friday ride

finishing breakfast before the trail

It was going to be hot, so we got an early start. Saddled, bridled, booted, and off we headed into the forest. It is nice that some of the muddy trails are accessible again, so we descended Barking Dog Hill onto the Pioneer Express trail.

At every trail junction Major thought about turning for home, but a little leg and we continued on, toward Rattlesnake Bar. Major loves this part of the trail, and we trotted down the trail, curving through the rocks (catching a stirrup on them too, gotta have quick feet, glad for caged stirrups!). He didn't even hesitate at the first bridge, just kept trotting across. As we continued on we crossed two more bridges, the final one had something odd. This bridge has terrible handrails that could catch a rider right in the knee, so we go slow and careful. Looking down the stream is flowing, and the bridge seems to be...moving? And the dirt? Baby frogs! Everywhere! I felt so bad that we were probably squishing them!


We continued on, stopping at the lake for a drink/wade/scuba session. Major would have just walked right out and started swimming. This year the waves are no concern to him. I decided to explore rather than continue on. There is a trail that goes up to a huge power stanchion, alien-looking, 50 feet tall, that I've always wondered about. So we went that way. The trail follows the power lines, is pretty nice and open, at the top the trail forks. The left had a noisy power generator at the bottom, Major didn't seem to like the noise. I decided to fight that battle another day, and went right, down the hill, hooking back with the main trail, just farther on. A nice diversion, I'm sure we'll try it again, I think there might be other hidden trails in there, I know there used to be one for Avery Pond. Maybe good to explore when it isn't already 90 degrees at 10am.

A good (fast) return trip home. Got his great extended trot, faster than his trail canter, he just powers along, fun to see the GPS read 14mph trot! Summer rides in the heat can be pretty draining, so the plan will be to go early, even earlier than this. If I didn't ride on 95 degree days, there would be no riding most of the summer!