East of Double M Campground

It was a lovely day today so Lily and I headed out on an adventure on our own. Today I decided to ride past Double M to the east. I have not done that much and want to get familiar with the trails in that direction.

Lily seemed happy to hit the trails today. We met quite a few other riders which was no surprise being such a lovely day and a Saturday. I rode 184 over to Double M. Then took trail 188 to what I think is called Vultures Bluff. I rode along the bottom of it and then took an unmarked trail that circled around the top. That eventually brought me back around by the fire road. So, I took that towards Pounds Hollow Lake. I took the trail to the left that goes by the spillway. Lily was not thrilled about going up by that big gaping hole spewing water (actually, the water was quite sluggish) out of the hillside. She didn't refuse but did hug the left side of the trail pretty hard. We went across the dam and took the trail that goes along the west side of the lake. Just as you get on that trail, there is a muddy spot right close to the water that is full of roots and Lily sunk a leg down in a spot and got bogged down for a moment. She managed to get herself out and keep us both safe. Good girl!

The mosquitoes were vicious today! I've never seen them like this here. Lily's face was covered with them. She ignored it for the most part. She's amazingly tolerant of bugs. I came out to trail 183 and followed that back to 185 and on home. Lily was a wonderful girl today.

Labor Day Ride

Yesterday, I stayed home to catch up on some yard work. So, today it was play time!! It was a hot day but the humidity wasn't unbearable so I figured I'd head out and play it by ear on how long I rode. When I got to the barn Lily was no where in sight. I stood at the stall door and called and pretty soon she came strolling in and stuck her head in the halter. I just love Lily's willingness to be with me. Lily is so good now about being tacked up. She stands so quiet and relaxed. Before mounting up, we practiced our in hand trot out again. Today she did it as soon as I asked. I was SO pleased with her. I mounted up and she left the barn nice and quiet today.

I decided to measure mileage on the trails today so planned to stick right with the marked Forest Service trail. I had my GPS, pen and paper to take notes and was ready to record some information. I took the north trail to Black's Cabin. There weren't any riders there today but Sally's crew was hanging out by the fence.

 We went out to Black Ridge Rd. and took Trail 184 to 185 to 184 to 005 into Initial Tree. There were quite a few riders there. I followed on group out of Initial Tree on trail 150. They were moving kind of slow so they let me pass them when they found a spot to move off the trail to let me by. I rode to the Memorial high line and lost my pen some where. So, now, all bets were off on staying on marked trail and I decided to do some exploring.

I followed 150 for quite a while then headed west on an unmarked trail over some rocks and eventually came to Circle Rock.

From Circle Rock I followed 180 to River to River, went west to the cabin and took the cut over trail to 146 went by the trail to Hurricane Bluff and rode to the Little Tee Pee. From there I went down the big hill that comes out on 180 at the Red Horseshoe high line. From there I stayed on the west side of the creek until I came to 185 the High Country Trail. I kept to the west side of the creek until I was almost home. The trail crosses the creek twice. At the first crossing, Lily always wants to walk up the creek to the next crossing. It's a fun spot to ride in the creek so I let her.

We ride 12 miles and it was a wonderful ride. When I got back to the barn I practiced side passing in the yard then did another trot out in hand. Lily trotted right away. She is such a good girl! After I took her tack off I hosed her down to cool her off then let her out in the pasture so she could do what all mules love to do best, take a good roll in the dirt!

Wandering at Will

I slept in this morning, then did a bit of house work before heading over to the barn. It was quite warm today but I knew it would be comfortable in the forest. Lily seemed to be ready for an adventure when I got there. She eagerly met me in the barn and stood quietly to be groomed and tacked up.

I had absolutely no plan on where I was going to ride or for how long. I was just going to wing it. Before mounting up, I did a bit of practicing with Lily on trotting in hand. She thought that was kind of stupid but when she finally figured out there were treats involved, she decided to humor me. I mounted up and practiced side passing. It took a few tries but Lily seemed to be getting the idea. I rode out the north trail and Lily was a tiny big jiggy right at the start but settled right down within less than 1/4 mile. I rode up to Black's Cabin as I knew there would likely be a lot of people there being a holiday weekend. And I was right. I tied Lily up, took a few photos and talked with a group just getting ready to ride out. There were 4 mule riders in this group that had ridden out of High Knob. I asked if I could tag along with them for a while and they said yes.

