Earth Day Ride~

Out on the trails~

It started out overcast, but cleared early!  I hadn't planned a ride, figuring after yesterday's clouds that today would be the rain - not!  Rather than waste the time to drive somewhere, I decided to ride from home - it had been weeks since I'd been up there.

Down to Star Creek, then back up the far side

The first thing I noticed, was how Green everything was!  It seemed like there had been an explosion of green!  With the temperature cool - we could enjoy the day without the bugs that have been hatching in swarms.

Native trailing blackberry~

It was another very, very, nice spring afternoon.  A lucky break between the cold & wet evening we had yesterday & the next round of rain that's supposed to come in tomorrow.

Far north end of my "loop"

I originally thought it would be a short ride, but it was too pretty out - so we kept going.  Over the years, I've enjoyed discussions with a variety of horse people on what the "perfect" age is for a saddle horse.  By "perfect" - the age that their brain actually kicks in & they become a reasonably sane ride.  Farah has matured mentally more this last year - than I expected.  Always a basically good girl, she still had issues - the bucking, the head tossing etc.  All that - at least when we're on our own - has disappeared this spring.  Another ride on a loose rein :-)

Beautiful blue flowers along the trail~

 We were trotting along when this bright blue patch of flowers appeared!  So pretty in the sunshine!  No idea what they are?

Busy Beavers!

I was amazed at the size of the trees the Beavers are taking down!  They're determined to get a decent size pond going before the dry summer!  I hope they get to stay!  Many years ago, they were all trapped & removed when the development was imminent.  When the economy stalled, my open space was saved yet again & the Beaver have had time to return.

My favorite wetland~

Someone was cutting down a few trees on the hillside at the far end of this wetland.  I pray that they stop...

Mt. Pilchuck

Seeing the ever increasing areas of clear-cut - sickens me.  Every hillside that I view from home & when I drive north to ride - is getting stripped.  One would think that this state would wake up & put a stop to it before it's all gone...

Back in the Mountains~

Our 13-mi. loop

It was cold again last night - we were at 26 degrees early this morning.  Another hard frost.  Joyce & I had planned to ride & were leaving from her house by shortly after 11 a.m.  It's lucky for us both - that Joyce's schedule works out so well & we can ride during the warmest time of these short days.

New Clear Cut

 The first surprise was another new clear cut, just since last time we were up this way.  We actually enjoyed it though - the sun was so bright, so warm, that it was tempting to just tie the horses & sit down to enjoy it!  We didn't though :-)  We also wanted to cover some ground & see if any other cutting was under way.  We didn't find any - that was nice.  Farah was happy to be with her friend Target & he puts up with her.  They graze nose to nose :-)  Farah was on her "A" game today too, we had a good run & she really seemed to enjoy being back in open country.  I did too~

Our way up~

The colors seemed so bright - sky very blue, but as we were heading back, we could see clouds moving in from the west.  A couple times during the ride we rode through warm pockets of air.  There have been times, on warm days, that we've ridden through cool pockets too - something to do with the way the air currents move on the mountain.

By about 2:30, the day was already cooling down!  I made a stop at the store, but still made it home in time to give Farah a warm bath - overdue!  At least with the cloud cover, the temperatures have stayed mild - a nice break from the usual bitter cold!  We've covered over 1,300-miles so far this year, with Farah thriving on the work - 4th place this week in the Derby with a month to go~

What Tree Farms Do~

Convoluted trails~

When I pulled in to Bracken on this day - I felt totally disoriented!  The nice trees that acted as a buffer from Grandview Rd. - were gone...  The porta potty looked totally out of place/time with even the large tree that was behind it gone...

Welcome to the "new" look at Bracken Rd.

I had to remind myself that yes - it's a "tree farm" - their business is growing trees & I'm ever so thankful, as are all the horsemen in this area - that they allow us the access to ride!  Without these wonderful large areas - we'd be relegated to the formal "lineal trails", finding private land-owners who would allow riding - who???  Or heading for the state parks that allow horses.  These are few & far between! 

New Bold Signage!  The RULES!

It seems almost every spring, when this area gets inundated with riders from all over, north, south, the islands & beyond...  problems crop up.  There's the people who leave poo on the gravel, or this morning, someone hadn't used a shedding blade on their horse EVER, but decided that it needed to be done before they rode, so mountains of hair topped off with a pile of manure was all that remained of their visit.  Rude!  So darn Rude!

I could go on...  it's so rude too, to let your horse leave a pile right in the middle of the paved portions of the Centennial Trail...  WHY I ask myself when I see this???  Most of the time I can tell when Farah is going to leave a pile & I darn sure don't have her do it on the paving or on the path!  If it did somehow happen, how hard is it to dismount & kick it off to the side???  Must be darn hard for some...

Anyway - for those of you who are conscientious enough to pick-up after yourselves & your animals, I salute you for being the responsible people you are!  As to the rest of you - I hope I don't actually SEE you leaving your next mess!

Clear & Cold

New Clear-cut & view

Today we saw the blue of the December sky!  The yellow of that glowing orb that we know is the Sun, though we hardly see it often enough this time of year to remember what it is!  Was really looking forward to riding with Linda again.  She was ready & we headed up to check out the changes on the tree farm.  I see clear-cut & say; "ugh".  Linda sees it & says;  "New trail!"   Her positive attitude helped me to gain perspective.  We're scheduling a day to decide what we're going to work on & try to re-open a couple trails that will help to connect one area to another.  Lets call it post-holiday ambition to get exercise one way or the other!  :-)

Roads are taking a beating.

 For the cost of a permit from the farm office, people can come in to cut up the left-overs from the logging operation.  It pays to be extra careful & watchful of these amateur woodsman with full loads going down, or empty heading in - not expecting to see anyone, let alone horses.
We were out for over four-hours, finally realizing that the day was rapidly coming to a close & it was time to head back!   Farah let me know that she's more than happy to be gainfully going out on the trails again!  She loves the mountains & so do I.  We walked the last miles back this afternoon, so both horses were mostly dry by the time we returned.  I used towels to give her a good rub down when we got home.  Happy horse, happy rider!