Can we all just agree that 2020 has been a weird year? We made it all the way to the end of August before we got a mountain ride in.
I’m the one who usually plans our trips and I’ll be honest – everything I had heard from everyone was that there was an influx of people into the wilderness areas this year and that just didn’t sound like much fun.
I ride a horse who is afraid of humans (wish I was joking but we all know I’m not) and we take our dogs with us… which I absolutely LOVE doing but it also adds another layer of worry and stress. They are well-behaved but I always worry I’ll encounter someone who doesn’t handle them well.
ANYWAY.
We loaded up Friday morning and set out to make camp. We rolled in mid-afternoon, found a good spot, got the horses settled and set out to find the dogs some water and a place to stretch their legs after a day in the pickup.
Campfires were banned, so we broke out the BBQ and cooked steaks and corn for supper amid some sporadic fetch and reviewing the maps for our ride the next day.
It makes me really nervous but somehow Kelly trusts my research and usually doesn’t even review my planned trail map until we’re already at the location. Brave dude!
There were two other horses penned across the road and after a couple of hours, Spur and Wrangler noticed them. Sure makes me feel good about the fact that your horse is supposed to spot/sense wild animals before you on the trail…
After a night of not much sleep (typical for me when away from home), we got up the next morning and started getting ready to hit the trail. I took one photo.
I had opted to walk Spur and Turbo to the trailhead, and even once we reached the trailhead I was going to continue leading Spur because he was SO worked up. That gave me a nice opportunity to snap a photo of the beautiful trailhead.
My plan to walk Spur was spoiled, however, when there was a large water crossing maybe 30 yards up the trail. So I looked him in his wild eyes, said a prayer, mounted up, and off we went.
My research said that this particular area usage was “light” and the trail verified that – Kelly and I were commenting how unpleasant it would be to hike the trail because the brush hangs over it. We had the trail pretty much to ourselves since we started so early… this would be a false sense of solitude.
The trail had many water crossings, varied from forested sections to rocky sections to open sections with spectacular views. It truly did have it all.
Wrangler is such a good little horse, super willing with a great disposition. But Wrangler does not have a ton of experience because he’s always been a “second stringer” for me. And it turns out, Wrangler would rather jump obstacles he’s uncomfortable with, with no regard for what he’s jumping into.
This was a little over halfway to our destination and we had to break out the map to make sure we were heading the right way. Non pro tip: ALWAYS have your map with you.
At this point, the trail really started climbing. Our total elevation gain this ride was about 2,500 feet and most of it was in this section.
Yes, Spur was still crazy, despite the climb.
Luckily there were still quite a few water crossings, which made the dogs and horses very happy.
We passed a couple of small lakes and then dropped down into our destination lake which was BEAUTIFUL. We were lucky enough that we were the only ones there for our hour-ish break.
Wrangler has come to the conclusion that every crinkly wrapper is something yummy that needs to be shared with him. Turns out, he likes pb&j sammiches.
We all enjoyed a nice snack and a break at the lake.
And then we hit the trail to head back. Which was far less enjoyable because we passed SO. MANY. PEOPLE.
But no llamas, praise Jesus.
