Kicking up some dust

It's been a good couple of weeks. School was postponed due to construction and lack of food services and I have made the best of it!! :) Although I had to work on Labor Day, I got to spend most of the weekend with Alisa and Lynn. We rode all over our new spot on Gray's Falls. There are tons of possibilities to explore over there. We rode along the fire break trail and it joined up with a trail we had already found. It is a good trail--thanks, fire crew! We'll keep it clear by riding it.

The next day, Mary Ann joined us and we went up Underwood. No bear this time, but it was a really nice morning. The company was good, the horses behaved, and the sun was shining--what's not to like?

Lynn and I went to Weaverville on Friday of this week--hoping to ride to Bear Basin. We almost turned around and came home. Lynn decided we'd look and reassess from the top of Oregon Mountain. Then our stomachs prevailed and we drove to Marino's, hoping it was open. It made our morning to find it open and serving breakfast. All the while we were looking out the window. It sure looked smoky.

We didn't take the cutoff to Hwy 3; we headed back toward home. It looked like the horses just got to go for a ride. We stopped to get some diesel and then headed toward home. As we neared the Hwy 3 junction, Lynn asked one more time, "What do you think?"

Let's do it! So we headed up the hill--both of looking at the sky and praying it would be better. We knew we could always turn around and head home. It just got clearer and clearer--bluer and bluer. We turned the corner to the parking spot and GEEZ! Horse trailers and trucks everywhere! It was the day the CCC broke camp and came home. We got to tell many of them how much we appreciate them. One of them replied that he appreciated that we were using the trails they worked on. :)

We met a nice hunter, who had three loose horses on the meadow above where we stopped. I am glad we did not go on up there--not knowing the horses were there. We had decided the plane wreckage could wait another year for us to visit. He visited with us for awhile--long enough to see Jupes decide to roll with the saddle on in the tall grass! Doggone it. He did not get to his back--I was pulling for all I was worth, trying to get him to get up. Mike, the hunter, said he was in the video, glassing us. I never did see him, but he said he saw us take our selfie and I am sure glad we didn't do anything embarrassing. :)

We were dust balls when we arrived in Weaverville for dinner. The dogs were no longer black and they were tired babies.

Bear Basin