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| Our overland route~ |
This ride was a collaborative idea between me & Lynn. I remembered that we used to ride from Woodinville - along the
Sammamish River Trail to
Marymoor Park. Then - when Butch was building the
Red Hook Brewery, a friend & I rode from there to
Bridle Trails State Park & then back to the brewery. I mentioned those rides to Lynn - she & Jack went down & did some recognizance to see if indeed we could get through the Marymoor area - since horses are no longer allowed. My new friend Chris, who works for the DOT & is a self-described map person - also checked out the route & gave us a "go"!
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| Corner of Bridle Trails Park |
It was So Cold when we arrived at Bridle Trails, that we didn't take a before photo! Instead, we jumped into our cold saddles as fast as we could & were heading through the park by 10 a.m.
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| Old Signage |
In under 2-miles we were crossing the street above & had found across the way - the
Bridle Crest Trail. This started with a steep downhill - with Farah's
favorite - sheep - at the bottom! No worries about rushing or slipping on the down - since we had to stop &
look at those sheep every few steps!
We rode the trail past backyards, nice, quiet neighborhoods & we were really enjoying the morning - but the sound of traffic was getting louder, so we both knew that the 520 overpass was coming up!
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| View from the overpass! |
This too had changed! On my first trip, it was just a pedestrian/equine/bike overpass. Now, a regular road overpass has been built right next to it. Instead of seeing off in both directions, you can only see west - there's a concrete wall on the east side. You can hear the road traffic - but not see it.
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| Farah & Connie between Sophie's ears! |
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| Google Earth image of the overpass |
Once over, we rode for a block or two through a neighborhood, then found this park. We
stopped long enough for the mares to take a few bites - but it was too
cold to tally for long! The ground was frozen in many places, so we
were talking it easy. The mares were in no particular hurry either.
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| Lynn & Sophie @ Westside Park |
Picking up the trail again at the bottom
corner of the park - we rode right into a nice wooded gully area that could have been up
in the mountains - rather than the city.
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| In the woods, we found - a sign! |
We knew we were on the right track when we found the sign above & dropped down the hill to cross West Lake Sammamish Parkway NE.
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| Once at the edge of Marymoor~ |
Welcome sunshine! It was about 11:30 when we reached the river trail & things had changed! Now, the equestrian trail runs along the opposite side of the slew from when I used to ride it!
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| Beautiful Morning! |
You can see the concrete wall up ahead. The trail isn't finished through that area, so it's narrow with blackberries along both sides & a homeless person living in a tent that's backed up to that wall. Once through the trail widened again & was beautiful.
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| Here's where we crossed the slough~ |
Next, there was a
new to me bridge ~
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| Connie & Farah |
The temperatures by now were probably the
warmest of the day, (No! We weren't removing any layers!) there were a few dog walkers, a jogger or two, but we were the only horsemen & certainly got
noticed :-) On the far side - I finally again recognized where we were, from my last ride here with Janelle &
Saddle-up in 2011.
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| Powerline Trail |
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Now, we were heading up the
Powerline Trail! Back into country more familiar to us & the mares too! But - that's not to say that we didn't have more busy road crossings!
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| Almost 1 p.m. - we're ready to cross Avondale Road |
Avondale was busy one, but having the crossing lights make it as safe as possible. We were happy to be across & it wasn't long before we were into
Farrel McWhirter! Time for a welcome potty & lunch break! Here we could have added in miles to the trip - but since we'd been out in the cold for a while now & Jack was hoping to get home before sundown - we decided to just carry-on & head for our final destination!
We were in the
Redmond Watershed when we ran into two other horsemen! Brandi & John! I'd not seen Brandi since Renegade - so we had to take a few minutes to catch up! They were the only other two horsemen we'd seen all day! We were still on our
mission though - both of us even under all our layers - starting to
feel the cold!
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| We've Arrived! Kathryn Taylor Park~! |
It was Wonderful to see Jack parked at
Katheryn Taylor waiting to take us home! We felt like we'd really
squeaked this ride in. December - the cold snap - holidays, etc., it was still so darn wonderful to spend a sunshine day in the saddle! My GPS recorded the trip at 15-miles & we took just over four hours.
