After a leisurely start to the day, I saddled up Flash and headed out to the Hungryland WMA right behind the house. I haven't done too much exploring in there as the main trail seems to get overgrown sometimes, and I've never had the chance to look for a loop until now, so I decided today was the day! After reaching the canal crossover behind my brother's house, I found that the old barbed wire fence was gone, so we headed north on the canal, seeing a lot of other hoofprints so I know we weren't the only ones apparently trespassing. 🙂 We went as far as we could, then found another break in the fence leading to a trail that headed west, so we followed it, working our way north and west, trying to see how far we could get to a parking area on Pratt Whitney Road that always seems to have horse trailers in it. It hasn't rained in quite a while, so even the swamp and wetlands were pretty dry, allowing us safe passage almost anywhere. We followed the high ground along canals for most of the time, but eventually I was concerned we were getting too far north, and headed west, then southwest, in order to reach the road. Of course, there was a barbed wire fence all along the road, but I just kept following the tracks that swamp buggies had made, thinking that they must have had a way in, so it must provide a way out, right? Eventually I did find a break in the fence, and because I wasn't sure if I'd find another one between where I was and the entrance to the Jupiter-Indiantown Grade, I diverted to the swale along the road, which was plenty wide enough for safety. Just under a mile or so south along the road and we arrived at the parking area for the hiking entrance. We turned in, passed a few vehicles (don't know if they were hunters, environmentalists, or something else), but Flash, having gone mostly slowly for the duration at my request, decided it was time to pick things up, and he did his now famous cordo for the entire 3.25 miles from one end of the grade to the other, barely slowing down enough to get through the horse gate at the other end! I made him walk the mile home to cool him down, then, as usual, rinsed him off and set him free in the yard. Another great ride on this great horse! Only a bit over eleven miles, short by comparison to some other rides recently, but I don't want him to be tired of riding, or bored with the same trail, so it was a success as far as I was concerned. Did some housekeeping, then had a relaxing night.
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