Sunday, Mar. 8, 2020 – Scoping Out Possible New OTL Trail in Corbett

Hi Baby,
Well, the clocks changed last night, so it was still almost dark out this morning when my alarm went off at 7:45. I took my time getting ready, then loaded up the horses and headed out to meet Anita and her boyfriend Scott out at Camp I. The plan today was to try to find a trail that would keep us off that long stretch of canal, and the Florida Hiking Trail is probably the best option. I was prepared to just follow that, but Anita wanted to try one of the main trails, where all the swamp buggies go, but we didn’t get very far as the water was still to high, even though it had come down a lot in the areas that we rode during the OTL, so that won’t work. Eventually we went cross country to pick up the Florida Trail (I had downloaded it onto my GPS so I knew we weren’t far from it), and it turned out to be the perfect choice. Yes, there were a few sections that were cypress swamp, but we have to deal with that on the Saturday ride anyway, though not for very long, so I figured if we can handle that, we can certainly handle it on the other side as well. Anyway, at one point Anita was worried she was putting too many miles on her old horse, who had gone a little lame a few weeks ago from stepping into a gopher hole, so I headed out to finish mapping the trail while they turned around and headed back. Flash, of course, got in a hurry once we separated from the other two (Scott was riding Apollo), which was fine, as we managed to map the trail quickly, reaching the road in short order. There was a discussion at the meeting last week about how to get access, but I discovered there was already a horse gate there, so that’s a moot point, fortunately. Anyway, once we got to the gate and turned around, he really started to book, so we had a nice ride. He got a little panicky when we reached the spot where we had left the other horses, and he started whinnying up a storm, naturally, but that didn’t stop him, of course. We finally caught up with them about a half mile before we reached camp, wading through a long lake. Lola came along, and she had a great time, and has been crashed in her bed all evening! Anyway, Flash and I went about 17 miles, so he got a decent workout. Apollo kept trying to kick Anita’s horse, but not seriously, just being a bit ornery, probably jealous with Flash around, since those two got along just fine when Flash wasn’t there. Anyway, it was a good ride, a beautiful, though cloudy day, and I got the job of mapping done. Once I got back home I straightened the map out and sent it to the interested parties on the OTL board, so we’ll see what happens. The plan is to try to get permission to officially designate an OTL equestrian trail that we can then mark permanently and save us all these temporary marking jobs, scores of volunteer man hours, not to mention saving on markers. My idea for next year is to have a two person team leave out of camp about 2 hours before the riders and mark the trail on each day, with a drag team picking up the markers along the way. Makes more sense to me, but we’ll see if I can sell it. Anyway, got back in time to witness Jeff finally settling his rebuilt motor back into his van, so hopefully he can finish putting it together over the next few days. Looks like I’m going to have to start cleaning his house by myself, since he’s been so occupied. It got dark later, so my evening seemed to start later, but I’m off to bed on schedule, trying to recover from the time change. I need all my strength for the week ahead! Good night, sweetheart! Love you!