Free Ride!

Whitehorse Mountain & Three Fingers

 Jury duty had finally caught up to me!  Today I was to appear in Arlington & of course it was to be the last day without rain for the next several...  I was not happy to be leaving home without the horse trailer on the back!  I arrived on time, I sat in a rock hard chair for about an hour & then - I was dismissed!   Lynn & I had planned to ride - at least until I remembered that I had to report -  so I called her first thing.  She'd already made other riding plans & I wasn't invited.  No problem - I'd played with the idea of going up to Victoria to give Farah an opportunity to do some moving out!

Haze moving in~

 I think Farah had the same idea - we hit the trails at a trot & trotted all the way up to the Monument.  We took a short break, Farah looked up from her grazing more than once - out the way Linda usually climbs up, but I didn't see or hear anyone.

Still to be identified!

These tiny beautiful pink flowers were opening up along the sides of the trail - I've looked but have yet to identify it.  The leaves are so similar to the Bleeding Hearts - but not the blooms.

The Trillium's are almost past their prime & turning pink~

It's amazing that the amount of times the area has been logged - that there are still spots of hardy natives that have survived & are thriving.  I was almost down to the lower end when my phone rang & it was Linda!  Yes - she was riding - had seen my rig - but was on the far side of the mountain.

Coyote Ridge Trail

Now that the trails are open, I was following the one above & ended up coming out in an area that Linda & I had ridden in a couple years ago - planted with Western Red Cedar - which we don't see often.  Since I couldn't remember how we got back - I decided to turn back & finish our loop.

Where we turned back~

Farah was really cruising - we did a long gallop & trotted the entire way back up the big climb!  The bugs were out in force so when we did stop - it wasn't for long!  We didn't see a soul the entire afternoon & finished up over 18-miles in good time.  Farah was happy - I was happy.   I stopped by Linda's for a coke on our way home.

With her eighth birthday coming up this week - it's hard to believe that she's been with us for almost three-years now.  I'm starting to believe that eight is the magic year - since our girl seems to be enjoying her life on the Homestead & her work - always head up & eager to go!  She's tough, strong & has shown me more than one flash of brilliance.  Once home, she got a warm bath, I got soaked & now it's time for pizza & a movie!  Really great end to what's been a fun week of riding!