MHC - Finding Our Way~

Beautiful blooms, in the camping area~

 It was an eerily strange day.  I wanted to ride out from the Morgan Horse Club, my first time there since Pat & I had met all the logging trucks back in Oct. of last year.  Post~   There were plenty of changes in the area - the first - the quarry is now probably four times as large as it used to be.  This of course tells me - more gravel for more roads = more logging.

Just a small section of the greatly enlarged quarry area~

 We rounded the corner & there's a new gate too.  No way around on the left, boulders on the right - but just enough room to get between two of them.  I'm thinking they're worried about someone getting in & stealing the gravel? 

Old original gate posts just beyond~

 Farah was very aware of all the changes & as surprised as I was.  I didn't get a photo of the old road under the power lines.  It is so washed out now that it's becoming a ravine.  Very deep, sometimes as much as a couple feet in places - I was busy watching every step Farah took.  It was a relief to get out to the road.

A stiff  climb 

 Pat had seen this hill when we were here & today I saw the road that lead that direction & took it.  It was quite a steep climb to the top!  Farah stopped to blow about 1/2 way up. 

Looking NW

 It was quite the view from the top though!  I never like being under the big power lines, but made an exception & we had our lunch break admiring the views.

Back the way we'd come~

 It sure gives your spacial perception a workout for whatever reason...  Maybe all the nasty vibes from all the power zinging over head.

Farah enjoys her lunch~

 I walked on foot back down, we took another trail that branched off at the base of the climb.  It looked like it might go somewhere, but we got to a corner where the blackberries had completely shut off where the old actual trail had begun.  I'm going to ask about this - it would make a decent loop.

Starting up the climb~

 Once back down, I decided to ignore the heavy sounds of logging & take the road up for a way - to the corner & view that I used to enjoy so much in the fall.  Just past the big culvert & river.  It was obvious right away that the road was getting a Lot of Very Heavy use!  Very!

The view from the corner~

 We got there, the view will never be the same & the noise was much louder...  I just didn't feel like taking the chance of meeting a loaded truck on these grades.  It was another disappointment to have to turn back.

The other way~

 So, I took the main road the other direction.  I thought I knew where I was & thought it would meet up with the road that Scott & I had been on yesterday.  Wrong!  The road that we'd had such a nice long trot on, ended at this creek crossing.  It sure didn't look familiar to me - I'm sure I've probably been here before, but since Grandson Ben was coming this afternoon & time was getting short - we turned back.

Our Route 

Once I downloaded my Garmin to Google Earth, I could see that we had actually been heading the right direction to connect up with yesterday's trails.  Now, I've got to do my homework, print up some of the old routes & figure out a loop of our own.  It seems that my memory never gets serious about remembering a ride loop, until I'm forced to ride it on my own!