 I mounted back up and followed the group at the back. The group was moving slower than Lily likes to walk but she is so very good about chilling out and just going whatever speed the equine in front of her is going. The other mule were also wanting to move a bit faster so the group split up and we 5 mule riders went on ahead. We rode along the creek and got onto trail 180 into Circle Rock and rode on out to the River to River trail. It was a real fun group to ride with and I had a great time.

At the River to River trail, I separated from the group and headed back by myself. Lily didn't hesitate for a moment leaving the others. She really seems to enjoy it when it's just the two of us. I rode east down the River to River to trail 185. I rode that for a while then sidetracked and just took whatever trail I saw that I wanted to go on following some very pretty bluffs for a while. I finally ended up back on trail 185 and took that back towards home and cut up over a steep hill that comes out on the Black's Cabin road and came home that way. Lily is turning into a great trail partner. I haven't enjoyed riding this much since Luke mule passed away. Lily and I did about 10 miles and it was a wonderful ride. It's still so hard to believe sometimes that I have such great riding right from my home.

Deer and Vine Eyes

Sandy head to head home today but wanted to get in one more quick ride before leaving. So, we planned for an earlier start today. I had left my truck and trailer at the barn all loaded up with Lily's gear to save time this morning. I was up early and at the barn in plenty of time to feed and clean stalls. Lily had gone out to the pasture by the time I needed to load her up. I went out the barn door, called her and showed her the halter and she walked right over and stuck her head in. I love this mule! She was ready for another ride. I groomed her at the barn the loaded up and headed to High Knob. I unloaded Lily and tied her to the trailer with a bag of hay as I was early enough to be able to take my time getting ready.

Today it was just Sandy and I heading out. We didn't have any big plan other than she wanted to ride in the direction of my house. She told her daughter that we would be out for only 2 to 4 hrs. I wanted to do a bit of exploring. We took the trail out of the back of the camp and came out on the River to River trail. Not where I planned to come out but that was fine. We rode all the way down River to River until we came to 005. I knew that would take us to Initial Tree but I don't believe I've ridden 005 all the way through. It is a very nice trail. Just one tricky section were there are some blown down trees and it's hard to see where the trail goes but we got through just fine. Nothing hard to get around. There was the spider incident...... we passed a tree that was very close to the trail that had a hole in it right about eye level to a rider. When Sandy went by, a HUGE spider popped out and waved it's legs at Sandy. And I mean it was HUGE! It was retreating back in when I went by but still freaked me out. Looked like a wolf spider. UGH!

We came out near Indian Paint Wall so too a little short cut across the creek and rode along that to Initial Tree. We stopped here for lunch. There were two other woman here with a pair of lovely Palominos. I wanted to do a bit more exploring so we rode out of Initial Tree on 005 and took the trail to the left up over the hill. I wasn't sure where that came out. It came out at the mule riders memorial. From there we hooked into 185 and headed back towards High Knob. We rode up on a deer that didn't want to leave the area as we rode by. She must have had a fawn close by. We came out back on River to River and rode that back to camp. At the top of High Knob, we ran into my neighbors out with their big team. Our 2 to 4 hr ride turned into 5 hrs. and we did 12 miles. It was a wonderful ride and a lovely day. Back at camp, Sandy's dog Alice took her first mule ride!

The Quest to Find Knights of the Golden Circle

My friend Sandy was staying at High Knob so I was thrilled to get the chance to ride with her today. It was hot today but not bad at all in the forest. We planned for a 9:30-10:00 AM ride time. I haven't hitched my trailer up in quite a while. And I didn't get up any too early. So, was dismayed to find one of my trailer tires flat. I know it has a slow leak but had forgotten about it. I hooked up and took care of the tire over at Delbert's place. I fed the mules and loaded my gear while they were eating. Lily jumped right into the trailer eager to go on an adventure. We did get to camp by 10:00 but just barely and most everyone was saddled up and ready to go. Lily got a quick grooming and it only took me a few minutes to get ready. Lily was very quiet and relaxed.

