lost, not lost

I went out on some trails and got "lost, not lost." How do you get not lost? You know where you are (in general). You know what direction it is to get back (in general). But you don't quite know how to get back. At all.

what the trail system is like, really!

There is a spaghetti of trails in the canyon outside of Auburn. The canyon is 1500-2000 feet deep. There is a layer of between 4-7 trails horizontally along topo lines, and an unknown multitude which connect those. I'm sure some people know all the trails. I know a lot on southern side, not so many to the north…as I discovered.

room to move!

looking down on the river water station and old dam site

Tamaroo Bar trail marked, anxious horse won't pause for a photo!

We headed out for a change of scenery. I think we were both tired of the lake trail, no matter how lovely. The nice wide trail becomes rocky as it descends to Tamaroo Bar. I know not to continue on the Tamaroo Bar trail, I've hiked it, and it is NOT safe for horses. So after a little playing in the water, with no one else around, we headed back up, and took a right on an unmarked trail.

downstream view from Tamaroo Bar

a horse walks into an empty bar…there is a joke there somewhere...

back past the cool barrels

Up and up, we traveled a bit, finally getting to another horizontally running trail. Hmmm, right looks good, it's not towards home, but let's explore. Major was game. Lovely trail, no one around, and the trail got smaller and smaller, more pine-needele covered, until it petered out. Oh well, turn around.

pine needles cover the trail

a bit rocky

We're going home! Major decided. With that energy to deal with (but manageable) we headed back down the trail. It continued straight past our previous junction, and after a bit, managed to intersect with a major trail, yeah! I looked back to read the trail sign: "no horses." Damn! I NEVER poach trails. I always respect all the user groups allowed, and am so glad I didn't run into someone and have to apologize for my ignorance. (I have also sent a note to the park, to please mark both ends of the trail, so no one else makes that mistake).

But we were back on a multi-use trail. Which one? I had no idea, but we were not lost, and trotted on, as we were headed in the correct general direction! Then a sign for a trail I recognized: "Overlook Trail (steep)." Uh oh, usually around here when they say steep, they mean it. But Major was game…

if it says "steep," pay attention

About half way up Major needed a breather: it was steep! There was a pretty little waterfall, so we rested, then headed on. At the top was a revelation: I know exactly where we are!

resting at the tiny waterfall

old train abutment along the trail

We followed our standard trail web back, but they were the known spaghetti of trails. Major was a bit more tired after this ride, as we hadn't done anything with elevation in months. Made him think a little bit, which was good, and I learned a few new trails and completely enjoyed being lost, not lost:  I think we'll try it again...

almost home, looking back where we had been