Heart Lake!

Covered by the algae bloom~

It was a perfect morning!  Someone turned on nature's air conditioner!  My kind of weather!  Overcast, cool & cloudy when I left home to meet-up with Jack & Lynn in Arlington.  From there we headed on over to Antacortes for a long anticipated ride on the Heart Lake Trails.

Lynn sprays Sophie!

Once at the parking area - even though the cloud cover was still there - we could see it was breaking up & the bugs were out in force!  Sophie sported a "Quiet Ride" fly mask & it seemed to work great for her - even if she was the blunt of a few remarks :-)

Directional Signage

With so many trails to choose from, we decided to try to make our way to Whistle Lake - Lynn had the maps & did a great job of guiding us.  This is technical riding, lots of up, down, all around & a few large rocks to navigate.  The trail surfaces were not only dry - but very hard packed from all the mountain bikes that frequent this area now.  We passed several groups of kids, hiking up to swim in the lake, they said they envied us our "rides"!  :-)  On the steep downhills, the mares had to sit down & slide.

Farah listening to the kids yelling as they jumped in!

I was disappointed in my photos - for whatever reason my little camera blurred several.  Others were crystal clear...  Regardless - here's a look of one of the beautiful trails.

Wooded trails~

 Such a perfect day to be on these trails!  We didn't see any other horses, but when we returned to the parking area, there was one other trailer.  It was pretty obvious that this area gets a lot of visitors on the weekends.  Lucky us - able to ride during the week.  

Farah & Connie & a HUGE Douglas Fir!

 It took a while, navigating the trail system.  We've for sure figured out #207!  :-)  In just under ten-miles - we managed 1,447ft. of elevation gain!  People wondered how Diane kept her horse fit?  Not!  Both mares got a good workout, though neither even broke much of  a sweat.  Farah just keeps getting stronger & smarter - still taking a second look at dark patches at the edge of the trail - but - has never refused me anything.  Feeling lucky, very lucky to have her for my partner!

Riding Heart Lake~

Heart Lake Trails

The weatherman said Sunshine - there had been sunshine for three days & I'd not been in the saddle!  Time to call Jennifer & Lynn to see if they wanted a road-trip north to meet-up & ride some of my favorite trails!  Their answer?  Yes!  It was about noon when we pulled into the parking area, several families fishing & a perfect day to be on the island.

Jennifer wisely stopped to buy a map & took over as our trail guide.  This time, we went on the "southern" trails that Diane & I used to travel often.  I'd not ventured there on my own, but with the map - I was hoping that we might find at least one of the view spots that I knew were there.  These are technical trails with a capitol "T".  Lots of hills, short steep & some rock areas.  All three horses dug in & we spent the day climbing & admiring the incredible diversity of the area. 

An amazingly beautiful wildflower~

With the high cloud cover that moved in, it was a perfect day to be in such a perfect place.  We had do to a lot of stopping, taking photos of the wildflowers that were around almost every corner.    Jennifer did a super job of map reading!

Jennifer reading the map, as Lynn waits~

We found one of the view points where Diane & I used to go - we called it the "Big Rock" overlook.

Connie & Farah on the "Rock"  (Thanks for the photo Lynn)

Farah always anxious to be in the lead, was ready to take on the rock & would have gone right over the end if I'd let her!  It would have been one of those "Snowy River" moments for sure!   The three of us enjoyed the day, the company & the trails so much that it was hard to finally start back later in the afternoon.  We're hoping to plan another trip soon, with more time & ride the area we didn't get to today & re-ride this one!