The Mountain was Out!

Mt. Rainier

It's not too often that we get a view of "The Mountain" from the meadow at Victoria.  Today though - was one of those days.  The news of the death of an endurance rider at Bandit Springs, saddened me - though I didn't know her personally.   Enough has been written about the frailty of life & finality of death, but all horsemen who heard the news took pause to honor the passing of a fellow equestrian.   I know I did...

Yes, the trail is here & we're on it~

Linda was on another mission I think - to check out the state of some of the lesser used trails.  Now that the spring/summer plant growth is at it's peak.  My stick came in handy to move long blackberry vines out of the way - so that Farah could plow through.  Smart mare, she would stop as we came up on them & wait for me to knock each one down!

More logging~

One of the places we'd parked in the shade of big trees during our trail-clearing a few weeks ago - has now been logged.  Another different look!  We covered a lot of ground, it was warm - but a nice breeze really helped.  We had an interesting moment when Count decided to do a 180 & turn back into Farah & I - instead of continuing forward on a certain trail where the horses always seem to be on edge.  He was quick - but so is Linda!   Before we had to do much in the way of evasive maneuvering - she got him pulled up!

7-15 overlaid onto 7-12

Linda has also had to post new signage at the parking area - it seems that people have decided that it's the place to clean out their trailers & toss the manure into the surrounding bushes.  Unreal!  The more people who discover this place - the more problems crop up.   If you see this type of thing going on - take the person to task!

We enjoyed over four hours in the saddle, ate some ripe native blackberries, checked the growth of the "bio-fuel" now planted in the meadow & just took the time to appreciate such a nice summer day in such a beautiful place.