Quote

Ain't nuthin like ridin' a fine horse in a new country - Augustus McCrae – Lonesome Dove

Monday, May 12, 2014

Hill of Death & Beyond~

Joyce & Jesse
Joyce is back in the saddle & we'd planned a ride up Simpson Ridge.  But - it was darn hot, humid & it's a hard ride for a hot day.  I'd forgotten my camera & Joyce her gloves.  We decided to change our plans & head up the aptly named "Hill of Death" - which would still give us a a good climb, then head down & finish off in the shade of the woods.  The first thing we noticed was the amount of water running down the old road.  More water than we'd ever seen & it was really eroding the road - in places over two-feet deep.  We had to think that something up above has changed.
As we climb~
The views open up.  It was a hazy day - but the Olympics were still clear to the west.  I used my Smartphone for these photos today.  Almost to the top, we saw something in the center of the road?
The top shell of a Troxel Helmet!
 We followed hoof prints - friends had ridden here yesterday - obviously going so fast that they blew the top off someone's helmet!  :-)  If anyone is interested, we took it down to the final intersection that takes you up the hill.

Once we'd made it to the top of the HOD - we were surprised that there was a new logging road cut in to the uphill side & heading on up!  We took it~
Steep & more UP!
As we continued, it was plain that we'd see some views that we haven't before & that's always so much fun!  Garmin is having upload problems today - but soon I hope to see my data & find out if we were indeed heading around the side of Mt. Washington.
Views to the north~
Probably a while since this clear-cut happened.
Huge Snag~
Our elevation was over 1,800 ft. & it was blessedly cool with a nice breeze & no bugs!  Finally - we found the end of the road - which dashed our hopes of it possibly circling the mountain.  Turning back, I had to take a couple more photos.
Heading back down~
Once down, Joyce took us back into the shade of the woods & onto one of my favorite trails - a long uphill with fairly soft footing & a nice grade.  Farah took off & both horses did some really nice galloping - almost effortlessly.
Tiny pretty blooms~
These tiny flowers were blooming everywhere - again - another to look up in my native plant book, but not sure they're even a flower - maybe a weed?  We were out over four hours, covered a lot of ground & brought both horses back to the trailers at the Morgan Horse Club dry.

2 comments:

  1. Ha, you found Dean Hahler's helmet piece!

    We wondered where that had gone! (It fell off while tied to his saddle when we hopped off to walk back down the hill)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's closer to the bottom now & off to the side where it may stay until he goes back.

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