The Whitehorse Trail~

The Whitehorse Trail~

There are not words to describe the beauty of this trail on a perfect sunshine day!  I was determined, regardless of the weather to go up & see what the open portion of the trail looked like.  I'd visited a spot here & there - but never actually ridden the six-miles of trail that are open.

Lynn had mentioned that she wanted to do this with me, so she made the drive up & we were there by noon.  As we drew close to Darrington, the sun broke through the clouds & seeing the mountain is always such a awe inspiring site.

Farah checks out the newly improved Trail Head

 We parked along the side of the road that goes past the IGA market.  Plenty of room to get off the roadway & we were patting ourselves on the back for picking such a gorgeous day!

Whitehorse from the trail~

We hadn't gone more than a 100 ft. when this view greeted us!  It was hard to make any time - since we were stopping for photos more often than I had imagined!

The trail went along the river~

We reached the six-mile mark way sooner than either of us wanted!  It was so beautiful that we could have ridden all day long.

At least the sign told us where we were!

Since the trail was still open & well marked, we continued on for just under another mile, until we came to a bridge that was unsafe for the horses.

Plank bridge & our turn-around point

On our ride, we crossed two other bridges over some absolutely beautiful creeks.  No wonder Grandson Ben likes some of these areas for fishing!

From the bridge, upstream

Downstream

Our ride time was just over two-hours.  I don't know how many years it will be before all the bridges are done & this trail is open over it's full length - but I sure hope I'm still able to ride it!  The footing was perfect for horses!  The way long sections of the Centennial Trail were before the improvements.

Once back at town, we stopped in the local Burger Barn for a snack, before Lynn headed home.   Since we were so close & Jentry had baked a chocolate cake...  I decided to stop by for a short visit before heading back.  Farah found the grazing in their yard a perfect snack.

Looking innocent?

You can just see the corner of Jentry's garden on the right side of the photo, Farah was innocently heading slowly but surely that direction - since Joe had just tilled the soil!  In the next second, she was down & doing her best - saddle & all - to have a nice roll!  :-)  I caught her lead in the nick of time - so only one side was covered with dirt :-)  She did give Skyla a ride around the yard before we headed home. 
P.S.  Next goal - to ride the Centennial trail from end to end in a day!