Had a pretty good night's sleep, pretty quiet here, though there were a few early risers we heard talking a bit before we got up. Kind of surprising that it wasn't the mules in the corral next door, actually, I expected them to be our rooster while we were here, but they were quiet, too. Morning temps in the upper 40's so heat was certainly not a factor in the night! Had a good breakfast, then got the horses ready to go. Even though I had rasped Apollo's feet a little yesterday, I still had a little trouble putting his boots on, so I had to rasp him and Clio again. We didn't need boots at the last place, but this one apparently has rocky trails (typical in the mountains), so we saddled and booted and were on our way by about 10:30. We decided to take a trail that would lead us to the Iron Gate campground, which I had figured on Google Earth to be about 2.75 miles away, then return on the same trail. Tammy asked us to check in on a camper that was along the way as well. Headed out on a trail to the south, thinking there was only one trail out, but no sooner did we get out of the campground than it split in about 5 different directions, so we took a chance on the one that seemed to head downhill, which, according to my Google Earth-made map was the right one. The idea was to have an easy day in order to acclimatize everyone to the altitude, so down was better at first. The trail was rather rocky in some places, but a lot of just dirt, too. We did go gradually downhill, then uphill a bit, until we finally reached the bridge. At other intersections there had been signs to keep us on track for Iron Creek, but at the bride, the trail went straight up the creek or across the bridge with no indication which way to go. We went over the bridge, then carried on for just a few hundred yards before my GPS compass was saying we were going south, which wasn't right, and off the track as well, so we turned around (though later I was told it was the right way to Iron Creek, I'm still not convinced!) Anyway, we backtracked, then continued on the other trail just to find the campers, which we did, checked in on them, then headed back. We had already gone two miles, and we didn't want to make it a long day, so that was enough. The only challenge was that Apollo was incredibly frisky this morning. He was so excited to be back on engaging trails that Clio was having to trot just to keep up with his walk, so I was having to slow him down. Once we left the bridge and headed back he started to get so antsy I had to get down and run him around in circles for a few minutes, just to calm him down a bit. Once he settled down we continue on our way, and at the first opportunity on an uphill slope, I gave him permission to run, and run he did! He galloped for a dozen strides before the terrain forced him to slow down, but he went like a maniac up that hill! I was hanging on tight, and Clio and Hubby were the same, riding like we stole 'em! Apollo was a little better after that, and by the time we got back to camp, having taken an alternate route back up the hill, he was actually willing to stand still for a couple of minutes while we chatted with Tammy, the first time he had stood still all day. Well, as Hubby said, "Wouldn't you rather have a frisky horse than a dull one?" Yes, as long as he doesn't go crazy on me : -). I told Apollo I was looking forward to seeing how he behaves on Day Three. Anyway, we spent the rest of the day relaxing, reading, watching TV, while our bodies continued to acclimatize. Looking forward to another ride tomorrow!
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