The sun was shining early this morning. I'd hoped to ride with a friend, but the timing didn't work out. I'd been wanting to check out the Cloverdale area on the Whitehorse Trail for a while, so figured today would work.
Notice anything?
Catching up on a few things at home, I left a little later than I'd originally planned. With Farah unloaded, I reached up for her headstall to realize - to my dismay - that I'd left it at home! No extra in the tack room of the trailer. I always figure that if someone breaks in, I don't want to lose anything good. Only the second time I've ever made that mistake! The day was darkening, rain on the way - so no time to go back home for it...
Lots a knots!
Fine then! I had two lead ropes & she's been doing so well in her hackamore - maybe she wouldn't notice the difference :-) We started out & she was a perfect angel. A nice trot, little canter - all was well. I had to put the knots in the lead ropes to keep them from dangling almost to the ground.
By the time we were at Tin Bridge, it was starting to mist :-) I say mist - really - rain! I'd promised Farah her lunch there - the grass is usually growing lush & long by March.
Dead trees now falling~
It was sad to see the bleached bones of the old dead trees, now on the ground from the wind & wet. The cattle were in their pasture, otherwise it was very quiet.
Checking out the cattle!
Even after her times at Cow Penning - Farah still does not like cattle! Something that we'll work on one of these days when the opportunity presents itself. She was really enjoying the freedom of the halter & being so darn good! I hardly had to touch the reins all the way.
Rain moves in~
Seeing the rain move in over Mt. Washington, I was really, really sorry that I'd left my rain jacket in the Bronco. I'd recently washed it, waterproofed it & yet didn't put it on the back of the saddle like I almost always do!
Trail Closed!
I had not been informed that this section was officially closed. I knew it was being surveyed & the Japanese Knotweed sprayed. It's a horrible invasive & takes a while to eradicate.
Survey Marker~
The surveyors have been busy in this area, with the original railroad ballast removed in places & adjoining property owners encroaching on the trail easements - the set-backs have been ongoing & numerous. I would love to see it open - now that the bridges are decked. At least as far as the Hwy 530 - where the safest way to cross it is still under discussion.
We were getting wet & turned back, picking up the pace. Then - before I knew it - Farah was running away with me! I asked her to slow - which was about all I could do, but no - she went into overdrive! The wind caught under the bill on my helmet, it blew back far enough that the chin strap was choking me. I was pulling back as hard as I could - tried to turn her head, but with the halter - that was all in vane. Her attitude was; "Sit down, hang on & let me REALLY show you what I can do!" :-) As she slowed, which I knew she would - she was roundly cussed out! When I downloaded our ride, her top speed showed at 26.8 - definitely fast!
Dean wanted me to wait to mid-March for this years vaccinations. Once home, I called & got her on his schedule for Monday. Usually I dread that - but this time I'm kind of looking forward to it :-)
I'd wanted to get together with these two - plus Lynn for a ride for a while! Finally, schedules merged - except for Lynn's... We met at Bracken Road, several rigs already there. It was a nice dry, if brisk morning. My usual loop is roughly ten-miles & everyone was game for that & a break at Cloverdale.
Farah in a huff~
I thought Farah would be so happy to see her friend Cato & she'd usually gotten along with Kate. It had been a long while since we'd been out with more than one horse. She was so ornery... A threatened kick toward Kate, put her in the rear. Cato was setting a super nice pace. I tried all my usual tricks to calm her down, but it took several miles until she settled enough to start enjoying the ride.
Toward Cloverdale on the Whitehorse
It's always a pleasure to follow these two buckskins! We'd brought rain jackets, just so we wouldn't need them. The temperature felt like it was dropping by the time we'd had our break & started back. Now, Farah trotted beside Cato & Beth & I got to visit a little side-by-side.
As we finished up our ride, Amanda mentioned lunch, so I called Donnie to get the name of the local restaurant in Arlington - that she & Pat had recommended.
We didn't do much talking - we were too busy feeding our faces! About all we said was "YUM!" I had the onion rings & they are truly the best I've had. I won't say no next time Pat suggests coming here!
It was just such an amazing Fall day! Not too cold, the super charged fresh air & good company!
Farah & I headed out on our own today - I wanted to stretch out the area that I'm trying to memorize. I'm still sad to have lost one of my favorite riding partners. It was fun last Sunday, to be the first visitors to Joyce's new home & see where her trails will go!
Heading down to Harvey Creek
Bright sunshine, light breeze - a literally perfect first day of Fall... The best riding weather imaginable & only a few trailers in the parking lot. Farah was in a good mood today - the Stonewall is working so very well for us both, making me anxious to get mine! I'm still playing with the rigging. Jackie said to either have it on the pad or below the pad. I like it on the pad, but when I raised it again - it puts it under my knee. It really didn't seem to bother me - even there.
The usual breeze at the River~
I went ahead & ordered a pad from Stonewall, that will fit the saddle. When it comes, I'm going to see where the rigging works best. Of course adjusting it - makes a difference in the length of cinch too. I'm using my 26" right now, but may yet order a shorter one. The only problem I've had, if you can call it a problem - is the pad slipping out the back. Today - with the rigging on the pad - it stayed in place better.
The beautiful white rock, under water in the north fork of the Stillaquamish!
If you check out my post from our last ride here, you'll see what this rock looks like & of course now we know why :-) This spot is such a peaceful place, Farah & I enjoyed it. She has it figured out now - first we're under the bridge, next we're up on it!
Over Tin Bridge
No yellow jackets this season - sweet relief! We went on across, up to Cloverdale - no changes yet, just the spots where the survey crew has been checking to see where a straight rail bed needs to be re-established. This is spite of a landowner who is unhappy with the trail going through. Over the years - there have been a lot of those...
