Archives for May 2023

Hi Sweetie!
Had a good night sleep with my earplugs again, got up around 9:00 after reading for an hour plus, did my chores, had breakfast, then chatted for a bit with Mike before we finally started to get ready to ride. There’s a land trust area across the river from the state forest called Kokiwanee, and we had heard that some of the riders from camp had gone over there yesterday, so I downloaded a map and we headed out in that direction. We took the yellow trail to the end, then found a trail on the other side by a waterfall (Kissing Falls, apparently), and followed the trail up. That led to a series of steps which didn’t really look like it was fit for horses, but there didn’t seem to be an alternative, so I went ahead and headed up there. There were some nails that were sticking up, but we managed to avoid them all. We plowed on to a number of other trails that really looked like they were only hiking trails, and we didn’t see any indication that horses had been on the trails, so I could never figure out where those other horses were going. Several times we would start down a trail and turn around when it became to narrow, so my plan went out the window. Eventually, we headed back to see if we could find another way down to the river, and there was one other trail, but I was worried about it being right on the edge of a drop off, so I dismounted and walked down a ways, and sure enough, there was a corned with a little piece of fence someone had put in, and the only way around it was too sharp a turn and too close to the edge for a horse to get through safely. I wasn’t about to take that risk! So we went back up and tried to find another way, but that trail had a little bridge that didn’t seem safe even for horses, and another climb of steps even steeper than the first one! Eventually we decided to head back down the main trail (the only one really fit for horses, and way too short and boring to be worth riding more than once), to a parking lot and a road, and we ended up taking the road back around to where we crossed the river, finally getting back on track and into the state forest again. Came across some other riders who were trying to figure out how to get around a downed tree, and I lent him my camp saw so he could cut off a limb and make it more easily passable (we had found a way around it previously), and before long, we were back in camp. Not exactly how I planned it, but it was still an adventure! By now most of the camp was empty, and within an hour or so, everyone else had gone as well. I let the horses out to graze and started putting stuff away, then made us some dinner, which I preferred to do rather than go out again, then finished putting pretty much everything else away, so I’ll be ready to get an early start in the morning. Less than 300 miles, but I either have to go cross country, or go a bit out of the way to stay on highways, so it will take longer than usual. At least I know where I’m going this time, hopefully the spot I like will be open. It’s been a lot of fun here, but it was a lot busier that I expected over the weekend, particularly with the cooler weather. Anyway, time to move on! Getting a little ahead of the weather, but at least I’m not sweating like a pig! I can always add layers! We’ll worry about that tomorrow. Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie!
Had another good night sleep, a quiet morning, then my friend Mike, who was going to meet me for a ride today, said he wouldn’t be here until after lunch, so I saddled up Flash to go on a ride on my own. I didn’t take Lola because I thought there might be too many riders that might not like meeting up with a dog on the trail, but as it was, I only met one other rider and he had his dog with him, so I supposed I could have taken her. She pouted the rest of the day after I got back. I took a shorter route, but one that captured a lot of the trails I missed the other day, then ended up getting turned around at one point and still missed some. We had another mishap, we took a trail that went along the river but quickly sent from what I thought was a horse trail down to MAYBE a hiking trail, but ultimately a very dangerous game trail, but by the time I figured that out, we were stuck with no place to turn around. Then Flash’s foot went deep into soft dirt, so deep he ended up on the ground, so I climbed off so he could get up. Unfortunately, he had no place to maneuver, and the only thing that kept him from falling thirty or forty feet down to the river was a couple of trees that were on the edge of the trail. He didn’t panic, thank goodness, and I let him rest for a few minutes and get calm, and finally he managed to get himself righted, but there was hardly any room for him to turn around. He finally managed it, but he had to take about a four foot step straight up to accomplish it. Once he got himself settled down, I climbed back on and we carefully made out way back to the main trail, though my foot started hurting a bit again, I must have banged it again. The rest of the ride was good, though, except I couldn’t find a trail that my GPS said was there, so we ended up going out of our way from the original plan, but no matter, we arrived back in camp safe and sound by 1:30 or so. I read for much of the afternoon, then my friend Mike finally showed up around 4:00. I thought he was only coming to day ride, but I was mistaken, he was coming to camp for the weekend, which was a good thing, since it was too late in the day to take another ride, and rain arrived shortly thereafter! We sat and chatted for awhile, then drove down to CoCoJo’s campground and restaurant and had dinner there, then chatted under my awning till dark, which is now nearly 10:00 (stupid Daylight Savings!) I put a blanket on Flash because it’s supposed to get cold tonight, but not so cold that Apollo needed one. Anyway, it’s late, I’m having my tea, doing my Spanish lesson, and soon will be taking my shower and going to bed! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hiya Babe!
