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!

Hey Sweetie,
What a great way to finish off my ten days here! After muddling through the last few days trying to figure out how to get more mileage on Flash, and having to overcome yesterday’s back pain, today turned out to be an incredible ride! First, I was going to go with a gal named Julie, but she wasn’t feeling well, so at the last minute, I tagged on with Linda, the woman who was so kind and generous in her information about Lost Corral, and I was so happy to have the opportunity to thank her for all her help. She picked me up just after 10:00 and we headed up to the kayak outfitters, where we passed by on the train the other day, and met up with a bunch of her friends; Robin, Lori, Carrie, Steve and Cindy, and we proceeded to ride through some of the most spectacular scenery I’ve ever seen. We followed an absolutely gorgeous creek, climbed mountains teeming with forest, it was just indescribably beautiful, exactly the kind of riding I love! We ended up going about 11.4 miles, and there was so much climbing, it was definitely a workout for Flash! Linda was riding her husband horse and trimming branches off the way, and he had a very long legged, fast walk, so Flash was well-matched for speed, thank goodness! There were several places we had to stop and clear, but we had the mini-chainsaws to do the job, so we were never held up for long. Very challenging, but so perfect! The only mishap was when Flash tried to climb over a slippery rock to get out of a creek and slid very badly. I came off, and he nearly slid off the rock into the creek, which was a good drop, but I was able to calm him down enough not to panic, and he very carefully managed his footing until he was on solid ground again. No damage to him whatsoever, thank goodness, but I hit the top of my foot on something, a hard rock evidently, and the top of my foot hurts in the same way it would if a horse had stood on it with all his weight. I don’t think I broke anything, but I’m certainly going to have a bruise and some pain there for awhile. I limped around the rest of the day. We ended up back at the outfitter’s where there is a nice picnic area, and Steve cooked up some elk/beef burgers and we had a bunch of snacks, and we chatted for quite awhile. Such a great group! I hadn’t figured on coming back here in the fall because there is so little riding out of camp, but Linda has shown me there are scores of trails around, just that they have to be trailered to. They all generously invited me back, so I may just make this one of my regular stops. What great fun, great folks, great food! And Lola had a great time, there was literally a pack of dogs on the trip, though Linda and her dog Annie, with me and Lola, were pretty far ahead of the group most of the time. Lola and Annie fetched and swam in the Hiwassee before lunch, then settled down while we were eating. I let Flash graze with some of the other critters, he deserved some fresh grass after all that! Once Linda dropped me off, I got in my gravity chair with my leg up for a bit (Cindy had provided me with a bag full of ice at the picnic, so some of the swelling went down), doused it with witch hazel and let it rest a bit. Finally I felt fit enough to put some stuff away, all my tack, the carpet and chairs, etc., whatever I could for now. Nice that I won’t have to make dinner tonight, an added bonus to the day! Time for my shower, then I’ll wrap my foot and get in bed. No doubt it will take me longer to break down the highline tomorrow with my foot the way it is. Good night, babe! Love you!

Hiya Sweetie!
