Had a good night’s sleep, then saddled up after breakfast to take our final, and hopefully, longest ride. Despite being ridden more in the last week than they have in the last few weeks, the horses were quite happy to get out again after their day off, at least once we got on to a new trail. After taking the usual half mile or so of Blue trail, we took the north Orange loop, doing lots of trotting and cantering (and even a short gallop!) until we came to the primitive camping area, which is pretty much in the middle of the park. There is a pavilion and a hand pump with a trough, plus an extra picnic table or two scattered around. There was also a ranger and his pickup truck there, spraying some unwanted foliage around. Hubby and I munched on a couple of chicken sandwiches I had made, gave the horses a couple of apples, and then two more riders came in. Two women, Pam was one of them, who had started on the west side of the park (we had come from the east), one of them apparently has some land over there, so they can reach the park directly from her stables. We chatted a bit before heading back out on the trail, this time taking the part of the Orange trail we had missed on Saturday, the south route as it were. We got a lot more trotting and cantering in, avoided some black snakes (I’ve seen a lot of them around here), and arrived back safe and sound around 4:00. Gave the horses a quick bath (their third since we’ve been here!), spent a little time getting ready to leave tomorrow, then settled in for the evening.
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