Got up a bit earlier today to go for that longer ride we were planning. Discovered that a bunch of people were packing up to leave because of the impending “hurricane” that was headed our way. As a veteran of several hurricanes and many frenzied-forecaster false alarms, I was much more inclined to downplay it. Even the local forecasters here were calling for winds around 25 mph with gusts of maybe upper 30’s, along with the usual rain. Having easily survived 60-70 mph winds in Colorado, we’re not worried. The ranger came around though, with all kinds of dire warnings. Apparently all the state parks in the Catskills and Adirondacks were being evacuated, but since this isn’t a state park they can’t make us move. He warned that if electricity went out there would be no water and no telling when it would be turned back on. He said we probably wouldn’t be able to get to Providence, even after Labor Day, because of all the roads and bridges that were going to be washed out by the hurricane, or blocked by trees falling down. He told stories of what happened when a microburst of winds came through back in 1999 and all the devastation it caused. Even our friends decided to leave early, worried that it might get bad, and the trails would be too muddy to ride on anyway (even though we had been earlier regaled at how well the trails dry up here after a rain!). I made it clear that we weren’t worried, we could handle ourselves, though we appreciated his need to warn others for their safety. He ended up telling me where the nearest access to the river was, in case we needed to bucket water in. Anyway, after all that, we saddled up and headed out for our much anticipated Saturday ride, enjoying the fabulous weather, mostly sunny around 70 degrees (calm before the storm?) We headed out the much used Blue Jog Trail, turned south on Confusion Flats, the east of Florence Pond until we picked up Florence Trail heading southeast. From there we took Crooked Creek Trail, where we were delighted to find not just one but TWO water crossings, which was so funny because earlier in the ride I had commented to Hubby how we hadn’t done a water crossing in a LONG time. They were good ones, too, belly-high and about 6-8 lengths wide. I had to draw my feet up to keep my new sheepskin saddle cover (which reaches all the way down to the stirrups) dry.
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