No snow. NO SNOW. Am so glad the weathermen/ladies were all wrong.I did not have to beg, we loaded up about 10 and went to Riverside State Park to ride. We went to the Trail Town trail head. Had not ridden out of there for a long time. We started out and followed Trail #E25. At the 4 mile marker I asked Bob if perhaps that was the 25 mile ride. AND he said nah, this is just trail #25. Well when we came to Trail #10 we decided to head back over toward the river. We jumped a group of mule deer. They were not terrible afraid of us, just wary.
We ambled over the flat part and came to one of the restrooms. Had a break and started off again. The sign said Bowl and Pitcher 1/2 mile so we started down that trail. Then we came across a trial sign that said Trail #25 and mile marker 20. It was the 25 mile trail. My body would not have made a 25 mile ride. Bob's either I don't think. So we followed it down, encountered some bicycles. They come so quietly that it is hard for the horses especially when they come up behind you on a one track trail. We got over to the side and turned them to face him and he shot on by. Pepper of all horses shied and jumped around, Dixie just watched him go by.
The closer we got to the Bowl and Pitcher, the more people we encountered on foot and on bikes. It was OK though. We went down a trail that might have been scary for someone not used to skinny shale filled trails but we made it OK. Dixie takes good care of me. We figured we rode about 10 miles all together. It was a good day. Not much wind down in the canyon under the trees. Riding along the river there were a lot of geese floating along. They looked so pretty. I did not take my camera on the trail though.
Bob rode Pepper because when he caught Raven and tied her to the hitch rail and was brushing her, she has a huge hemotoma on her shoulder. Probably the result of a bite or kick. Will look at it again in the morning. He loves to ride Pepper though. We put splint boots on him nice and snug to give that tendon a little extra support.
The rest of the day was kind of lazy. The wind was soooo cold. Dixie got to spend the rest of the day in her stall with a can of grain and alfalfa hay for supper. She loves the special attention. We came upon an apple tree. Nice big tart apples on it. We all took one to eat and when I was done I stopped her and bent her head around gave her the apple core. The rest of the day she kept stopping and bending her head around looking for another. She was sweet about it but I couldn't let her keep doing it. She knew I had treats in my pocket too. She takes such good care of me.
I LOVE that ride!! Yes, #25 is the 25 mile ride--it goes up to 7 Mile, Deep Creek, 9 mile and then back around. I have a map I can give you sometime which shows it much more clearly than I can explain. I haven't ridden the whole 25 mile loop, but I really like the area at the trailhead by the ORV off of Old Trail Rd. You hit 25 along the ridge and then there are some wide roads that go down gently into the valley if you want to bypass the narrow, shale type--but there's so much riding around in there, I get lost--even with a map!!
ReplyDeleteAbout 15 years ago Brad and I took Foxsun to that area to ride. Brad rented a horse from Indian Canyon. We didn't get too far but it's so lovely there. Brad saw a naked lady sunbathing across the river and waved cheerfully to her as she ran and hid behind a bush. I told him that your supposed to ignore that kind of thing, no stop your horse and wave like an idiot!
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