, then saddled up Flash. I debated whether or not to put boots on, I didn’t really want to aggravate the abrasion he got from his boots the other day, so I decided to just carry them instead. As it turned out, I didn’t really need them anyway, thank goodness! While there were a few spot with quite a bit of gravel (mostly in places where it was obviously supposed to be a trail “repair”), and a couple of stretches where it was nothing but stone, most of the trail was dirt and some mud, so once we got started, Flash relaxed a bit. What lovely trails they are otherwise! True forest, lots of hills and dales, and a lot of the trail I was on today, the blue perimeter trail, followed along the edge of the river, so it was truly beautiful. There seemed to be a lot of new trails being cut, so I digressed off the main trail a few times to see where they went, but it was mostly just different ways to get back to the river or the main trail. There were a lot of picnic tables strategically placed in scenic spots, and I only ran into two hikers and then two horsepeople just as I was getting back to camp. Did nearly nine miles in about 2.5 hours. Wonderful! Put them out to graze for awhile, finally sent in my pension application since I got it notarized in town yesterday (thanks, Terry at First Merchant Bank!), then discovered I had lost a lot of my Google Earth work from the last two weeks, so I spent some time recreating that. Settled down for the evening to a nice salmon dinner, watched a little TV (my batteries went from 12.0 to nearly 13 just on the solar panel today!), ready for shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
What a beautiful day this turned out to be! It started out cloudy and with a hint of rain, but it gradually cleared up throughout the day until it was just perfect! I met the gals at the intersection between the Lincoln Trailhead and Double J (the place I hate, but where they were staying), and we headed out on the second “reachable” loop down Mill Branch and around to Raymer Hollow before climbing back up to Collie Ridge. Evidently they had a couple of bad storms in March, and so many trees came down that we seemed to be passing by recently cleared trees every hundred yards or so! There were even a couple of trees that hadn’t been cleared yet, or more likely have fallen since the last time they came out and checked, that required us to get very creative in order to go around them. One was so tall that it hung over the next ridge, and I had to use my camp saw to cut a branch that was preventing us from crossing over a big tree that was down, and that was a good 50 yards away from the trail, and it required a good climb to get back up to the trail. Sure was wishing I had one of those little 6 inch chainsaws right about then! Another one, right after we stopped for lunch by a creek, where we had to climb almost straight up the first couple of steps in order to get around the root ball. Some very challenging riding today! Otherwise, it was just a beautiful ride through hills and hollers and creeks. Lola came along today and thoroughly enjoyed herself, although at the end, just as we were splitting back up at the intersection, she followed the wrong horses toward Double J and I had to rush up and get her back when I realized she wasn’t with me anymore. Some of the trails had really excellent footing today, small pebble-like base that made it so much easier on the horses today. Shawn’s horse Rebel was VERY subdued today, whereas yesterday he kept wanting to stay out front and be speedy, but today he was as a slug like Apollo. Figured he wasn’t really in great condition for these types of hilly trails, but he managed to get back to camp okay, albeit slowly. After I left them and was heading out the last stretch to Lincoln Trailhead, there was a ranger driving down the trail/forest road, and I was worried he’s say something about Lola (technically dogs are supposed to be on a leash, which we horse people know is absurd and dangerous), but he passed right by me and didn’t even roll down his tinted window, so no worries there! Got back to camp, washed down Flash and put him and Apollo back out into the pasture Kristen was kind enough to let me use, then headed back over to Double J to pick up Joyce, Shawn and young Katie, and we went over to the Blue Holler Cafe for dinner (which features some German cuisine and a few other things that were quite original), very affordable, big servings, great service, very nice little family operation, and we all had a nice time. Drove them over to my camp to show them around (they loved it!), and then took them back to their camp where we chatted some more, before I came back to camp before dark. A beautiful, perfect day spent with fabulous friends. Life is so good! Won’t be long out of bed tonight (Lola’s zonked out, naturally!), looking forward to a quiet remainder of my evening. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Had a pretty good night sleep, woke up before the alarm again, it’s still working on Eastern time, but that’s okay. I wanted the extra time to get ready since my foot is making me work at half speed. Got the horses fed, then Lola and I, but it was raining off and on the whole time. With a break in the rain, I saddled up Flash, then put him back in his stall so he could keep eating until I was ready to go. We had planned on meeting at the intersection of the trail the first meets between their camp and mine, but it was still raining a bit, so we decided to postpone until about noon when the rain was supposed to be gone. I actually put on my rain suit, the one I bought for the Colorado rafting trip in the Grand Canyon a few years back, and haven’t worn since, but it was perfect for today. I left about 11:40, and ended up going all the way into camp, where the gals were just about ready. We headed out on one of the two loops that are closest, though they’re both about 10 miles long each. It was quite a beautiful ride. All the trees were such a verdant green after the rain, really spectacular. Parts of the trail had a lot of gravel, particularly at the beginning, and there were also a few muddy spots, but nothing too bad. Flash’s boots stayed on quite well until we did a canter, then, of course, one popped off. Unfortunately, even though I’ve been using the woolen gaters that were supposed to prevent rubbing, both of his feet ended up with bad abrasions, so he’s not going to be a happy camper when we go riding again tomorrow. But I guess developing callouses is the only way he’s going to be boot ready again. Never used to have this problem, but I guess his feet have gotten soft with all that Florida riding. Anyway, we had a good time, I had put the GPS route on my Garmin so we didn’t get lost at all, thank goodness. Trails are fairly well marked, as long as you have a map and see the signs, which are sometimes easy to miss. It wasn’t as stunning as the TN ride earlier this week, but it wasn’t bad. Parted from the gals on the intersection, got back to camp, finally met Kristen, and she agreed to let me put my horses in one of her little pastures, so that will be nice for them, especially Apollo, who immediately rolled then ran for a bit. Settled in for the evening, watched a movie about the prison program where they train horses, just like the auction we enjoyed in Nevada back in 2014 (I had to look that up!). Another great memory! Well, tea is made, won’t be long for my shower. Supposed to be better weather tomorrow, so we’re planning on getting out a bit earlier. Good night, darlin’! Love you!

Hey Sweetie,
What a great way to finish off my ten days here! After muddling through the last few days trying to figure out how to get more mileage on Flash, and having to overcome yesterday’s back pain, today turned out to be an incredible ride! First, I was going to go with a gal named Julie, but she wasn’t feeling well, so at the last minute, I tagged on with Linda, the woman who was so kind and generous in her information about Lost Corral, and I was so happy to have the opportunity to thank her for all her help. She picked me up just after 10:00 and we headed up to the kayak outfitters, where we passed by on the train the other day, and met up with a bunch of her friends; Robin, Lori, Carrie, Steve and Cindy, and we proceeded to ride through some of the most spectacular scenery I’ve ever seen. We followed an absolutely gorgeous creek, climbed mountains teeming with forest, it was just indescribably beautiful, exactly the kind of riding I love! We ended up going about 11.4 miles, and there was so much climbing, it was definitely a workout for Flash! Linda was riding her husband horse and trimming branches off the way, and he had a very long legged, fast walk, so Flash was well-matched for speed, thank goodness! There were several places we had to stop and clear, but we had the mini-chainsaws to do the job, so we were never held up for long. Very challenging, but so perfect! The only mishap was when Flash tried to climb over a slippery rock to get out of a creek and slid very badly. I came off, and he nearly slid off the rock into the creek, which was a good drop, but I was able to calm him down enough not to panic, and he very carefully managed his footing until he was on solid ground again. No damage to him whatsoever, thank goodness, but I hit the top of my foot on something, a hard rock evidently, and the top of my foot hurts in the same way it would if a horse had stood on it with all his weight. I don’t think I broke anything, but