First, another Thank You is due to Dean Essex, DVM - for teaching me about saddles! It was so cold & so crisp & Farah was So full of herself! We got past the Utility crew cutting on our trees, snort, snort. Then across Pat's & up the road...
Farah is very animated!
Next we go through the neighbors yard & up onto the trail.
Snow frozen on the ground & bushes~
Good I say to myself, now she will settle down! Not! AT the end of this short trail it opens up & there were several spots of frozen water. As we went past one, Farah's fast feet set a rock flying that landed & slid across the ice at her rear end. In the next second she bucked & I was above my saddle looking down. I came down - right back into the seat with my feet back in the stirrups! YES! I love my saddle! My horse got the stick! No more shenanigans!
Rock hard frozen ground~
At the end of this trail is a sharp downhill where the base of the Beaver Dam blocks the end of the big wetland. The water was pouring over the trail.
No, not a river, just a full creek flowing over the trail~
I love this part, the part where Ms. Farah just goes trudging right through the water! What an improvement over our first months together almost two-years ago now. We actually did a little gallop on the way up to the power lines.
North - It looked & was COLD!
We turned South~
Going past one of the Beaver Ponds,, the water had a layer of ice. Farah had been breaking through the ice on the trails. She figured out how to break through with a foot - then drink as it gurgled under the remaining ice.
Beaver Pond
This time we rode over to see if the gate was still in place on 130th, & it was~
Closed gate on our map~
Another adrenalin rush... as we rounded the corner & went into the shade, Farah slipped! The road was covered with a layer of black ice. I moved her over onto the shoulder.
Looking back the way we'd come~
As you can see in the photo above & a close-up on the one below, this area hosts probably the most "protected" area signs anywhere in the state.
Really?
Before the logging, before the paving, before the fencing - yes - it was the most spectacular area - a forgotten gem of a place with fresh flowing creeks, full of salmon, wetlands with fish, birds & beaver - but now? Houses in rows, yards, pollutants, yard debris? Really? There's the matter of the funding to actually protect the area? Where does that come from? If they'd just stayed out - it took pretty good care of itself. Somewhere under this land is supposed to be the largest fresh water aquifer left on this side of the state. The large wetland is the recharge area for the aquifer, I've been told.
Mt. Pilchuck
We come back over to our side of the ridge & are welcomed by one of the best views in this part of the county~ My fingers were getting numb from taking the pictures, but it was our ride & I'm sticking to it! :-)
It's cold, about 32 degrees, wet & again we have large, wet flakes of snow falling through the air...The dogs & I huddled on the swing while I sipped my tea & watched them fall. It seems like the last few years we haven't made it through January without at least one or two snowfalls. Last year it held off until mid-month~
January 15, 2012
2011, on the same day, you see below that we were white~
January 9, 2011 Dogwood Gulch
We did get enough snow yesterday to cover the grass & it's still covered today. At least as far as my photographic record goes, we didn't have snow on the ground in January of 2010, but the mountains were white!
January 6, 2010 - Three Fingers
In 2009 though - it was different story~
January 2, 2009
That year we had plenty of snow coming into the New Year & sunshine too. It was such a "nice" January that I did a lot of riding & my friends did too :-)
January 17, 2009 - Khari, Joyce, Annie, Elation, Diane, Kendall, Jesse, Charlotte & Fancy
January 19, 2012 How it looked heading for home from Arlington
There you have it, a little history of the weather for this time of year! Let's hope we don't continue to get slammed with huge snow storms, downed trees, power outages & all the interesting days of last January!
I've found the video of Jasrada. (Dean had the camera & she knew better than to run over Him! :-) (She must have been about 18 when this was taken.) We found her one rainy day in 1992 - at a herd dispersal sale in Puyallup. We were looking for an interim ridefor Butch while his young colt Khaz was growing up. Instead, what we found was a mare that changed our lives forever.
We started with Competitive Trail, where Jas & Butch collected many first place blue ribbons in 25-mile rides & two-day 50's. By 1995 I was looking for an endurance horse & decided to try Jas. She was so game & so savvy, too smart for her own good & Very competitive! Her recoveries were awesome & we placed fourth in her first 50 at Bully Wully. Our second ride, Animal House - we came into the Vet Check to find her back legs splattered with blood - she was bleeding from both front coronary bands, something no one had ever seen.