Had an excellent night, slept later than I should have, but it was a frosty cold 37 degrees at 8:00, so it had to have been even colder before the sun came up! Stayed in bed a bit to keep warm, but eventually crawled out and got the day started. Definitely feeling better with all the sleep I’ve been getting out here! After the usual chores and breakfast, I saddled up Apollo today, and went exploring an old hiking trail by the creek, but didn’t get more than about 100 yards, it was too overgrown, lots of trees down over the trail, and just not suitable for horses anyway, so that was the end of that! Still needing the exercise, we headed up what is the one and only trail out of camp and climbed for awhile, till I felt he had had enough for an old, out of shape guy. Not to mention the trails are so full of gravel and sharp-edged rocks, it was really uncomfortable, even though I put boots on him. Funny thing, I had bought him a new pair of boots because one of his old pair was no good anymore, but then I found a boot out at Dupuis a few months back, and it turns out it’s the perfect mate for the one from the old pair! I used those because the new pair chafed him a lot last time, and I thought these would be better, and they seemed to be. Still, walking on all that rock wasn’t much fun, so we didn’t go very far before we turned around and came back down the mountain. A total of 4.2 miles is all we did, but Lola enjoyed herself, and the scenery was lovely. While I was riding, I decided I was going to move my trailer to a different site, one that was easy to back into and actually got some sun in the afternoon for my solar panel, so when I got back, we rode around to make sure the site was still available, and there was an Amish family there. I asked if they were camping or just having lunch, and they said it was just the latter, and they’d be leaving soon, so I headed back to camp and started getting packed up and hooked and ready to go. It wasn’t long before they left, so I moved everything over gradually, got done about 4:00. Was glad I did it, though, I got several good hours of solar energy, plus I’m not on a downward slope, which had me worried because there’s rain in the forecast and in the old site, the horses were at the bottom of the site and I was afraid with rain it would turn into a swamp down there. Now I’m on higher ground, the horses are more level, though I’m sorry to say that I had to clean up manure before I put the horses in, and I’m not talking about one or two last minute piles, I’m talking about half a day’s worth of manure from several horses. I just can’t understand people who don’t clean up after their horses when they leave a campsite, it’s so unfair! Anyway, I got everything set up again, then settled down for the evening. There was a fire going when the Amish left, so I built it up a little and cooked my chicken thighs on it for a change of pace, rather than use my grill. It’s a lovely evening, warmer temps are coming in with the rain, but I’m still going to put light blankets on the horses tonight, since it will be down in the upper 40’s. That’s it for the day! Good night, baby! Love you!

Hey Babe!
What a beautiful ride we had today! This is the kind of ride I’m talking about! Granted the day started out quite chilly (38 degrees out when I woke up at 6:00 this morning!), but I stayed in bed for while longer to let it warm up, then put on plenty of layers. After chores and breakfast and some time on the computer applying for Medicare and my union pension, I saddle up Flash with all the extra accouterment of tack that we haven’t needed in awhile, like boots and his breast collar, so we can tackle the rocks and mountains that are on the trails here. Lola was restless this morning, and raring to go! We left about 11:30 and sure enough, a long climb was the start of the ride. I had been warned it would be rocky, and it certainly was! We start out on the lower side of the loop, Trail #105, which was mostly a forest road, but eventually it did narrow down to single-track, though an OHV would be able to make it, if allowed. Once we reached the farther north end and picked up Chestnut Mountain Trail #104, it was definitely single track, and a lot steeper, so we climbed to the top much more quickly than going the other way, which was a long gradual climb. These are the kinds of trails I love, where there’s a steep cliff of beautiful rock on one side and a steep slope down into the holler on the other. The wilderness west side was much narrower and closer to the edge, so quite invigoration! Despite the hills, rocks and boots, Flash still insisted on doing his level best to go as fast as possible, even slipping once to his knees, though he was right back up and no worse for the wear. He leapt over logs, one time catching me so off-guard I got a bit unbalanced, but made it through okay. One of his boots kept coming off, unfortunately, though not too surprising, they’re certainly stiff after have not been used for awhile, but they softened as the day went on, which is why one kept coming off. I always heard it, so we never got far before I stopped, but the last time it happened, just about a mile before we reached camp, I heard it come off, then I heard the crackling of dried leaves and realized the darn thing had started rolling down the hill! I watched it go, hoping it would stop, and thank goodness, it finally banked