Another Amazing Day~

Looking south along the valley~

After mowing in the rain on Sat., then enjoying just a beautiful Easter Sunday with family, I was ready to go riding!  The weather report wasn't too promising, not promising enough to plan a ride with Lynn.  Instead, I decided to head out from home & see what changes there were on my northern route.

Elderberry Blooms

It is without doubt Western Washington's most beautiful time of year!  From now through May - it becomes so richly green & growing that the negative ions immerse you in happiness.  My enjoyment is only increased when I'm riding  Farah - who's becoming a great horse!

Trillium's still blooming!

In the deep, dark woods - I found this amazing Trillium.  It was almost a foot tall!  From the woods, we headed down the steep, rocky hill.  Everywhere were signs of dirt bikes.  The trails were torn up & when I went to go around the locked gate - a "new" trail had been dozed through the bushes & around the gate - making it very easy for us to get out to the power lines.

Looking up the way we'd come down~

Once down, we crossed the creek to head west & north toward the spot where we take our break.  It seemed sudden when I heard the sound of dirt bikes - Roaring - through the silence of the day!  It sounded like they were coming up behind us & with maybe only a 75 ft. line-of-sight, I put Farah in a gallop to try to get to the wide spot before they caught us!  Scary!

The loudest of the bikes

I'd dismounted & Farah was grazing when two dirt bikes & the quad above - crested the small hill & came at us.  Farah whirled in a circle, then stopped to face them.  When they spotted us, they stopped & shut the engines off.  I walked up to talk & the three of them were nice enough.  So we made a plan & I reminded them that I'd been riding here for a Very Long time & that they'd need to be a little cautious.  They agreed!

Final surprise

My final surprise of the ride, was to find this For Sale sign where I go around this gate & head for home.  It looks as though the original owner/developer is now trying to sell the parcel just to the south & west of the Homestead.  It hasn't had any of the improvements done that the other section has, so I can still hope that it will sit.

The view from the top~

The storm clouds were gathering & the sky darkened as we headed for home.  At the bottom of this hill - a pair of Goldfinches were flying across the road & into the trees!  The male was so bright - but too small & quick for a photo :-).  We met Butch at the gate - just as the rain started!  Good end to a good ride~!