It Was One of Those Days~

Elderberry blooms are magnificent!

Where I was smiling for miles!  I mounted up, not expecting anything special - just a nice ride.  Instead - Farah gave me special!  For whatever reason, on this somewhat gray day - my mare was on her A- game!  Loose rein from the get-go, it was one of those times where I just sat back & enjoyed the ride! :-)

Wetland~

There were a few rigs in the parking area - more than usual again - especially since it felt cold - after yesterday's stellar, warm, sunshine.  I met two riders on their way back, as we were going up to the monument.

Farah enjoys "lunch"

Setting a super nice pace on our way up, trotting along at 8.3 + it didn't take us much time to reach the top & have lunch!

Over Lake McMurrary

We continued on - I didn't plan to be out too long, but since Farah was on a mission, maintaining our pace & increasing it as the miles ticked by - we went on down to the bottom of the big hill & out the long road to the gate at 300th.

From the bottom - looking back up~

 By the gate, I was at 10.15 miles.  The climb back up to the top of the hill was just over two-miles.  We did our run & I was surprised there too, since our top speed increased :-)    (There's been a lot of discussion lately about the accuracy of a Garmin GPS unit vs. a smartphone app.  The Garmin wins for accuracy.  I know riders who use their smartphone apps & always show more mileage than I do over the same route.)   Over the years & the miles I've logged - I've found the Garmin to be reliably accurate - matching stats with other Garmin users & over the same route, on different rides.  If you're interested in recording accurate mileage - the Garmin - or a dedicated GPS unit - is the way to go.

Trying out a Saddle~

Linda's McClintock Saddle

After our ride on Thursday - when we returned to Linda's, she surprised me by pulling this saddle out & handing it to me!  One of the nicest looking saddles that I've seen in a while.  With - a Deep Seat!  Close contact!  (Linda is the one person I know - who knows full well the importance of a deep seat!)  Over the weekend I played with it - the biggest challenge was getting the fenders adjusted up enough for my short legs.

Morning snow/sleet/hail

This morning the rain turned to white stuff & the temperature at 35 degrees didn't make me want to go out to try something new...  But - I put a corned beef from Kelso Meat Market in the pot (with a beer) & washed up some red potatoes, carrots & started our St. Patrick's day dinner.  It was after lunch that things really warmed up - everything started dripping & I decided that I could squeak out for a short ride!  I didn't bother to put any of my trail "stuff" on the saddle.  I was busy playing with my heart monitor - trying to sync it with my new Garmin.

Farah says the saddle worked fine!

 I decided to use the Thinline pad, the sheepskin on the bottom of the bars is worn down from years of use.   The breast collar needed adjustment & could have shortened it a little more, but I was in a hurry to get out & get back.  I Loved the slick seat, a narrow twist & plenty of security.  Finally - after a couple of stops to re-adjust my stirrups & the electrodes for the HR - I had success with both!  The 310 XT picked up the monitor & my legs felt about right!

At the wetland

The sun felt so Warm!  I had on my heavier jacket - but left it on.  We had to break through around the gate at the top again - I hadn't brought my saw.

Our "trail" is now a stream!

 The trail past the lower end of the large wetland was totally flooded out & flowing over the road & back into the creek.  The deepest was about knee high on Farah.  But on the way back, there were new orange stakes going down the side of my trail - so with the coming of dryer weather - may be the coming of development...

Stakes on the trail...

I won't relish giving up these trails - so will continue to use them for as long as I can...  So sad - to see another wild place disappear...  Thanks Very Much for the loaner saddle Linda!  I'll be riding in style again now!

Of Sunshine & Garmin!

On the Tin Bridge

Days like these are rare indeed!  Especially the end of February!  Jack drove Lynn up to meet me at Bracken.  It was so warm, so beautiful & with a light breeze.  If we could clone a day like this one & then use them when we needed - life in Western, WA would be grand & - we'd probably have so many people moving here that what's left of our open spaces would dissapear...

Whitehorse Trail heading to Darrington!

Someday - someday - we'll head out this way & go all the way to Darrington!  I hope Farah & I will be the first to do this one too!  Years from now - that's for sure.