There are off-set survey marks~
The infamous "hole" is just to the left, in the trees - where the rail bed ballast was stolen. We didn't go this way today... I'm hopeful that it won't be too long until this section sees some work!
The rock ballast ~
I usually walk the half-mile of ballast that gets us to Cloverdale & let me say - it's No Fun. It also goes on forever, which I found out when I rode to the Cicero Bridge. There's just no way that the trail is going to be getting much use At All - until all this ballast is mitigated with a top dressing of fine rock or sand.
At our meeting last week, this was discussed & it is on the work schedule - but with everything else going on - no date has been set. There's only four bridges left to deck - so hopeful those will get done before the year end - when the funds will dry up. I also found out that currently there are No funds for the bridge grating that was supposed to be installed to prevent slipping. Not sure yet how to tackle that obstacle. Guess getting it all OPEN is the first priority - & that is now pushed back from the middle, to the end of next year...
When I rode through Pat's yard last night - we made plans to ride today! I hadn't been to Bracken for a while, so that's where we headed. First time in a long time that just the two of us have ridden together. Our mares actually got on well - Destry can really walk out & Farah enjoyed some training on being in the rear! At one point when Pat was teaching Destry to collect up, I asked Farah & instantly got a response! She settled in today & really seemed to enjoy going out with a friend.
At the Stillaquamish
We took the long way & headed to the river. From there I wanted to go far enough to see Tin Bridge - since the water is so low. A little higher than it has been with last nights decent rain.
Pat & Destry
It's hard to believe that Destry is already 17-years old & that Pat was riding her dam when I was riding Alexi. How the years have flown by...
Tin Bridge
It was pretty dramatic to see the bridge from the river bed! A view that's not often seen - if it's ever been, with the river at historic lows...
Nice current still~
We stopped here for quiet a while, the sound of the water so soothing... Farah almost went to sleep - until Pat saw a piece of wood sticking under the back edge of her left front shoe. I tried using my hoof pick, no luck. It was really jammed in under the brand new shoe. Next - I pulled out Dad's Leatherman tool. We'd bought it for him many years ago & I found it still in it's original box. I've carried it on my saddle since - today saw it's first use. Pat pried, I pried - we took turns... Finally we got one piece out that would have pierced her frog... We kept at it & finally got the final piece out! Both horses just stood (Farah on three legs :-) enjoying the perfect day.
Looking up~
We started back, crossed the bridge & had our lunch at Cloverdale. There - we found that someone has been working on the Whitehorse - pink paint sprayed in spots - & the trail is being hacked through!
Lots of Japanese Knotweed...
We started following the path - & I use the term loosely... We soon came to a section where there was a deep ditch mostly hidden under the weeds. Farah's rear dropped into a deep hole - she pulled us out. At that point we could get up onto the rail bed - wisely deciding to turn back. With the meeting coming up this week - after having summer off, I'm anxious to see how the schedule looks - to get this section in!
Stunning Vine Maple
Heading back, this vine maple gave us the first taste of what I hope will be the blaze of fall colors to come. Since the leaves have been falling for weeks now, due to the drought - it will be interesting to see just how much color we get.
Farah came back relaxed & happy - as did we! My favorite time of year to ride, I hope the weather give us both badly needed rains & those bright, crisp days of Fall!
I'd made another plan... Driving home from Darrington last weekend, we did a little exploring. Checking a couple side roads & finding the trail, it looked like I might be able to ride from Cloverdale - to the newly decked Cicero bridge. Today - even though we got a late start, I thought we might just have time to give it a try!
A trail goes through it~
I was the only trailer at the Bracken parking. That made me just a little nervous, but I locked everything up & just had to hope for the best. I'd though about leaving from Haller - but decided if I could mitigate any of the going on rock - I would. I was thankful later that I'd made that decision!
Bridge #2, first east from Tin Bridge
It wasn't long before we were at the first of the newly decked bridges, where we'd stopped to turn back last week. I had hoped that the trail would be less rocky from here on - more like the way it is when you leave from the Darrington end - but I was mistaken.
The rock was heavy~
The rock, as you can see from the photo above, was very heavy. That kept us to a walk in most places...
This section is close to the river~
It's a really pretty section - along the very low river. After last nights heavy rain, everything was pretty wet. The weather went from heavy overcast, to brilliant, warm sunshine several times during the afternoon.
Road crossing~
Soon - we were at the first of the road crossings. Butch & I had found a fishing spot at the end. It's narrow, with a blind corner - keep an eye for on-coming traffic!
Beautiful Views~
We were at six-miles, it was getting late, so I called Butch & told him we'd probably go on another 1/2 mile or so then turn back.
Bridge #2 eastbound
But, that was when we came to the second bridge & I just had a feeling that it couldn't be that much further to our goal - so we continued on.
One more stretch of trail~
I could just see traffic up ahead & knew if we were coming to the highway crossing, the Cicero bridge would be on the far side!
It was! But it was being worked on!
Going across the highway was challenging. There's a good line-of-sight both directions, so we just waited until it was all clear & ran across. Once we'd stopped to get the photo of Cicero, we turned back west.
Crossing back across~
This time, we again waited for the traffic & made our little run. It's wide because of a bus stop on both sides.
Heading back~
Heading back, the views of the river are so pretty. Soon the noise of the traffic faded away & the only sounds were the birds in the trees & the river below. A Coyote appeared about 100 yards ahead - then disappeared into the trees.
On Tin Bridge
Soon we were back to our bridge & back onto the trails. We hustled back to the parking area & it was a relief to find the Bronco OK. Our trip was just over 15-miles, it would be very close to the same if we'd left from Arlington I think. With all the rock - I was glad for Farah's pads, but even so - it's a whole lot of rock... Not a ride I'll do again soon - until the trail gets the top dressing material to solidify the rock surface.
