River Trail @ Moss Lake & Beyond!

Moss Lake

Well, we knew it was supposed to get Warm!  Into the 80's & the weatherman wasn't wrong today - as we were over 20 degrees above normal for the date!  Since neither us or our mares are used to this kind of heat - we picked a place where we'd be in the forest & Lynn wanted to explore the trails that were on the map - but new to us both!

Farah survey's the river~

River Trail was first on our planned route & it was technical!   I would venture that it was the most technical trail that Farah has done yet & she did it amazingly well!  I was very proud of the way she sat down, slid down & made the tight turns - thinking about what she was doing.  At the bottom, there was only room for one horse - so we moved into the river to give Lynn & Sophie room to get down.

In the creek~

It was gorgeous!   Warm, humid, buggy, but we didn't mind.  Once across we had a climb up another trail - a really Good Climb!  At one point, the trail got instantly narrow, angling down & below was a large cable coming off the side of the hill.  One mistake here & you'd have a horse caught on that cable & my mind couldn't even comprehend that!  A place where you say a quick prayer & keep going forward...

No idea what this facility is~

We came out at the facility above - neither of us know what it is - but it must usually hold water.  Here - we crossed the road & were on the Tolt Pipeline trail.  We followed it until we found a gate that we could get around to head up into the hills there - that had been logged.

We start the climb~

 Originally there were trails on this side, but we couldn't find any - if they still exist?  It was getting darn hot in the sunshine but we wanted to see where we could go!

White cap mountain views!

As we went up - the views opened up!  Magnificent with snow still on the Cascades.  Then we turned & behind us were the Olympics!

Olympics~

They too are still covered in snow - but with the next couple warm days - that snow will be melting quickly!  Moving on - we found some nice old logging roads & a sign saying that we were on Hancock Timber property.  Just from what we rode - there must be miles & miles of old logging road.  How much of them are open is the question.

Mt. Rainier

We ended up going back down the road that we'd come up on.  But on our way - the view of Mt. Rainier greeted us.   According to my Garmin - we did 1,594 ft. of elevation gain on this ride & it felt like it!  The mares were covered with sweat, but they both kept right on truckin'~

By the time we were back to the parking area, still the only trailers there - the heat of the day was oppressive.  We'd covered almost 15-miles in just over four hours.  Another amazing day in the Great Northwest! 

Tolt Pipeline to Moss Lake

The Tolt Pipeline Trail

It may not look like it, but it was just after twelve noon when I took this photo.  The morning started out with 28 degrees on the thermometer when I woke.  Lynn & I had planned to meet-up earlier, but decided to delay our ride to give the day time to warm up.   Rather than try to cross SR 203, we took Big Lake Road from Duvall & easily found the parking area.

The view east!

Seeing all that trail heading into the distance is really something.  Miles & miles of hills either direction.  We'd wanted to do this ride for a while & today was a perfect day for riding.    We had a couple road crossings, but no traffic at either.  

Our route

We did some sight seeing - passing a couple "Paradise" on earth type of horse farms...  Amazing places these.  Farah enjoys seeing how other horses live too :-)  She sometimes will stop to check them out!  It didn't seem like long before we saw the road going in to the Moss Lake Trails & two riders coming out.  We were careful to watch our corners, since it was only Lynn's third visit there & my second.

Moss Lake

This time, I actually got to see the lake!  It is a very pretty place, with a thin layer of ice over most of the open water.  We picked up the pace going to the parking lot.  There we found a large group of people working on the trails & putting in a new one!  I'm wondering if these are paid employee's, volunteers, or a combination of both?  We made a short stop before heading back.  Farah was not at all surprised that the trailer wasn't there & when we turned to head back - of course the pace picked up!  :-)

Nice new signage~

We took the short way back to the pipeline that Lisa had suggested to us, so we ended up making a nice loop.  Once back on the Tolt, we moved right along - meeting a few people out walking.  Daughter Courtney & Grandson Mason called, they were at our trailers & had hoped to see us - but we were still too far out & they had to get home.

Looking west toward SR 203

Once back at the trailers, we rode west a way toward SR 203 & the SVT Trail - probably another mile or two from where we stopped.  It was almost 4:30, getting dusk & the temperature was already dropping.  We'd covered almost seventeen miles & ridden through a beautiful winter afternoon.  Incredible weather for January - no complaints!

Finally - Moss Lake Trails!

Moss Lake Trails

I say; "Finally" because I'd wanted to ride these trails for a while now.   Lynn had the opportunity to ride there over the weekend & agreed to share her new found knowledge with me today!  The weatherman was correct regarding the quality of the November day - warming to almost 60 degrees!  We were lucky too - as Lisa skipped school to act as our trail guide!  :-)

Lisa & Lucky, Linnea & Bizy

This was such a Nice ride!   The information posted on the link above was a very accurate description of the area.  Wooded, wetland - but with some nice views & reasonably dry footing.  From fog & cold earlier in the morning - before noon we were enjoying beautiful clear sunshine & warming temps!

Trail markings :-)

Most of the trails we rode were marked with a variety of small items that illustrated the trail names.

Loved this one!

We covered a Lot of ground, Lynn wants to learn the trails, I'm - as usual - along for the ride!  :-)  With no sense of direction to speak of, I just have to memorize loops & go from there - that takes a long while!

Beautiful afternoon~

This was a memorable ride for Linnea too!  She passed the 1,000-mile mark for the year, riding both her good mares!  The only other rider I know who can claim that milestone!  I've thought about doing a mileage derby for Washington State riders - but am unsure how many riders would be interested...  It's easy to say how much you're riding - but actually logging miles publicly  & sharing that info. with others isn't everyone's cup of tea.

Ground fog on my drive home~

We stood enjoying the sun & sharing stories for a while after the ride, while our horses kicked back & soaked it up.  I stopped by Courtney's on the way home - a short visit, hot tea & warm hugs from Mason & Cassidy, sent me on my way.  With less than a month to go before the winter solstice - each hour of daylight becomes more precious!