Hi Sweetie,
Well, I’m still in search of a trail worthy of recommending to anyone, sorry to say. Haven’t found one I’d even care to go back to, really. I did my usual morning routine, and since most of the group was driving ninety minutes somewhere to visit an Amish farmers market, I had decided to take Flash on a “short” trip today, but, as usual when the trails are poorly marked, that turned out to over nine miles, and a lot of them are really tough miles! We headed first to a destination called the Wave Rock, which was essentially a bluff, but it was unusually smooth for quite a distance, which is somewhat remarkable. Then, despite my GPS in one hand and the map in the other, I still ended up getting turned around because of poor trail markings and renegade trails that aren’t even on the map! Grrr! I ended up going a silly circle in rough terrain just to get out of it again! Finally I got back on track, at least for awhile, but I was plagued by the same annoyances for the entire ride. The boot that wasn’t in great shape got completely twisted, so I had to take it off, then at one point Flash slipped on one of these flat rocks in the middle of a road and went down. I managed to stay on during his first effort, but he slipped again and I came off on the second, slamming my hip onto the rock, so I’m sure I’ll have a nice bruise there by the time I get home. I passed a marker for the Indian shelter, which was still a mile away, and that was the last marker that I saw for it, even though I went on 4 or 5 different trails to get there. There was one quarter mile section of trail 33 to the lower waterfall that I like, but it didn’t last long and got worse afterwards. Flash’s second boot slipped off, so finally I took that off as well so he was barefoot most of the way. I got tired of narrow, knee-knocking trails so I stayed on more of the wider trails, but of course they had more gravel so it bothered him more. I must have backtracked more than half a dozen times trying to follow my planned route, and even then, I ended up on trails that didn’t match the map very well. So even though I was on the back of my horse, my usually mellow happy place, I was so frustrated and annoyed that it wasn’t nearly as enjoyable as I had hoped it would be. At least we were able to go faster and not have to worry about the big group, but still, it wasn’t as much fun as I hoped it would be. Lola came along this time, though, which was mostly the point of going out alone today, and she enjoyed herself for sure, though she got ahead of us a few times and had to come a long way back to catch up with us when we backtracked. Anyway, I finally got back to camp, spent some time working on my weekly reports in advance, was hoping to set up the accounting as necessary but the signal is so bad here it’s almost impossible to get on the internet, whether it’s my Verizon hotspot or the ranch wifi. Didn’t need that added stress here either! Like always, though, I’m glad I came, just don’t expect me to do it again! I learn from every experience, and Flash was really good today, despite the fact I’m sure he was tired and sore from yesterday. Anyway, a long hot shower and bed is in my immediate future! Good night, babe! Love you!
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