Today we had decided to try to finish off as many of the other trails as we could today, with an eye toward putting together a good color-coded map for this place. The one provided by the Forest service is terrible, with no trail colors mentioned, no legend, no trail lengths, not even close to being accurate in terms of where the trails actually were, so I decided I would create a new one and give it to Kathy for their future use. We headed out the red North trail, which we skipped on Wednesday because the day was getting too long, and that was truly a nice trail, mostly wooded, narrow single track, had to be careful not to brush against trees which were really crowding the trail. There was a lesser used shortcut that we got turned around on, going straight when we should have cut right, but we soon got back on track. Again, the trails were much more twisty than usual, and lots of climbs, some quite steep, would have been nice to have a few more switch-backs, but the terrain really makes that difficult. After completing the Red North trail, and took the Blue trail straight out until we hit the Green North trail, which was also quite nice, then finally hitting the Blue Trail again, which we took north so that we could go all the way to the "Dragon's Head." If you look at the map, the park is sort of shaped like a dragon looking east, so the farthest point is the Dragon's Head in the northeast corner. Once we picked up the Blue Trail, it opened right up into a field, and normally we would have done a fabulous gallop through there, but the horses were already pretty tired from all the climbing, so a bit of a canter was the best they could muster. We circled the Dragon's Head, then when the Blue trail hit the Green trail again, we followed that again. We soon met back up with the Blue trail, and stopped for a lunch break, then headed back west again, picking up the Green south trail, which soon became our very favorite trail in the forest, which is saying a lot because they all had a lot of nice qualities. Once we completed the Green trail, we made a beeline home on the Blue trail, with a total of 13 miles today! It was much more of a workout than a typical 13 mile ride, though, this is a GREAT place if you want to really condition your horse, especially if you're running endurance races. Trails had a few rocky sections, but not too bad, not enough for me to put boots on Apollo, though Hubby put them on his mare, mostly because his haven't been falling off like mine have lately. We really like this place, and had it not been for this group ride this week, I doubt we would have had much company here at all, which the ranger Justin said as much. Got the horses back on their lines and dragged ourselves up the hill to the RV, where we all crashed for the evening. The dogs flopped down and didn't move all night! A great workout for all!

Slept late this morning, it's so nice and quiet here, at the moment anyway, and the site we're in doesn't get any sun until practically noon! Got the horses saddled up and out by just after 1:00, with intentions to hit three loops that run off the main trail. We headed out the main blue trail that runs east to west through the length of the park. The trails were a little rocky at first, but really had more dirt and grass, so I didn't put boots on Apollo, though I did carry them, just in case. What started out as a fairly easy trail quickly became more challenging, mainly because the hills were much more plentiful and steep than we had anticipated, so much so that my GPS had a little trouble following us, as I discovered later when downloading the route. It was a great workout for the horses, though! They both worked up a sweat in the near 80 degree temps, but we all had a great time. In the end, we skipped the final red north loop, as we had already been out almost two hours, and today was supposed to be a short ride. We'll take that loop out when we leave next time! A very nice ride, did lots of cantering uphill, the terrain was varied, from deep woods to recovering clear-cut areas, passing by a number of small lakes and ponds. Really a pleasant surprise, as we thought that since the forest was so small it might not be very interesting, but not the case! Very challenging and interesting! Got everybody settled by around 4, then I headed out to town to get a replacement rope for the starter handle on the generator that broke last night, as well as a few other odds and ends, and to check my email. Got back and helped Hubby put the generator back together again before settling down for the debates on CNN, before heading to bed, late, of course!

Today, the forecast was perfect! After yesterday's drizzle, today was a beautiful, sunny day, with temps in the low 70's. I planned a 12 mile ride today, and Hubby was in agreement, in fact, we ended up going closer to 13. We headed west again, this time turning north. Not long after that, we had a group of 8 or 10 riders catch up to us on the trail, chattering away like people always seem to do in groups, so we gave up any hope of sneaking up on any elk. We let them pass, as they were going faster than us, then we passed them again when they got to an intersection and couldn't figure out which way to go. I wasn't sure either, but my trusty GPS let me know we had to turn right, so we headed out while they were still analyzing maps. We lost our way once, when we missed a turn and ended up on a pipeline, but the beauty of a GPS is that it let's us know when we're off track, and how to get back on track again! Plus we heard the chatty group go by not far away, so it was easy to find the trail. Eventually they got far enough ahead where we couldn't hear them any more. The trails, again, were very nice, though we hit one bad muddy spot where both of Apollo's boots got pulled off, but I retrieved them and just tied them to my saddle, as the trail wasn't rocky enough to worry about them. I vowed to wash them and put them on again before hitting any bad gravel, which I eventually was able to do. The "horse watering" spots that were marked on the map weren't exactly well marked on the trail, one was barely a puddle we passed by before we realized that's what it was. The second one was an actual creek crossing, so the horses got a drink there, though we had also watered them at a creek by the road a bit earlier. We stayed mostly on the horse trails, but at one point elected to take an "administrative road," which looked like it may have been an old logging road, and was quite beautiful, but unmaintained. As a result, we had to circumvent a lot of trees that had fallen across the road, but this wasn't difficult. It would have been a brilliant trail if someone had opted to clean it up a bit, not sure why they haven't. That was really the only challenging bit, the rest was quite straightforward. Another gorgeous ride, and Hubby (and little Billy) made it without any problem. Obviously, we're building our stamina up again, yeah! A gorgeous day, absolutely perfect weather, no drama, a great day!

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.