Had another great night sleep, we're really starting to get in the groove of life on the road again! Did a few chores before finally saddling up Flash and heading off into the woods. I had originally planned on going to one of the overlooks, then took another trail instead, the one marked to Mt. Helen, and once I saw how that correlated on the map, I decided to head to White Oak Overlook, just past the Park Rd. Parking area. Just as I arrived there, two horse trailers came in, and one of them stopped and asked how the trails were. Much better, I was happy to say, only a few areas of mud, but most of it had dried out pretty well. I was very happy that trail was mostly dirt, too, with only one stretch of rocks about 15 yards or so leading down into and out of a place called Gun Rock, an overhang over a creek we had to cross. I carried on to the overlook, which I quickly realized was a place where you had to park and walk over to, no room for horses and no place to turn around at the actual overlook, thank goodness I noticed in time! I tied up Flash and walked down, it was a nice vista. Of course, Flash was a pain when I tried to remount, his blood was up and he was ready to go, with or without me, but I finally managed to get him still long enough to mount. Heading back, of course, he doubled his speed, and he was cordo-ing a big part of the way, hopping over branches and rocks just for the fun of it. By the time we got back to the parking lot, the other riders had all saddled up and gone, though I didn't know which direction they took. It wasn't long before we caught up with them, though, and we heard them a long time before we reached them, they were a rather noisy bunch of men, women, and a girl who liked to scream a lot. The last horse was slower than Clio used to be, and was a good 30 or 40 feet behind the pack anyway. We chatted for a few minutes, but the trail was so narrow there was no place to pass until we got back to Gun Rock. I wasn't sure if Flash had wanted to catch up to them or just wanted to get back to camp, but once we passed, he had no qualms about speeding away from that pack! He raced up the hill to the main road, and with a quick canter and largo, we were back in camp lickety-split! A much more enjoyable ride that Sunday, the fact that the trails were much drier made me a happier camper, and other than the mounting problem, Flash was more in control and more relaxed than before as well. Again, not surprising considering all his time off. I'm glad we took this trail, though, because it confirmed for me the big loop I'm hoping to take another day, one that will cross the river at the bottom of the scenic view I was overlooking and carry on across the other side for a while. Got back and put up Flash, had a few more irritating phone conversations about out supply delivery tomorrow, and finally got Hubby on his dialysis machine, late again, I'm sorry to say. Didn't finish up till about 8:00! Got food, finished a movie we had started (why can't filmmakers make a movie that doesn't end with someone dying in order to resolve it?), and finally headed to bed.
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