Caney Mountain Day 3 Hawk's Nest

We were up early again today.I went out and fed Lily and cleaned her pen. She was much happier this morning. 2 bags of hay was just right. There was just a tiny bit left in each. I was feeling much more organized this morning and not so rushed. We'd been watching the weather and it was going to be a pretty chilly week. Today looked to be the warmest day we'd have. After another delicious breakfast, I went back up to our room and put on my silk long johns and my tall insulated boots and layered up under my coat. Anthony was giving the welcome to mule camp speech this morning in front of the dining hall at 9:30.

Amy and I chose to ride with Thomas today. He was doing a long ride so figured if this was going to be the warmest day, we'd better get the long ride in today. He was heading to Hawk's Nest. There were 16 riders in our group and only 5 were women. Amy was riding Evie this morning.

We rode some pretty rough trails today. A lot of climbing and descending over and through a lot of rocks. It was beautiful and fun. Lily is doing great but I wish she'd drop down over rocks a bit more gentle. She kind of plops off them in a most un-mule like fashion. Lily was pretty excited this morning but behaved well. The group today moved faster than yesterday's group which made Lily happy. You have to be careful of the flat rock around here. Especially in the streams. It is very slick even for those with drill-tech on their shoes. We stopped and had lunch at Hawk's nest. There is a beautiful view from there. On the way back when we were close to camp, Amy and I got out in front and I got in a couple nice canters coming into camp. Lily was not at all tired even after a long ride on such challenging terrain. I had to let Lily roll again after we got back and I untacked her. I just can't deny her that pleasure. I settled her in her pen with plenty of hay and water.

Tonight was Italian night for supper. They served lasagna, spaghetti, garlic bread, salad, cole slaw and multiple fabulous deserts. It was quite cold tonight. Amy went out with me to take care of Lily before bed. I put a blanket on her tonight. I think it's the first time I've ever put one on her. She didn't seem to care. She only cared about me getting both hay bags filled for her. We hustled back to our warm room and went to bed early.