Hi Sweetie!
Well, evidently too much relaxing yesterday led to a terrible night sleep! I doubt I had much more than an hour! Even so, I got up with the alarm at 5:15, and I had things so well organized that I was pulling out at 6:00. I had decided I needed to get to camp early, because it takes me longer to get situated because of my size, and I decided to delay breakfast and have it before the bus ride back. All that worked out just fine! Got back and saddled up Flash, and we were headed out by 9:10. There were so many wonderful sections of trails, it’s hard to come up with superlatives! A gorgeous ride along the ridge, beautiful deep dark forests, every imaginable kind of tree, simply stunning! There were a few sandy roads, and a couple with some gravel, but the rock here is mostly rounded so it doesn’t seem to be bothering him too much. I did put his boots on when we turned onto Osmun Rd., but then I made a turn off very quickly after that (a wrong turn, as it happened), and ended up on a hiking/cross country skiing trail that got REALLY dicey for awhile. Bogs, low hanging limbs, downed trees, creek crossings with a single board across them, just a lot of challenges, but Flash handled them all with trust and aplomb! I even had to get off once and walk across a board over a creek, and he leaped across as best he could. That happened a couple of times. He was very muddy by the time we were done! I was always heading in the right direction, south, just parallel to the horse trail. Eventually, I found an old overgrown forest road (my second attempt) that managed to get me out to a road. I thought it was Osmun, so I turned right, thinking it would take me south, but I quickly realized it was going west, definitely NOT the right direction. I pulled out Google maps on my phone and realized I was on Walsh road, had to go back east a bit, but finally hooked up with the horse trail, along with a couple of other ladies that weren’t sure which way to go at that point either. According the GPS trail I loaded in, we were going the right way now, and we perservered! Eventually we reached the lake that had a boat launch, everybody got a drink, Flash got and apple and we rested for a short time before hitting the trail again. I was delighted that Flash’s pace stayed consistent throughout, averaging four miles per hour, though a couple of times he sped up trying to keep up with other horses. I had to slow him down, and for the most part, we stayed on out own, and he was very relaxed. He even sensed when camp was close (how to they know?) and picked up speed toward the end. It was confusing when I got to camp, took a minute to get my bearings, but I picked up my bucket of stuff out of the bus (highline,etc.) and made my way back to the trailer. Stayed focussed on chores until Flash was settled, repair a couple of leather ties that broke with all the leaping he was doing, and finally settled down for a few minutes, before finishing off the deviled eggs I made last night for the pot luck tonight. Time flies when I’m so busy! Had the riders meeting, then the pot luck, then shower and to bed, early naturally! Good night, my darlin’! Love you!
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