July was a great month of riding! I am sure since I am doing this so late, I will forget things that I wanted to share. 

Cobweb Alley

First of all, we got to ride with Alisa twice! The first ride, Lynn took off Friday and rode up to Little Happy Camp. It was great fun as always. We could see the burn scar and stayed out of it; thankfully it did not affect most of our trails. It was warm enough to just wear our tanktops and the road wasn't too bad. We did do some logging, but the rocks weren't too bad and we didn't need the chainsaw. On Saturday we rode up Underwood. It is always one of my favorites. (or was this the following weekend?)

Alisa left her trailer and Keota to hang out with our boys for the next week and the following weekend, Lynn took another Friday off and we drove over to Dead Fall Lake trailhead to meet up with Cathy & Roany and Karrie & Noah. The Forest Service Road 17 was awful--it was narrow and rocky. The ride itself was enjoyable. We had plenty of water for the horses and Noah went down in the lake with Karrie on him and then at the last lake, she took off his saddle and he really got in and got wet. Trail is the Pacific Coast Trail, so there were lots of hikers. The horses all did just fine and with the exception of one cranky, unfriendly older man, all the hikers were friendly, talkative, and did not appear to mind stepping off the trail. Thankfully it was not too dusty or hot and although there were tight places on the trail, overall it was easy and wide open. T/C did pretty well with the water crossings, but the first one on a tight turn on the trail with rocks and little margin of error, Lynn jumped off and walked him very quickly through the worst part of the trail (probably where she hurt her knee!).

Riding with Cathy and Karrie is also a treat. We ate lunch at Dead Fall Lake and visited. It's a little hard to hear each other on the trail, but when you're close enough, there is much laughter shared between us. The following day, Alisa and us rode together at home on our trails. I wish both she and Cathy lived closer so we could ride together all the time.

The Tevis 100 and the Hennessey 10

The last weekend of July it was just Lynn and I. Saturday we rode our trails along the Gray's Falls area. We did some trail clearing (which is probably where I tore a little of my bicep tendon!). All along the trail is the evidence that the Forest Service has been there and made big burn piles. It is awesome that they are clearing brush and protecting our area from fire! T/C wasn't so sure though. We did not hear the big swarm buzzing, so hopefully they are GONE! We rode our long loops and considered which trails we could take Cathy and Karrie on. Our trails are nothing like what they ride. AND they ride big horses--tall and wide. Would they like horse yoga? Would their horses do okay on our sketchy trails? We are not riding Back Country Horsemen boulevards.

Sunday we rode out on the ranch planning to do the original Hoop-de-doo trail. It was the kind of morning that had a little of everything. First we saw turkeys and their babies--probably eight all total. That's always fun. Then we saw cows. Hmm. Not as fun. lol. T/C was snorting and letting those big bulls know he did not like them. The cows took off and disappeared, but Lynn said T/C was tight. We rode to the little messy trail that we used to take to get us to the road crossing. Nope. No go. It was always a mess; it was always skinny and included lots of knee jabbers and leg scrapers and clothesline opportunities, but this time it was impassable. So we turned uphill and rode the driveway/road to the County road and crossed over to the property where the old Morgan horse lives (who wasn't in view).

I teased about T/C, but Jupes was pretty sure the boogie man (or cows?) were behind him, so he was a little tight, too. We trotted out the trail, jumping logs and tiptoeing through boggy, scratchy tight spots. We reached the water crossing, which is one of the reasons why Lynn rode T/C instead of Big Zigs, and the trail was impassable due to a yew tree across it just above the creek. The bank on the opposite side has also deteriorated. I couldn't tell if our trail is still up there. That was always a fun ride, so we plan to hike it with chainsaw and clippers after our riding season is over. We turned around and trotted back out and over to the meadow. We went up the trail backwards and found the cows. We didn't get too close, but T/C blew the biggest snort out I have ever heard him do. 

So there it is. July is gone! It was the best month so far. I hope we continue to have great weekends in August. 

