After a very quiet and relaxing evening and a good night sleep, Hubby and I decided to take a ride today, as the forecast is iffy for later in the week. It was nice and warm, though cooler in the woods, just the way we like it! Decided on just a short ride, about 5 miles, enough to get a feel for the trails and the terrain. We put boots on the horses, since we weren't sure what to expect, and I was pretty sure we would have to do at least a little bit on the gravel road that brought us here, and the gravel is pretty sharp. We headed west out of the camp, then south following the red markers (how all equestrian trails are marked, apparently), looping around through an area that had been recently logged, until we reached a trail northward again that took us to Dark Hollow horse camp. From there we found a rogue trail that cut through the woods, then onto the road back toward Gaswell. We diverted down to the "spring" so the horses could get some water, as they had already drank more than half the tank supply in the horse trailer. Got back to camp mid-afternoon. A really nice ride, actually, mostly hardwood forest with occasional stretches of pine, the trails were mostly dirt with some rock, mostly large and round or very small pea gravel, except on the roads, which had pointy gravel. The horse camps are nearer the top of the hill, so it was mostly downhill on the trail we took, then climbing again on the way back, but nothing too steep or difficult. Fairly easy, actually, even though it was hilly. A really nice ride! As soon as we got back and got the horses settled, I ran out in the van to find a cell phone signal that was good enough for internet, and even though I found 3 bars of 3G in a spot between the horse camps, I still couldn't get an internet connection, so I kept driving toward Benezette, hoping I'd eventually find one. Never did! I did find free wifi, though, at a restaurant called the Old Bull Cafe, so I went in and had a beer while I did some computer work. Bought another couple of beers to bring back to Hubby before I left. Passed several cars that were stopped in the road, and it wasn't until the second one that I had visions of Alaska, and realized these folks were stopped because they were watching the famous elk. I slowed down enough to catch a glimpse of one down in the woods, a female from the looks of it. Not a good look, though, I was in too much of a hurry. Got back to camp around 5, then we settled down for the evening, though we were mildly disturbed by a strange creaking sound we kept hearing, and couldn't pinpoin the source. Will have to take a look tomorrow to see what we can find!

As we had decided earlier in our stay, we wanted to explore the northern regions of this wilderness area, so I mapped out a route that would take us to the farthest north trail, the Beach Mill Trail. Once again we would have to use the Chase Creek Trail, though this is the first time we'll be taking it north from the start. We got out of camp by about 11:40, figuring it would take at least 4 ½ hours to do the 14.2 miles that my GPS calculated, which would get us back in plenty of time before sunset at 7:15 or so. Chase Creek took us to Dragline, crossed over the steel bridge we'd heard so much about, then we cut north again on Elbow, which turned into Cleveland Lake Trail, which is one of the most beautiful trails we've been on yet here. Once that trail crossed Beach Mill Road it became Beach Mill Trail, which was a small U-loop, which wasn't as attractive as it had obviously been forested at some point in the more recent past. Once it crossed the same road again it became Payne Lake Trail, which was also pretty open, at least until we hit the lake. We stopped at the "Scenic" point where there was a hitching rail, no picni table or anything, and there wasn't anything very scenic about it, no real views or anything. We had lunch there nevertheless, taking a much needed break. Hubby's back had gotten a little sore from trotting so much the other day, so we decided to walk all the way north, and only started trotting a bit when we came to Payne Lake, where there were a few more opportunities. We got a few canters in after lunch as well, after Payne Lake turned into Frost Pocket Trail, which was also pretty wide open and sandy. Frost Pocket led to Proceeding Trail, where we got turned around momentarily by taking Bailey Road south instead of east, but we corrected that error before going very far. We crossed back on the steel bridge (which thankfully, was planked as opposed to grated), and headed back south, reversing the route from there. We arrived back at camp at just after 5:30, well within our time frame, very happy with the entire ride, dogs were great, horses were great (though tired by that time, we could tell), another perfect ride day! Weather couldn't have been better, partly sunny with highs in the mid 70's, just fabulous! We are going to miss these trails! No doubt we'll be back next year, there are still a few more trails we haven't explored yet, would you believe! Packed away a few more items before settling down for dinner, though we also splurged on a cocktail or two as well, just because!

