The weather man claimed that it would be rainy this morning and clearing off this afternoon , so we decided to take the morning, pick up trailer tires and do a few errands and ride in the afternoon. As the morning went on, the clouds didn't seem to be clearing at all, in fact they were getting lower and the temp was dropping. We got home around noon, got the new tires on the trailer, threw the heavy oilskins in the truck and reluctantly headed out. By then it was already 2:00 and it was raining..and cold.
We made the best of it. Not another soul was out and on the trail and there is something very surreal about a dark, quiet, wet forest to ride in.. We were all in a mood to just take it easy today and for the first several miles, didn't do anything but walk. We did alot of climbing hills and made our way towards Pete's Ridge but when we hit the trail turn off to the ridge trail, we decided to go straight instead of taking a right up to the ridge. Eventually, the trail turned into a two track trail . We ran across a group of Paintball guru's before hitting a gate to a forest service road. We decided to turn around and head back and make our way up Pete's Ridge, only what we thought was a right to the Pete's Ridge trail , was the wrong right turn. We rode for about 3 miles , stopped for a while and had our "lunch/dinner" we had packed in the saddle bags, chicken, cheese sticks and water. Carrots for horses. We had one little mishap here. I went to give Brego a piece of carrot he had dropped and somehow, he managed to catch the tip of my middle finger in his front teeth and clamped down pretty hard. Good Grief that hurt!! Luckily I jerked away quickly (reaction) and got my finger back in one piece, although I will admit I was afraid to look at first for fear of seeing just a bloody stump. Instead, I just have a really big bruise on my finger nail and it hurts like you cannot believe..I will probably lose it.. .gross...
We rode for a ways longer and checked the GPS. Despite the rain, we were having such a great ride. The horses were being perfect and frankly we lost track of time. Tom checked his watch and it was already almost 6:00 p.m. OOPS.. The trail we were on was sending us too far south so given the late time, we decided to back track and make our way out. I would have liked to see where the trail took us but maybe next time.
The temperature was dropping quickly and despite my 4 layers (in MAY no less) , gloves, neck gaiter and ear fleece, I was beginning to get pretty cold . It didn't help that I was also wearing a heavy , now water laden oilskin. That takes a toll on the shoulders and back but I was thankful to have had it for today's ride because it kept me mostly dry. I will take a little discomfort of riding in layers over being cold any day.
We made it back to the truck, unsaddled, blanketed both horses, let them graze for a few minutes and got the heck on the road to get home. Heat seaters turned on high. It was heaven.. nearly fell asleep!The truck read that the outside temperature was 36 degrees...
Today was one of those days that I could have easily bagged going riding. Honestly, riding was the last thing I wanted to be doing but once we got out there, it was great. Despite, the very low snow levels...
We rode for a ways longer and checked the GPS. Despite the rain, we were having such a great ride. The horses were being perfect and frankly we lost track of time. Tom checked his watch and it was already almost 6:00 p.m. OOPS.. The trail we were on was sending us too far south so given the late time, we decided to back track and make our way out. I would have liked to see where the trail took us but maybe next time.
The temperature was dropping quickly and despite my 4 layers (in MAY no less) , gloves, neck gaiter and ear fleece, I was beginning to get pretty cold . It didn't help that I was also wearing a heavy , now water laden oilskin. That takes a toll on the shoulders and back but I was thankful to have had it for today's ride because it kept me mostly dry. I will take a little discomfort of riding in layers over being cold any day.
We made it back to the truck, unsaddled, blanketed both horses, let them graze for a few minutes and got the heck on the road to get home. Heat seaters turned on high. It was heaven.. nearly fell asleep!The truck read that the outside temperature was 36 degrees...
Today was one of those days that I could have easily bagged going riding. Honestly, riding was the last thing I wanted to be doing but once we got out there, it was great. Despite, the very low snow levels...
Its MAY!! This should not be happening !!
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