Pick a Trail! Any Trail!

  I was up early to get all my stuff in the car & get up to Linda's by 9.  We'd hoped for the same cloud cover & cool that we'd enjoyed on our ride yesterday - but no - blazing sunshine!  It wasn't going to deter us!  The Olympics were just outrageously beautiful when I pulled into Linda's.  Our equipment was loaded, water & snacks.

The "Before"

We had Many, Many trails to pick from - but decided on two that were part of the larger loop that we sometimes do & others do fairly often.  This was verified when two riders wanted past while we were working!  With ear plugs in - they had to do some yelling to get our attention!  Linda was determined to break in her brand new weed whacker!  With the two that belong to the PRA in the shop & both of ours out of commission - I took my pruners!  I've been known to do a Lot of Damage with pruners!

Ripe native blackberry!

Following along behind - gave me the opportunity to find the fruit & partake!

On our way down -

Overgrown is the mildest word I can use to describe this trail.  It was so totally overgrown that Linda started down working just one side.  I started taking branches off the trees.  When I do - I take them right to the trunk & all the way to the ground.  It was tough & we were totally soaked with sweat within the first few minutes.

Linda heads back up to get the other side of the trail~

Once into the trees, we turned back up the hill to knock down the other side. 

The "after" shot!

Another - showing my work on the trees~

Once we were back up at the top, where we'd left the truck.  We re-evaluated our decision & decided that since were were already filthy dirty, sweaty & miserable - that we'd might as well go over to the other area that we'd really hoped to do.

Now we were out in the full sun & it was even warmer~

Again - I brought up the rear, tossing, cutting & taking down whatever Linda missed.  Moving debris off the trail & knocking back the branches on the new trees that were too close to the trail.

"Black Caps"

 I found more berries too!  I thought they were a raspberry - Linda said as kids they called them Black Caps.  They are one of the sweetest berries I've ever picked!

Here's where we finally quit - at the "Y" - but it works as a "before" for this trail~

We were both amazed at how long the weed whacker ran on a tank of gas!  Almost longer than we did!  In the old days - we'd clear all morning - then ride all afternoon.  Things have changed!  We were more than happy to crawl into the truck & turn on the air conditioning!  We'd worked for almost four-hours.

Me on the trail - "after"!

Discussing the trails, the users & the little amount of work that gets done - we both were thinking that if anyone wanted to pick a day & contact Linda - she would be happy to take them out to a trail that needs work.  It's amazing what two people can accomplish!  But we also discussed that so many Endurance riders just pound the logging roads & hardly even venture onto the trails - so I guess that relieves them from trail-clearing responsibility?  Not really..  So - if you're interested, pick a trail, pick a day & come help!

New Friends~

The story is a long one, the friendship is too - I referred Joyce to this particular friend & we were both introduced to Robin.  Wouldn't you know?  Robin grew up on horseback - then as with so many of us, life got in the way.  Funny how things sometimes go full circle!

Robin sets up to ride Jesse!  With Joyce's help.

 Joyce offered to take Robin out on a ride & of course I had to tag along!  Robin was very honest with us about her horse experience - her father was in the military & Polo was his sport!  Her parents first date?  Out for a ride!  As a fearless kid, she'd ridden all day - jumped anything in sight & spent all her time in the saddle.  Now, it had been fifteen years...

Joyce & Robin admire the view

Not many women would have the nerve to get on their first Arabian (a top-ten endurance horse) & head out for a ten-mile ride!   Jesse was well behaved, besides thinking that the pace could have been a little a bit faster :-)

At the Monument

Robin did a wonderful job - not grabbing rein or making any "newbie" mistakes!  As usual the three horses moved right out at the walk - cruising along at 4-mph. on a beautiful cool day could not have been nicer.

Target & Joyce

With the supracore pad gone & the sheepskin back on, I was comfortable again!  Farah too, was much happier with just the Woolback!  No inserts!  I'd also changed the saddle pack to one that holds two water bottles.  When I left my camera back at the Monument - (Figured this out when I wanted a photo at the Lake McMurrary outlook.) I turned Farah back to go get it.  We hit a trot - then a gallop - then the bucks started coming!  I reached back & with nothing behind the cantle - the pack was still coming in contact with her loin.  That came off once we were home & we'll go back - to what works!

Stinging Nettle Bloom with the ever evasive Blackberry!

It's always so much fun to show someone new your "backyard".  Even though the peaks were under the clouds, Robin really enjoy her ride & we enjoyed having her with us!

Blackberries & Logging~

Today's Ride~

Surprised!  That's what I was!   BIG THANK YOU due to both my friends!  Joyce & Joe rode yesterday - Joe took his machete - cutting & hacking through the massive wall of green, as Joyce moved the mess of vines off the trail.  Coming up on it from the far side - to see just How Much the two of them had cleared was amazing!   If you've worked on blackberry - you know...   If you haven't - you have no idea of how nasty they are to cut.  The only good thing about them - especially this time of year, is that the fruit is ripe!

With over an hour of clearing - the trail was again open!  They'd been higher than our heads on Wed. when we'd spent another block of time just clearing into where the wall began...

More clear trail~

This is a trail that we'll use again over the fall & winter months - as will other area riders - so it's nice to know that we'll be able to get through. 

Once through - looking north~

Funny how different trails & roads can look when you come on them from the direction that you usually don't.  Normally - we like to take the long climbs on the way out, today we took some short steep climbs & ended up doing more downhill on the way back.  Rounding a corner, we ran into other horsemen!  Unusual - but not only that - we both recognized these four!  Fellow equestrians that we'd not seen in many, many years!  Such fun catching up!   Ed's thirty-year old Mustang mare was still just cooking down the trail!  The news that they shared with us wasn't what we'd hoped to hear - logging was going on just around the bend from where we were, between us & the route we'd hoped to take back.

We'd already spent over 30-min. cutting Alder's that had been cut & fallen across one trail, so again - we'd been out a while & it was another hot, muggy day.  Undaunted by the news - we continued forward - soon smelling that incredible scent of fresh cut lumber.

Trees on the ground~

Next, we saw the trees, again it's almost as though you've ridden into a strange world, so changed from just a couple days earlier this week.  The noise got louder & we could hear trees crashing to the ground!  Both horses were on high alert!  Soon, the equipment was right along the side of the trail & the noise was incredible!  Farah wanted to whirl & leave the area, Joyce dismounted to lead Jesse.  I took a short video, but it didn't do the experience justice.

This was the closest I'd been to active logging & I really felt it - it's so very Raw, a certain kind of violence - at least against nature.  These machines can take down an amazing amount of trees, in a very short time.  The claw grabs the tree, the saw cuts it off - then the entire tree is lifted into the air & dropped!  The upside - if you can call it that - is that they're done & gone fairly quickly.  We were surprised to find them working today.

With relief, we were past & within a couple miles returned to the quiet of the woods.  There are more areas marked with cutting boundary tape - so it'll be interesting to see how things change as we move into Fall.