Mt Shasta Weekend

 

Ever since Lynn said Cathy and her friends go to McCloud to camp with their horses, I have been excited. The weekend finally arrived! Well, it wasn't camping, but it was awesome. We stayed at Cathy's house, which was super comfortable and warm and beyond hospitable--camping would have been cold and much less comfortable!! We met her friend and mentor, Karrie Ann, and Roany her favorite mount.

On Friday, we loaded Roany up with us and we went to Lake Siskiyou. We rode around the lake and our boys were able to relax their travel legs. Both of them did really well and got along with Roany. We took them back to Karrie's place and got them settled into their respective corrals with a covered eating area. Of course Jupes had to touch everyone and so there was some squealing and ruckus, but he settled down and they both had a good night. Karrie was awesome; she checked on them and sent us an update and fed them their breakfast. We really appreciated being able to safely house our boys.

Saturday was our big day. Karrie and her other friend, Maria, took us up to Gumboot Trailhead. Unfortunately, Maria's horse fell in the trailer and had some scrapes. She wasn't comfortable bringing him on the trail, so she went home. We went on without her. What a day! It snowed, the wind blew, but the views were awesome!! Jupes and I rode in the back and I was so proud of how he did. He was perfect. Ziggy was super good as well and it was a fantastic outing. 

We were bundled up.

The trails were nice (PCT) and the climb to 8000 feet at the top was pretty easy. However, we did some trotting coming out and I had a wardrobe malfunction; my pant leg crept up and got caught on the boot strap and I couldn't get it to go down. Of course Jupes thought he needed snacks coming out, so I tried to do it while he was eating, but I didn't know it was caught (I had my chinks on of course!). I almost went over his head trying to fix it. Finally I figured it out and was able to unhook it and pull it down--it was too cold to wear my pants like Shirley, lol, and it hurt, too. Silly, I know.

Back at the ranch, Jupiter saw the goats for the first time. LOL. He was discombobulated to say the least. The riffraff was just next door. :) We helped with rounding up the ponies, fed some of the animals, and enjoyed the chickens. What a great place.

This is Porcupine Lake. There is another lake called Toad Lake that is a little farther on. Karrie says it is better for horse camping because there is grass. It sounds like a possible adventure for a warmer weekend.

As I said, it snowed on us. It was cold that night and Zigs was shivering when we got to Karrie's for a possible ride Sunday morning. We decided that we had had fun and should probably load up and take them home. Then Zigs lost his brain and would not load. He was too cold to think. Poor baby. Eventually we put Jupes in front and then he loaded up to be with his partner. 

It was a fun weekend. Cathy and Lonnie went out scouting for trails for us for the next time. I can hardly wait.

Shoot. . . . I've been slacking off!

 

Dang--I didn't realize that I had not sat down and written about our adventures since August. We went to Alisa's for her birthday and great rides. We went to Deer Lake one day and tootled around down the highway one day. We found a watermelon and the horses loved it. 

We have ridden up Hennessey at least three times and the growth that T/C continues to show is awesome. We have separated a couple times and ridden solo. Jupiter baulked and wouldn't walk away, so I had to lead for a bit, but T/C did fine. Today he went through the boggy mud at the bottom of the trail without hesitation and went right across the wide creek bed, too. 

It's hunting season, so we have all worn our turquoise shirts and the hunting jackets Lynn made for the girls. We haven't seen anyone and both horses have been calm. Last week, Lynn took pictures of a huge hornets' nest. I told her today, we are not going to go over and look at it this week--and then we couldn't see it after all--which makes me nervous; that means they are loose and flying around. Dead would be better.

We rode an old trail that we used to ride with Brady. I think Jupiter has only been on it once, maybe twice. We came to a huge tree across the road and had to boonie jump around it, but it was a fun trail to ride. It is more road riding that we usually do, but it was fun nevertheless.

Future Rides:  We plan to ride into Bear Basin this coming Wednesday. I hope we see Golden Eagles again. We have a McCloud trip planned the following week and we talked about going to Weaverville before it rains. It is so pretty when leaves turn. I said we need to do the hoop-de-do trail before the end of our riding season, too. (Or maybe not. . . ? Last time was not good.) I would like to ride as long as we can, but I told Lynn that if is pouring rain on my birthday, I would be just as happy.  

I am praying we find a farrier we like soon. Jupiter's shoes are on the back of his feet and today he tripped a little. Dang that woman.