Almost every ride we've taken here has been either to the south, east, or west, but not to the north, so we decided the rest of this trip, we were going to explore the north side of the wilderness. We headed out Blue Jog Run to Confusion Flats, went north and picked up Homeward Bound, and took that out to Cow Trail, then north to Hinching Pond Trail, though we got a little off when we went up a private road which looked like every other road at this confusing and poorly marked intersection) to a gate, where we turned around and headed back, finding the right road. We passed our new neighbors along that road, stopping to chat for a few minutes, and passed another couple of riders as well. Though it was the same trail, it had several name changes, to Gum Drop Pond, Fish Pond, Evies Pond, Dragline, until it finally became Chase Creek Trail, which led us all the way south again, back to Confusion Flats. We elected to take the rogue trail that winds through the woods rather than Blue Jog, which tends to get a little sandy with a lot of use. Just under 10 miles, it was a wonderful ride, again with perfect weather. Billy and Lola came along, of course, and even with those stubby little legs, Billy stayed up with us, no problem! What a doll! What a wonderful day!

After having the camp packed all week, it was nice to see the place empty out, though the biggest busybody who had been harassing me all week is still here. A new neighbor moved in behind us yesterday, and they are very nice folks, we get along just fine with Bill and Sandy. Meanwhile, we had a busy day, first taking a short ride, just taking Shady Lane around, just over an hour, because we have some running around to do today. A nice ride, Hubby and I enjoyed it tremendously, though it was much shorter than we generally take. After putting the horses away, we headed out, with the first stop at Black River Valley Farms in Carthage to pick up some of the most beautiful hay we've seen in a very long time! The hay was so green and smelled great, it was their second cutting this year, just gorgeous! The bales were rather light for $3.50, but I'm convinced finicky Clio will eat this heartily. We got a full load of 24 bales (though we put it in the back of the horse trailer, to be transferred later), then headed down to Lowville, where we shopped at Walmart, stopped at Tractor Supply, and even finally stopped at a little frozen custard stand for our ice cream lunch (Kahlua-flavored today!) Got back to camp by about 5:00. We gave Clio some of the new hay, and as predicted, she plowed into it, thank goodness. Apollo will just have to finish the last bale of old stuff on his own, a task he never seems to mind, as he eats anything. Settled down for the evening, after a plain old nice day.

Today we decided it was time to cross the road and check out the re-opened Seneca Trail, and take a trip to the waterfall, a nice destination trail that always makes for a good time. Glad I put it in my GPS, though, there was one turn that would have never been found without it! When we reached the road, I got down and put Lola on a lead, because we had to traipse up the side of the road for a bit, and didn't want to take any chances. Fortunately, the only vehicle that came by slowed down for us. Seneca Trail had been closed earlier in the season because of all the rain, and frankly, it probably should have stayed closed for a while longer, the mud was pretty bad in some spots. But we made it through okay, and the rest of the trail was very nice. We got a bit turned around in an area that had been so washed out the trail was invisible, and had to go dangerously cross-country until we ran into it on a ridge again. That led us back to the trail that took us to the waterfall, where we enjoyed a few moments in quiet solitude until a family of tattooed and pierced parents with badly behaved kids came along, so we wrapped it up and headed back, stopping briefly to pay our respects at the family cemetery that is along the trail. We could hear the race in the distance as we were riding, though it faded out a bit by the time we got back to camp. We got the horses put away and started packing up for tomorrow's departure, then I got a call at dusk from my brother, who had suddenly decided to "avoid the traffic" in the morning by coming up and spending the night here. I had to talk him along until he got here, then we joined the camp in an ISS sighting before heading off to bed. He suggested we have breakfast together in the morning (interpret this as "You can fix us all breakfast"), and we all went to bed.

Decided to try out another State Forest south of Sugar Hill that is technically part of the same trail system, so after breakfast we loaded up the horses in the trailer and headed down to where there is a parking area clearly marked on the map. Unfortunately, as we got further and further down the road, it got narrower, then we started seeing a bunch of Private Drive signs, and pretty soon we were at the "end" of the road, which had a driveway up a hill to a house, and the "road" turned into an overgrown two track that looked dubiously passable, and I wasn't about to haul a horse trailer back there without knowing whether I could get back out again, so we carefully turned around and headed out again, disappointed we wouldn't have a new forest to explore. Instead, we headed over to the parking area on Evergreen Hill Road at the sound end of Sugar Hill and took the A trail to the D and E trails, which turned out to be a very nice ride. A bit muddy in places, and with some rocks going up and down the steep hills, but I didn't put boots on Apollo because the mud here just sucks them off. Even Hubby lost a boot near the end of the ride, so I once again got to get myself all dirty retrieving it. Another beautiful day, perfect temps, gorgeous skies, couldn't ask for a better day to be alive and riding!