I could never give her up & she would never give up - so we kept trying different supplements, different farriers, vets & were open to any & all advice. By the end of her career, we had over 300-miles in pulls, most at 40-miles, when her feet would give out & she would be grade 1 lame.
Those times when we managed to have it all together, when she had enough hoof to shoe & when she'd been sound enough, long enough, for us to condition - we could win! Every ride, she would spook once - I would never know when or at what & had several unplanned dismounts over the years! We were riding before the Decade Team Award began, then missed getting it - by the one year (2003) I was injured. With those 300-miles in pulls - Jas also missed receiving a thousand-mile medallion...
Once she finally retired, though - she didn't miss anything! :-) Perfect for our newly arriving Grand-kids, she loved Ben as though he were her own & would whinny for him the minute she heard his voice!
10-15-04 Ben walks Jas to the barn after his ride~
Many was the time I heard Ben say when it came to Jas; "I can do it myself Grammy!" He did too! He had no fear of her at all & would take on any trail as long has he was on her back.
Jas came down with Anterior Entheritis in April of 2003. Dean Essex, DVM took on her treatment rather than putting her down. She was on fluids for over a week, but he never gave up & neither did she. With an amazing show of strength & mental toughness - she pulled through. I was determined that she would end her Endurance career with a 50-mile ride & we accomplished that at Klickitat in 2005.
Jas & Ben May 24, 2005
When we lost her, Ben was as heartbroken as we all were. He lost his interest in riding & that was the end of that. Why I started digging for the video I don't know, but I'm glad to have found it & happy to share it with you~
I wanted to ride today, but the weatherdidn't look promising this morning. So - I decided to wait & see if the afternoon weather improved any & it did! Saddling up with a plan - to retrace my last ride & find my glove & Farah's shoe. No luck with the glove, but we did find the shoe, right where I knew it would be! It wasn't even bent!
Wetland to the north~
Years ago, we used to actually be able to ride from "our" trails all the way over to what would eventually be the Centennial Trail. It took a lot of work, brush whacking, water crossings, roads to cross, you name it - but it was always a fun adventure.Since the woods have been cut down & civilization has encroached further & further away from the towns - into the countryside - fences have gone up. Even under the power lines & across the easement, more fencing. Homeowners that moved into the houses built on the west side, have put upno trespassing signs.I don't know if they are able to lease the land or exactly what the status is with the power company. It seems to me - that to loose right-of-ways that have been in use forever is a sad thing. Especially, since I see the area used more as a dump for discarded tires, broken cars, construction junk etc.
Trails to paving~
When construction signs went up several years ago, after a lot of logging had gone on, anyone who was familiar with this area was sick. We went to court & fought as hard as we could to stop the development, but to no avail. Finally, the paving went in... Then - things came to a crashing halt, as did the economy. It's been gated, fenced, locked & left.
As we come out to the Power Lines
We manage, going between whats left our our old trail system, some of the paved roads (Where sadly more houses will probably someday be.) & through open gates, or around closed ones. I'm thankful to still have it. Now, with the GPS & ability to "see" where we are & what's between us & the Centennial Trail, it would be an interesting project - to see if we could manage to get there from here :-)
Ms. Farah is enjoying our solo outings, she easily & effortlessly walks along well over 4 mph, then we do some galloping - which she loves! Today - I let her kick it up to 21 mph. Using the snaffle is a bit more challenging (pardon the pun) but when I ask her to start slowing down, she listens.
Next, to ride the trail & get it mapped with my GPS again. Then - some time on Google Earth - just curious as to whether I could plot a route!
My favorite mountain gave me a great close to the first day of the new year. It was 4:21 p.m., sunset & the colors change so fast!
Two minutes later~
The pinks changed to blues & grays. One of those "bucket list" things, is to hike this peak. I know in the old days, old ladies did it - so I guess I must still have time! Last summer when it was so dry would have been perfect, but maybe this coming summer will give me the opportunity. Don't really care if I make the climb all the way to the top, but even getting somewhere in the vicinity would work.
I've hiked since I was a kid, climbing the first ridge of the front range at the edge of north Boulder on my way home from elementary school, to visit the few horses who pastured there. Later I'd do the hikes up, just so I could run down, jumping from rock to rock. That was when I had knees & probably part of the reason they're a bit worn now :-)
Whether you enjoy them from below or hike up to the top - there's something about high places that gives you that special feeling that you're in a special place on the great planet Earth~
