Stellar October Day~

 From a foggy morning - by noon the sun had burned through & it was a sparkling, clear afternoon!  Saddling Farah - my new cinch with roller buckles is worth it's weight in gold!  (I'd been fighting with the beta latigo on the Stonewall & brass flat ring on my Bork cinch.)  As with everything I've ordered lately - Distance Depot was out of the 26" length, but it was worth the wait!

Looking through~

As we got up onto the trails, the one that goes south - that had been overgrown with alders, had a two-track through it - trees knocked down.  We took it & got to the gate with the "For Sale" sign.

More trees down~

 On the far side, it was obvious that during the months since we'd been here - plenty has been going on.  Trees that were behind the Native Growth Protection Area had been knocked down.

More clearing~

 Riding down the paved road, we could here construction & the sound of heavy equipment.

New street sign~

 Now we have a "real" name for our trail :-(   People will be living here in no time...  It's the only way we can access the southern trails - not that much is left of them...

Construction Trailer & trucks~

 Continuing on, we made the turn that would take us out & to the power lines.  Once there, I turned south & we took the first trail off to the east.  It was a favorite & we called it;  "Cloverhill" where the creek runs through & used to be stock full of Salmon.

At the very low Little Pilchuck Creek~

 Still water running, but oh so low - especially for the time of year when we used to find it running close to full.  Continuing west, as I expected the trail that turned north - was still blocked.  It did though go further east & we took it almost half a mile, until we reached this blockage.

Blocked Trail~

 We turned back & it is just so beautiful out here!

Trail west back to the power lines

 Such a totally stellar afternoon!

Trail down to the creek~

 Once we were at the creek, it was so low that we followed it a way south to this beautiful area~

More of the creek~

 A little further, the footing got very mucky in a hurry, there were deer prints - sunk deep, so we turned while we could.

Huge trees along the shore

 I enjoyed every foot of this trail - looking for mushrooms, nothing edible - though I have to wonder why when this area is so rich & lush.

Back into the sun~

 On the power lines, we turned south yet again & to the second trail heading east - the one that goes to the large wetland system & another creek crossing.

Second trail heading east~

 I was really surprised to see fresh hoof prints - shod, on this trail.  I have no idea who's found the area, or where they're coming in from?  A few feet from the creek I saw something white on the ground & found this sign in a plastic sleeve.

 Here's the crossing where they've been trying to keep a "bridge" up.  I didn't see any sign of what had been taken out?  The old logs have been there forever & the 4x4 is whats left of the newer bridge that I've never seen in place.  It was obvious that ATV's had been through on the trail.  Trees cut off, branches cut etc. 

No bridge

 Here we took our break, Farah found some nice grass.  Back again to the power lines.  It had taken us a while to do this exploring & the sun was getting low.  I just LOVE the light this time of year!  The long, golden shadows & blue, blue sky.

Looking north~

 We went back the only way we could - through the houses.  One of the men was burning a pile of trash, Farah hardly took any heed.

The For Sale sign from the development side.

 It was a relief to us both to get around the gate & be back in "our" neighborhood!  Big sigh from us both :-)  We went ahead & rode behind the woods that are between this area & our neighborhood.  All was quiet - but for how long?

Farah in the sun~

 I keep thinking about all the natural water in this area.  Just before we left the development a Snohomish County car went driving through.  Private property is just that & can be sold for whatever, but when you see area's that were never a wetland causing all the issues that we have with the Whitehorse Trail, then see rampant development over an area that IS A REAL watershed & headwaters of several creeks - all I can think is why?  Why?

Mt. Pilchuck

 Just the very tip of the mountain was showing over a cap of white clouds!  Just a gorgeous day! 

Hearing the sound of someone mowing, we got to our gate & realized that it was Butch!  Home, mowing & starting the huge yearly project of raking all the leaves from our Big Leaf Maples!   We did get some color, but they're falling fast now!