against a tree about 50 steep feet away. I had to tie up Flash and go fetch it, and it was quite the challenge to get back up again! I managed it though, but Lola was worried for a minute, she tried to follow me down and almost got stuck herself. Got back to camp shortly after that, and came across a guy backing up a horse trailer into a site a couple of doors down from me, about as slow as I was since the sites are a little tricky for a long trailer. Unfortunately, as soon as he was set up he started blaring his radio. Not that I minded his selection of music, just that I really like peace and quiet in a camp, but I can’t hear a thing with the windows closed anyway, and considering the temps are dropping fast, it won’t bother me. Had some soup for dinner, watched a little TV, now I’m ready for shower and bed. Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hey Babe,
Another good night sleep, then after breakfast I took Apollo on a short ride just for the exercise. When I got back I mostly finished packing. I wanted to move that trailer on to hard ground, and Deb had asked neighbor Fred to be on hand in case I got stuck. Well, we almost made it! We put the landing pads in all the right places, and moved right off the spot, but then we got our communications off a bit, and I got directed too far off to one side and my trailer tires went into a soft spot (it rained hard again early this morning), and that created a bunch of problems. Eventually, I had to disconnect the trailer and come in at it from a right angle with the truck, plus a little assist with Fred’s 4×4, and managed to get straightened out. Not taking any chances, we went all the way out to the road, then backed up onto the hardest driveway surface just far enough to get off the road. It will be a close call on the turn, but I’m sure I can make it in one or maybe two tries. It took about 90 minutes to accomplish all that, so I’m really glad we did it today so I don’t get stuck tomorrow! I filled the truck water tank about half full so I’ll have some for the horses in case there’s a problem when I get to Lost Corral, and everything is fully charged up. I checked all the fluids in the truck, I did the tires last week, so I think I’m done! I made a discovery with the inverter, too, I actually left the charger on so long that it fully charged the battery and then turned off. I don’t think I’d ever heard it do that before! All the way do to 2 amps! I used to shut if off around 15, but these new batteries are terrific. Fred and his sister Roseanne, who was very entertained by the whole thing, invited me to dinner, which was great! I didn’t have to cook or clean or use up any of the water in the trailer (I put about half a tank in there, too, so I’d be able to pack up the hoses and still take a shower), and it was a delicious meal of smoked pulled pork, beans, potato salad, deviled eggs, and peanut butter cookies for desert. Hmm, mmm, good! Got back, settled down to a fun movie with Michael Douglas and Diane Keaton, and will finish off as usual! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!

Hiya Darlin’!
Had a better night sleep last night than I’ve had in awhile, had my earplugs in, that always helps. I did vaguely hear Sheila leave this morning, but had a few more hours sleep after that. I knew my mechanic was coming over today, but he’s never gotten here early, and I’m tired of missing days of riding, and it’s supposed to rain this afternoon, so I took a chance and saddled up Flash after breakfast and took him for a short ride down to the end of the trail along the river again. Not quite so speedy as the other day, likely because it’s been a lot more hot and humid, but we still did five miles in just 1:10, so not too bad. Just as I was coming down the road on the last stretch to the house, Daniel’s truck was coming in from the other direction, and we arrived at just about the same time, so it was perfect timing! Right at noon. He’d already replaced the missing adjuster screw on the one brake they’d taken off, so he put that on, rewired it because apparently there had been a loose wire before, which likely accounted for some of the problems, and put it all back together. Then he took off all the rest of the brakes, greased the bearings, readjusted everything, and it seems like there isn’t anything fundamentally wrong with them other than what he fixed, so I’m hoping this well work for the time being. I thought he charged me a reasonable price considering all the extra trips they had to make out here, and he did a great job of filling in the holes he had to dig out to jack it up, so it seems almost level now, which will hopefully make it easier to pull out of here. I’ve decided to move tomorrow, just to get into a part of the driveway where I have more confidence I won’t get stuck again, better to have any trouble tomorrow instead of Monday, since the drive on Monday will be very long. I don’t need to start the day off getting stuck! He was finished by about 4:00, just as the rain was coming in (again, perfect timing!), so I settled down for the evening to dinner and a movie, though not one I particularly liked. Too violent, so many twists and turns it became almost impossible to follow, and they were pushing the envelope on every adult theme you can think of. Anyway, now it’s teatime, Spanish lesson time, shower time and bed time! Good night, sweetie! Love you!