Sunny Monday~

Farah enjoys a long drink~

The morning started off a little overcast as Lynn & I were leaving the parking area at Bracken Rd.  We'd thought of doing a long section of the Centennial Trail, but I believed the weather report - saying that the day was going to warm up - shaded trails sounded nice!

Thistle in the clear-cut

We left going south out from the parking area.  There were three other ladies saddling up for a ride as we left.  Between Lynn & me - we can do a pretty good job of finding our way around now & ended up on one of my favorite trotting trails.  The sun finally broke through the overcast & the minute it did - the temperature went right up!

On the Whitehorse~

We decided to head over to the green valley for lunch, so started across Tin Bridge.  We were about 2/3rds of the way across when Farah made a weird move & it almost felt like she was going down.  Then she stomped & stomped again!  I heard Lynn say;  "Bees!"  Sure enough - the vibration of the horses crossing the bridge stirred them up from where they must be trying to build a hive under the wood planking - right in the middle!   Lynn & Sophie hustled across behind us - Sophie too did some stomping! I now have the phone number for the Centennial Trail Park Ranger - so plan to call him in the morning to see if we can get someone out to spray.

The trail was so beautiful - with the leaves blowing off the Big Leaf Maples right in front of us - it certainly smelled like fall - though the temperatures don't feel like it.

Green Valley

All was quiet at Cloverdale.  The mares grazed while we had our snack.  We turned back & crossed the bridge carefully - going along the edge - rather than in the middle & we could see the bees buzzing as we passed!

Lynn & the ever moving Sophie :-)

Back on the forested trails, we took a few that are getting overgrown again.  Farah was full of energy & at one point elevated her front end off the ground before breaking into a short gallop :-)  These days are so beautiful - but I think our Fall color won't be as brilliant as I'd hoped - since most of the trees have already lost a lot of leaves!