After another busy week of cleaning and repairing and running around, Hubby and I decided to take a ride around the "neighborhood," having been reassured by our nearest neighbor (whose trails we need to cross to get to other trails) that permission was given, we headed out the end of the driveway, through the gate, and off into the woods! We were pleased that the trails were all in pretty good shape, just a couple of limbs down, obviously newly fallen after a serious storm last week, where we had a fierce straightline wind gust that didn't last long, but was VERY strong for a few moments as a front came through. It knocked down a dead tree in our front yard, which I had to clear during the week because it crossed over the driveway, and several smaller trees were bent nearly parallel to the ground. I had also done some other chainsawing over the weekend as well, on trees that had come down since our last trip home and before. Anyway, we haven't ridden back here in such a long time, the trails all seemed new to us, which was wonderful! One trail we followed skirted the edge of an area that had been horribly clear cut a few years ago, but we were happy to see that a lot of new young trees were quickly filling it in. That, unfortunately, ended when we came across a log that was too high to get over, and too thickly shrubbed to get around, so we turned around, with plans to bring a saw to cut it or a rope to move it by horsepower enough to get by next time. We followed a few more trails, some of which looked familiar, some we had completely forgotten, and noted lots of side trails for another day. With perfect weather, it was a fabulous ride, everyone behaved themselves, the dogs loved being out in the woods, the horses were great (with only one unexpected hop from Apollo which was quickly corrected), and we had a wonderful time! First time I've ridden here and GPS mapped it, so it was quite a treat to see exactly where on the mountain we traveled. We most definitely have to clear that log, because that trail leads to the western edge of the plateau, where the views into the Nashville basin are stunning, and there's a place known locally as Sunset Point, which describes it perfectly, an overhanging rock that looks due west, with a creek/waterfall nearby. A gorgeous point I want to find again! Anyway, it was a great ride, we were out about two hours, just right for our first time out in nearly 3 weeks!
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