I'm without my Garmin & feel positively naked without it!  Garmin had updated all their software & I'd updated all of mine last week with the assistance of a Tech.  We checked to be sure that my 310 was synched & all seemed to be fine.  Right - just fine, until I tried to download the miles from our ride on Tue.  No matter what I did - nothing happened.  So - Wed. I called again - got Tech support & we went through All the steps - nothing...  Even switched computers...  nothing.  So - the Tech said;  "OK, we need to clear all the information on your device."  Not the words that I wanted to hear.  We did that - still data would not transfer.

After another long period on "hold" - my tech told me that Garmin would be sending me a brand new 310!  Something in the device had glitched.   My new one should be here on Monday & my old one is on it's way back to Garmin.  Really a super company to deal with - I just hope they're done updating the software & that my new one doesn't have Any issues!

The Stillaquamish - still low

The parking area was almost full when we arrived at noon & almost empty by the time we were leaving around 4.  Farah lead going out, but settled enough that Sophie lead heading back.  WE did a couple nice trots & even worked up some sweat!  Everyone so happy to be out enjoying such a nice day!  The trails were amazingly dry & holding up well to all the traffic.

Back Under the Gray & a New Saddle Pad~

The Huge Alders are dropping their leaves~

Once home from my visit, I saddled up Farah.  With today being only two forecast without rain for the week & the arrival of my new saddle pad - it was time to get out & give it a try.

New pad out of the box~

I'd done a lot of research to see what the latest & greatest in performance pads seems to be.  A few weeks ago, I found five bug bites along the left side of Farah's spine.  Probably a spider & in almost a row.   These bites have not gone away & using the Supracore didn't see to be helping.  These pads, on back order from most suppliers really seem like a workable combination.  With state-of-the-art & very thin padding on the top, combined with merino wool on the underside.

Merino Wool

The Ultra Thinline pad has contoured relief for the spine & nice quality quilting on top.   Farah noticed the difference the minute I put it on her back.  Then the saddle went on top & after some adjustment, we hit the trail.  The first thing I noticed - was that I felt more comfortable?!   I've always liked the Supracore, for the cushioning effect, but not the thickness of the Western style Cool Grip pad.  These pads are so easy to keep clean too!  I just hose it off, soak it in the cooler with vinegar water & let it drip dry.)  But, I don't get the close contact that I like with just a Woolback pad.  This pad seems to be a nice combination of the wool with the breathable qualities of the Supracore.

Farah seemed to like it :-)

Farah moved freely & once we returned home, Butch was there to lift the saddle off the pad & we both looked under it at Farah's back - which looked Super!  Now - it will be interesting to see if the bumps resolve?

Leaving the woods~

My Garmin decided to act-up this day, not logging my miles until just past the half-way mark on our loop.  It locked up too - but I finally got it re-booted & it did log our miles back home :-)  (I purchased it from Best Buy - March of 2011 - but now they tell me they no longer carry the 310XT & had the nerve to add that Garmin no longer had them!?  A poor attempt to sell us a 210!  Not!)  It was such a gray & ugly afternoon...  I wished I'd taken Jentry's advice & taken Farah up to Darrington with me, for a ride there - at least I would have been in the sun!

Down the final hill toward home~

Just to show me what the day might have looked like, the sun appeared at our backs as we headed down the last hill for home!

Side note- When I got home from Darrington & opened the gate, the next thing I saw was Farah running at the Bronco!  She'd managed to get out of her hot-wire (soon to be fence) run & before I could react, went right along the passenger side of the Bronco & OUT the gate onto the ROAD!  If you have horses, you know all the feelings that race through your mind any time there's a "loose horse"!  I pulled the Bronco forward out of the way of the gate, got out & walked back toward the entry.  Farah had stopped in the middle of our single lane road -  turned back & just taken a bite of of grass from the strip along the edge of the drive entrance.  She turned again, looked down the hill toward the pasture of horses there, up hill...  THEN  - calmly walked BACK INTO our yard!  OH YEAH!!!  ONE IN A MILLION!!!  Carrots anyone?!~