Hey Darlin’!
Another great night sleep, another ride on Flash today. Since there seems to only be one lollipop trail here, we had no choice but to do the same route that we did last time. I had originally thought I might do it backwards, but decided there’s one section where I’m better off going up than down, so I had to do it counterclockwise again. Flash was not happy going over the dang rocks again, though, they’re really bad on the 105 trail. The 104 is better footing and is much prettier, but the elevations changes are incredible. It literally switchbacks down almost 2000 feet on two miles of trail that zigzags half a dozen times down the mountain at grades that reach 28% at times, plus some of it is thrillingly (and heart-stoppingly) close to the edge of a very serious drop. Not for the faint of heart or fearful of heights, that’s for sure! Kind of reminded me of my mule ride in the Grand Canyon, albeit green rather than desert brown. Gorgeous views, but really, the 3-4 miles of rocks at the beginning are a real drawback. Flash was much more reserved in his speed today, pretty much walked almost the entire way, pacing himself, I suppose, since he realized how long it was the other day. It made for a fairly slow ride, but I wasn’t going to push him, just doing these hills after all that Florida flatland is enough to put on some much needed muscle. He’ll get the next couple of days off at least, since I have plans that don’t involve riding. About five miles from camp there’s a gorgeous overlook with a hitching rail, we stopped there for a minute to get some great pictures. We also came across some beautiful mountain laurel in bloom, though I was expecting to see a lot more of it out here. We had tons of it back on our old property, but only a few patches here. Nice to see some, though. Got back around 4:00, just as it was starting to spit with rain, and settled down for the evening. Just have my shower and bed left to do, so I’m off! Good night, sweetie! Love you!
Speak Your Mind