The Little Things~

Dragonfly~

Recently, I've had reason to appreciate the little things - more...  There are so many little things that make up our world - from the smallest - to the largest - all are so unique to our life here on planet earth.  Today, when Linda & I stopped for a short break - the air was filled with these beautiful tiny Dragonflies.  So tiny, so delicate & yet full of life.

On the trail~

With the trails open, Linda asked if I wanted her to take me on a ride & that sounded perfect to me.    We did trails, lots of trails!  The wooded landscape is literally exploding with new growth.  As we turned to each section - Linda would say;  "Oh - this needs to get done!"  With a work party coming up on June 4th - all we can do is hope that the many people who ride & enjoy this incredible area - will come up & spend a day clearing trail.

Linda & Count

Farah again refused to cross a muddy wet spot - she had done so well for so long - I have no idea why she's again refusing.  Rather than ride the kind of wild leap that she took on the Quincy ride, I dismounted & sent her over - yes - she made a huge leap.  She also spent a lot of time chomping on her bit - when Count was in front.  Her preference is certainly for moving out - but I love enjoying the shaded beauty of the spring woods.  We went out to the far north - Baby Bear trail.  The mother bear & her two cubs have been spotted again this season.

From the Monument

It was just beautiful at the Monument - the Olympics visible through the high haze.  Warm in the sunshine, but easy to tell that the weather plans to change.  From here - we took the new trail that the Bike Club members finished the end of last year.  Winding, very well laid out as a nice challenging trail for bikes, not quite large enough turns for a fast trotting horse.  Still very soft in spots too, in another year or so it should settle.

New SaddleRight Pad

As we were making the turn up our road, Butch's truck made the turn in front of us!  Butch picked up a box at the gate & I knew right away what it was!  We unloaded Farah & tried the endurance style pad.  It really seems to be a nice fit!  It looks a little large under the Stonewall, which is a small saddle - but covers all the areas I like to have covered.  The drop down rigging sits well on it too.  I'd ordered a liner - but decided not to use it.

The new trail - between lap 5 & 7

Such a beautiful day, perfect spring saddle time!

Somethin' Like Summertime!

Full Parking Lot

 It seemed crazy today to look at the Calendar & still see the month of March!  With days like these, it's hard to do anything but ride!  From the trailers at the Bracken parking - obviously other riders were of like mind!   I have to be so thankful that I have the places I do to ride.  Not as many as I'd like, with the foothills we have - especially with the heavy logging that's keeping me off the higher roads.  Enough though - that we can mix it up.

Bridge over Harvey Creek~

 We didn't see anyone that we knew, this ride was on our own anyway.  Bracken isn't that large, but large enough that we only saw two other riders.  I hailed, think I recognized one rider - they continued on at the trot :-)  With all the buds opening - the woods have become a wonderland of pale greens.

Tree broken off~

 With the work party coming up in another week, there are still a couple trees to be cut.  It's easy enough to get around this one.  After doing the heavily used section of the Centennial Trail yesterday - it was much more relaxing to be in the woods.

Farah checks out the water~

 I decided that I was plenty tired of Farah spooking each & every time we come to the water tank.  I made all the noise I could hitting the tank with my stick & boot, scooting it around, then pushing the button that starts the pump.  After dancing, prancing, snorting, blowing etc.  she realized that I wasn't going to go until she gave it up!  She finally played a little in the water - I splashed some at her & when we were done, she shook like a dog :-)

On the Whitehorse~

 We did eventually go to the Whitehorse.  Big thanks to the Park Rangers for getting all the trees cut that had been blown across.  Once at Cloverdale, I let Farah graze -  the grass is so thick now that she stayed within 20-ft of me & never lifted her head. 

Horse Heaven~

 Absolutely no one around, just a light breeze in the trees.  The dandelions seemed to glow in the bright sunshine.   It was Very warm too - I knew it had to be well above 70.

Cloverdale Farm~

We went over to the far side of the field & on through the woods to the river.  It was lower than I expected, but beautiful.  The land to the east, is being cleared, trees uprooted & piles burning.  Heaven forbid for development - but with proximity to the Whitehorse Trail & the river, I can see that happening...

North fork of the Stillaquamish

I am So anxious to get the trail pushed through east - to at least 530...  It's on the CTCSC agenda, but getting any official commitment to a completion date, is a on-going struggle.  Now that we have the bridge at French Creek to replace, at a huge cost - a date is further on the horizon than ever.

Heading back~

It was almost 4:30 by the time we were back at the trailer, only two others still there & two cars with bike racks.  Lucky we are - getting this extended break in what's been a very wet spring!

Surprise Day's Ride~

Linda & Count, Charlotte & Aliento, Joyce & Target

It was so gray this morning - heavy cloud cover & almost looking like rain...  But Joyce had planned a ride up at Victoria to familiarize herself with the trail there & we'd invited Linda.  When I arrived at the parking - Charlotte was there too!  A good group & Farah was in heaven - a ride with her three favorite geldings!

Soon - it was obvious that the speed of the ride was going to be faster than Linda or I had expected, so after five-miles - Joyce & Charlotte broke off to continue a faster loop - while Linda & I headed to the south side  Linda wanted to show me an in/out that I didn't remember.

Flowering currants are at their peak!

The currants all down the trail to the south side are in full bloom & so beautiful against the deep green of the trees!  I dismounted & walked Farah to the bottom - but once we were down to the Scott Main Line, we were doing some nice 10-min. mile splits :-)

Trillium

This large Trillium was right along the edge of the trail!  The sun had burned through the cloud cover before we'd left the trailers & we were stopping to take off jackets in no time flat!   Linda & I stopped to eat lunch - then continued on - to trails I hadn't seen for a long while.  We did some road work to get back to the area Linda wanted me to see & where we'll be doing some trail work at the work party scheduled for June 6th.  We're hoping for a Good Turn-out of all the riders that have been using these trails often!

Farah checks out the creek~

After our desert trip - it's SO Very Nice to see water in the creeks!  Water - the life blood of the earth!  More water going through than we'd seen so far this spring!  We covered almost 17-miles, but it took us four-hours :-)  Great day & Great ride had by all!