I’m certainly going to have a bruise and some pain there for awhile. I limped around the rest of the day. We ended up back at the outfitter’s where there is a nice picnic area, and Steve cooked up some elk/beef burgers and we had a bunch of snacks, and we chatted for quite awhile. Such a great group! I hadn’t figured on coming back here in the fall because there is so little riding out of camp, but Linda has shown me there are scores of trails around, just that they have to be trailered to. They all generously invited me back, so I may just make this one of my regular stops. What great fun, great folks, great food! And Lola had a great time, there was literally a pack of dogs on the trip, though Linda and her dog Annie, with me and Lola, were pretty far ahead of the group most of the time. Lola and Annie fetched and swam in the Hiwassee before lunch, then settled down while we were eating. I let Flash graze with some of the other critters, he deserved some fresh grass after all that! Once Linda dropped me off, I got in my gravity chair with my leg up for a bit (Cindy had provided me with a bag full of ice at the picnic, so some of the swelling went down), doused it with witch hazel and let it rest a bit. Finally I felt fit enough to put some stuff away, all my tack, the carpet and chairs, etc., whatever I could for now. Nice that I won’t have to make dinner tonight, an added bonus to the day! Time for my shower, then I’ll wrap my foot and get in bed. No doubt it will take me longer to break down the highline tomorrow with my foot the way it is. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie!
Had an excellent night, slept later than I should have, but it was a frosty cold 37 degrees at 8:00, so it had to have been even colder before the sun came up! Stayed in bed a bit to keep warm, but eventually crawled out and got the day started. Definitely feeling better with all the sleep I’ve been getting out here! After the usual chores and breakfast, I saddled up Apollo today, and went exploring an old hiking trail by the creek, but didn’t get more than about 100 yards, it was too overgrown, lots of trees down over the trail, and just not suitable for horses anyway, so that was the end of that! Still needing the exercise, we headed up what is the one and only trail out of camp and climbed for awhile, till I felt he had had enough for an old, out of shape guy. Not to mention the trails are so full of gravel and sharp-edged rocks, it was really uncomfortable, even though I put boots on him. Funny thing, I had bought him a new pair of boots because one of his old pair was no good anymore, but then I found a boot out at Dupuis a few months back, and it turns out it’s the perfect mate for the one from the old pair! I used those because the new pair chafed him a lot last time, and I thought these would be better, and they seemed to be. Still, walking on all that rock wasn’t much fun, so we didn’t go very far before we turned around and came back down the mountain. A total of 4.2 miles is all we did, but Lola enjoyed herself, and the scenery was lovely. While I was riding, I decided I was going to move my trailer to a different site, one that was easy to back into and actually got some sun in the afternoon for my solar panel, so when I got back, we rode around to make sure the site was still available, and there was an Amish family there. I asked if they were camping or just having lunch, and they said it was just the latter, and they’d be leaving soon, so I headed back to camp and started getting packed up and hooked and ready to go. It wasn’t long before they left, so I moved everything over gradually, got done about 4:00. Was glad I did it, though, I got several good hours of solar energy, plus I’m not on a downward slope, which had me worried because there’s rain in the forecast and in the old site, the horses were at the bottom of the site and I was afraid with rain it would turn into a swamp down there. Now I’m on higher ground, the horses are more level, though I’m sorry to say that I had to clean up manure before I put the horses in, and I’m not talking about one or two last minute piles, I’m talking about half a day’s worth of manure from several horses. I just can’t understand people who don’t clean up after their horses when they leave a campsite, it’s so unfair! Anyway, I got everything set up again, then settled down for the evening. There was a fire going when the Amish left, so I built it up a little and cooked my chicken thighs on it for a change of pace, rather than use my grill. It’s a lovely evening, warmer temps are coming in with the rain, but I’m still going to put light blankets on the horses tonight, since it will be down in the upper 40’s. That’s it for the day! Good night, baby! Love you!