We started out as a group of I think 9 riders. Sand and I were the only mule riders. The plan was to start out by way of the Twin Towers and head over to Knight's of the Golden Circle. We rode by Twin Towers and stopped for a break at Buzzard's Roost. It was there that Rhonda felt her horse wasn't quite right. She was not sure just what was wrong but a person knows their horse. And on of the other horses was having a bit of trouble with high respiration and not cooling down well enough. So, 4 riders headed back to camp. Five of us continued on in search of Knight's of the Golden Circle. We headed south when we shouldn't have but ended up riding the very nice 009 trail. We came back by the Twin Towers in the opposite direction and rode along the top of Buzzard's Roost. We stopped there at the high line to rest and have a snack.

We then rode around to the bottom of Buzzard's Roost and headed west looking for trail 155 that goes to Knight's of the Golden Circle. We found that as it's just past Buzzard's Roost and headed north on 155 and in there is quite a spider web of trails. There are signs but it was a bit confusing and we again turned south when we shouldn't have and ended up back on the River to River trail. At this point, we had passed a sign for the trail to Garden of the Gods and one of our group had never been there So, we headed for Garden of the Gods. Sandy's grandson was riding a borrowed horse that was said to not be in great shape. A lovely teen aged mare that did just great with the ride and recovered at each rest stop almost as quickly as the mules did. But, we still went slow and took many breaks just to make sure the mare would not get too tired. We saw one ground bee hole. I was 2nd in line and noticed the hole but didn't see bees. The 3 riders behind me saw the bees but they didn't get riled up enough to come out and bother us thankfully. We passed tow riders that said they got into a nasty bunch of bees by Whiskey Cave and got stung. We reached Garden of the Gods and tied up the mules and horses in the shade. We rested at the picnic tables and had lunch while the two boys went to explore the rocks. We stayed there quite a while not realizing how late it was getting. There was a deer that kept circling the tie up area very close to us. She must have had a fawn there somewhere. When we did see it was a little after 5:00 PM and knowing we had a 2 hr. ride back, we quickly cleaned up and got back in the saddle. I put Lily in the lead on the way back to move the group along a little faster. We still took several stops to make sure all the horses were doing ok. We got back a little after 7:00 PM and all mules and horses were looking great. We were out over 9 hrs. and did 18.5 miles. It was a great ride! The Knight's of the Golden Circle will have to wait for another day.

I sponged Lily off at the trailer and gave her water. We had gone a long stretch on the trail with no water available and they were all thirsty when we got back. Lily drank down 1 1/2 buckets. Then she put up a little bit of a stink when I went to load her to go home. She didn't fuss for long though. We were stopped by a cow on the way home. It was loose and there was some grain spilled on the road. It was not at all worried about my approaching truck and trailer and took it's time deciding to get off the road. Life in the country.

Cobwebs and Tail Hair

I was feeling pretty lazy this morning so did not get up and about until late morning and didn't get over to the barn until after noon time. It was a hot day so I decided to just go out for a short ride. And today I actually did keep it short. Lily seemed happy to be heading out on a riding adventure. She was quiet and relaxed while being saddled up and left the barn without hesitation. We headed out the North Trail and then dropped down over the hill and crossed the stream and rode the right bank going north until we hit 185 the High Country Trail. I hesitate taking this trail alone. It's a beautiful trail but sections of it are along the sides of a high bluff with narrow trail and long steep drop offs. I don't mind heights at all, just thinking of for any reason I came off and rolled down one of those drop offs..... well, the older we get the more we think of these things it seems. But, Lily had so far proven to be a very solid and steady partner when we are out alone so I decided to trust her. Lily never took a wrong step and we very much enjoyed the trail.

We looped around and stayed on 185 on the lower trail. There are a couple blow down on this trail and one of them is tough to get around. Lily did a great job and didn't get at all concerned as we bulldozed though some very heavy brush on a bank to get around. We were out 2 hrs. and did 6.5 miles. Lily could not have been a better girl. She impresses me more and more with each ride we do.We came home by way of Blacks Cabin. When we ride into the tie area, there on the fence I spied a HUGE hunk of tail hair hanging off the barb wire fence. For me it was like finding a pot of gold. A dirty matted pot of gold but still.... I jumped off Lily and quickly retrieved that wondering if it might be hair from one of Sally's horses. Someone had cut the tail hair to free it from the fence. I was a matted mess but I know it would be a lot of nice hair once I worked it all out and cleaned it.

A shoo fly I made with some of the hair