Riding Taylor Mountain~

Taylor Mountain Ride

It was fun to head out on another of our unusual, incredible late Summer days to ride in a new area for me - Taylor Mountain.  It was a two-hour drive from home, I met-up with everyone in Monroe & followed them from there.  We were saddled & on the trail by late morning.  My Garmin Player recorded our ride:  Garmin - Taylor Mountain.

Jennifer led the way, she was the most familiar with the area.  Lynn & Arlene came with - Susan met us there.  The day warmed up quickly & Jennifer started us climbing!  There was a lot of climbing - as usual I wanted to go "up" - especially when I heard about the view!  At one point on the way up, I let Farah out for a little gallop.  She loved it & so did I :-)

View from the top~

 Sadly, we were all somewhat dissapointed - the smoke from the fires in eastern, WA hid Mt. Rainier & the other Cascade Peaks...  Our air seemed fresh - but obviously was not.

Looking at the Sammamish Plateau from 2,518 ft.

 The layer of smoke was thick in all directions.  We had a snack & took a short break up here - then continued on a really nice "loop" that Jennifer had planned.  What goes up, of course comes down, so we had a lot of downhill.  Part way back we came to a beautiful Beaver Pond, so the horses had a chance to cool off & get a good drink.  Farah - though - had taken advantage of every spot on the trail - no matter how small to drink, one of the things I really like about her.  Another mare smart enough to take care of herself.

Beautiful Wetland~

 During the morning hours, Farah had behaved really well, staying back of the horse in front & soft on the bit.  I lost that later in the afternoon, when the speed picked up & I asked her to slow down.  The road surfaces were hard & many had loose rock.  I never like to book on that kind of footing - so we fought.  At one point she snapped my lower back so hard that I actually felt each & every lower vertebra snap :-(  Wish Jack could have seen her...  I'm sure he would have figured something out.  I finally just stopped her & let everyone go on.   We moved out in a super nice walk, even practicing our slow jog at a very consistent speed!  Farah naturally has the ability to do a very consistent pace at whatever gait we may do - always best to end on a good note.

By the time we were all back at the trail head, we'd covered almost 20-miles in just under four hours.  What a Great way to spend a day!