COWS!!! SNORT, SNORT!

 

Cattle Call

(We need to print out the words and sing along!)

T/C saw cows on the Hennessy ranch today. He snorted a loud warning for them to stay back, because he was ready to run fast the other way if they got too close. :)

Aborted the original Hoop-de-doo trail's reconnaissance on Sunday. It is going to be a long walk with a chain saw and hand saws. The good part of the ride was T/C got his feet wet in the creek. We did a little ride around the ranch and back home. Always fun (and a lot of trotting out and away from the boogie men with horns).

Birdsong, a sack of potatoes, and peace

                                    

Saturday

 SHOES!!!  Yay! Finally, the farrier made time for us to get our shoes replaced. It's been a month. Okay, maybe only three weeks, three LONG weeks without riding during prime riding time. It made me cranky. 

So Saturday, we were off!! What a great day. All I could hear were all different kinds of birds singing and maybe even some baby birds chirping. At the top of Hennessey, we turned left and went up Widow Maker Ridge (also known as Deadwood Ridge--I forget what I call it each time! lol) and turned left at Indy's frog pond. We went off to do some bushwacking. We have not done that spot the same way twice. Jupes is always trying to tell me, but I don't always listen and we go off behind Lynn who isn't listening to her horse either. LOL. Then we rode down to the turtle pond and back up through the big meadow. It was nice. Katie got a lot of running in. She was everywhere and running hard to catch up with us.

On the way out, we were trotting. Jupes and Zigs like to do the rollercoaster trot and sometimes Zigs even gets in a lope. We go down the last little hill back toward the trailer and then up and a pause by the tree and then swoop down the trail. There's a tight little turn right before the creek bed. Jupes likes to do that quick turn, so I leaned down and into his neck so I would miss the low hanging branches. Then, YIKES! Jupes got caught up with the down madrone right there sticking in his chest and I was caught on a sharp limb hanging down. He jagged and I slid down his neck like a sack of potatoes. WHUMP.  I was on the ground and he trying to get out of the mess of madrone. T/C was "outta here!!" Something scary just happened and he whirled around and wanted to head back up the trail. I was trying to tell Lynn, "I'm fine," but the wind was knocked out of me. She asked, "How's your arm?" So I waved them at her, wheezing, "I'm fine, I just gotta catch my breath." Too funny. I didn't fall very far or very hard. Just kind of slid down him. I have a few bruises and scratch from the limb, but all's well. Lynn thought I was going to hang from the tree branch, but I think I might have broken it on the way down. lol

Sunday

My dad passed away in December 2010. I had his ashes forever on my entertainment center. I just didn't know what to do with them. The more time passed, the harder it was to face it. Finally, several years ago, I made up my mind to just deal with it. On Father's Day, I would take him to the top of the ride on Underwood. It's a beautiful place. I asked my brother if it mattered to him. It did. So in a fit of frustration, I told him to take the ashes (and our uncle's) home with him. He put them outside in the fern bed. Once upon a time, it was a really pretty place. Then my brother passed away. I told my nephew to find the ashes and please bring them to me. They were full of water. So I have left them in my garage since January. Every time I passed by them, I felt disrespectful and awful. Once again, I was in the dilemma of what do I do? 

Finally, I asked Lynn if Big Zigs could pack my dad up to Underwood. So on Sunday, we took his ashes to the rocks below the big white snag. It's a special place. As we rode up through the bushes, we saw a huge bird sitting on the tree. It was white with light brown speckles on it. It lifted up and flew before we could capture its picture. I think it was a Red Tail, but we could only see its underside. Its presence was powerful. 

I put my dad ashes right by this big clump of yellow flowers. He planted a yellow rose at his house and gave me one for my house. He knew I liked yellow. It felt so good. Both Lynn and I felt the peace and overall perfection of what we did. I feel so much better. I am very happy that we did it! 

I'm so happy we have shoes! It was a GREAT weekend--looking forward to the next one!