Stayed in bed a bit late today, reading and keeping warm. It was a bit chilly overnight, and I was finishing off a book, and my only activity today was to get a ride in, so I indulged myself a bit! Finally did get up, fed the horses and Lola and me, finished my final two chapters, then saddled up Flash. I debated whether or not to put boots on, I didn’t really want to aggravate the abrasion he got from his boots the other day, so I decided to just carry them instead. As it turned out, I didn’t really need them anyway, thank goodness! While there were a few spot with quite a bit of gravel (mostly in places where it was obviously supposed to be a trail “repair”), and a couple of stretches where it was nothing but stone, most of the trail was dirt and some mud, so once we got started, Flash relaxed a bit. What lovely trails they are otherwise! True forest, lots of hills and dales, and a lot of the trail I was on today, the blue perimeter trail, followed along the edge of the river, so it was truly beautiful. There seemed to be a lot of new trails being cut, so I digressed off the main trail a few times to see where they went, but it was mostly just different ways to get back to the river or the main trail. There were a lot of picnic tables strategically placed in scenic spots, and I only ran into two hikers and then two horsepeople just as I was getting back to camp. Did nearly nine miles in about 2.5 hours. Wonderful! Put them out to graze for awhile, finally sent in my pension application since I got it notarized in town yesterday (thanks, Terry at First Merchant Bank!), then discovered I had lost a lot of my Google Earth work from the last two weeks, so I spent some time recreating that. Settled down for the evening to a nice salmon dinner, watched a little TV (my batteries went from 12.0 to nearly 13 just on the solar panel today!), ready for shower and bed! Good night, sweetie! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie,
What a beautiful day this turned out to be! It started out cloudy and with a hint of rain, but it gradually cleared up throughout the day until it was just perfect! I met the gals at the intersection between the Lincoln Trailhead and Double J (the place I hate, but where they were staying), and we headed out on the second “reachable” loop down Mill Branch and around to Raymer Hollow before climbing back up to Collie Ridge. Evidently they had a couple of bad storms in March, and so many trees came down that we seemed to be passing by recently cleared trees every hundred yards or so! There were even a couple of trees that hadn’t been cleared yet, or more likely have fallen since the last time they came out and checked, that required us to get very creative in order to go around them. One was so tall that it hung over the next ridge, and I had to use my camp saw to cut a branch that was preventing us from crossing over a big tree that was down, and that was a good 50 yards away from the trail, and it required a good climb to get back up to the trail. Sure was wishing I had one of those little 6 inch chainsaws right about then! Another one, right after we stopped for lunch by a creek, where we had to climb almost straight up the first couple of steps in order to get around the root ball. Some very challenging riding today! Otherwise, it was just a beautiful ride through hills and hollers and creeks. Lola came along today and thoroughly enjoyed herself, although at the end, just as we were splitting back up at the intersection, she followed the wrong horses toward Double J and I had to rush up and get her back when I realized she wasn’t with me anymore. Some of the trails had really excellent footing today, small pebble-like base that made it so much easier on the horses today. Shawn’s horse Rebel was VERY subdued today, whereas yesterday he kept wanting to stay out front and be speedy, but today he was as a slug like Apollo. Figured he wasn’t really in great condition for these types of hilly trails, but he managed to get back to camp okay, albeit slowly. After I left them and was heading out the last stretch to Lincoln Trailhead, there was a ranger driving down the trail/forest road, and I was worried he’s say something about Lola (technically dogs are supposed to be on a leash, which we horse people know is absurd and dangerous), but he passed right by me and didn’t even roll down his tinted window, so no worries there! Got back to camp, washed down Flash and put him and Apollo back out into the pasture Kristen was kind enough to let me use, then headed back over to Double J to pick up Joyce, Shawn and young Katie, and we went over to the Blue Holler Cafe for dinner (which features some German cuisine and a few other things that were quite original), very affordable, big servings, great service, very nice little family operation, and we all had a nice time. Drove them over to my camp to show them around (they loved it!), and then took them back to their camp where we chatted some more, before I came back to camp before dark. A beautiful, perfect day spent with fabulous friends. Life is so good! Won’t be long out of bed tonight (Lola’s zonked out, naturally!), looking forward to a quiet remainder of my evening. Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Had a pretty good night sleep, woke up before the alarm again, it’s still working on Eastern time, but that’s okay. I wanted the extra time to get ready since my foot is making me work at half speed. Got the horses fed, then Lola and I, but it was raining off and on the whole time. With a break in the rain, I saddled up Flash, then put him back in his stall so he could keep eating until I was ready to go. We had planned on meeting at the intersection of the trail the first meets between their camp and mine, but it was still raining a bit, so we decided to postpone until about noon when the rain was supposed to be gone. I actually put on my rain suit, the one I bought for the Colorado rafting trip in the Grand Canyon a few years back, and haven’t worn since, but it was perfect for today. I left about 11:40, and ended up going all the way into camp, where the gals were just about ready. We headed out on one of the two loops that are closest, though they’re both about 10 miles long each. It was quite a beautiful ride. All the trees were such a verdant green after the rain, really spectacular. Parts of the trail had a lot of gravel, particularly at the beginning, and there were also a few muddy spots, but nothing too bad. Flash’s boots stayed on quite well until we did a canter, then, of course, one popped off. Unfortunately, even though I’ve been using the woolen gaters that were supposed to prevent rubbing, both of his feet ended up with bad abrasions, so he’s not going to be a happy camper when we go riding again tomorrow. But I guess developing callouses is the only way he’s going to be boot ready again. Never used to have this problem, but I guess his feet have gotten soft with all that Florida riding. Anyway, we had a good time, I had put the GPS route on my Garmin so we didn’t get lost at all, thank goodness. Trails are fairly well marked, as long as you have a map and see the signs, which are sometimes easy to miss. It wasn’t as stunning as the TN ride earlier this week, but it wasn’t bad. Parted from the gals on the intersection, got back to camp, finally met Kristen, and she agreed to let me put my horses in one of her little pastures, so that will be nice for them, especially Apollo, who immediately rolled then ran for a bit. Settled in for the evening, watched a movie about the prison program where they train horses, just like the auction we enjoyed in Nevada back in 2014 (I had to look that up!). Another great memory! Well, tea is made, won’t be long for my shower. Supposed to be better weather tomorrow, so we’re planning on getting out a bit earlier. Good night, darlin’! Love you!