Conditioning Again! Lord Hill and Pilchuck Tree Farm

I was having a shitty week and between EDRA board meetings and other schedule conflicts, I wouldn't be able to ride with Cortney. But I made sure to get out by myself because it would be no use if I couldn't condition solo.  Again, I bugged out of work early and grabbed Gwyn. 

She was happy to hop on the trailer and kept looking for a buddy to arrive. 

The yellow is Scotchbloom, which is just EVERYWHERE right now. 

Gwyn was game to climb up the switchbacks to the lookout on the pipeline. She felt stronger than the week prior, which was encouraging to me. 

We took off at a brisk trot up the pipeline, cantering where possible, walking where necessary. 

Then into the woods to loop back and down to the river.

And just reveling in the late afternoon sunlight.

At the river Gwyn was uninterested in swimming or even getting into the water, so we didn't linger.

Then up and past the pond here. I did find an alternate route up from the trail head that wasn't straight gravel road. I might use it as a finishing path rather than walking down the steep gravel and pavement in the future. I did the climb up the switchbacks one more time before realizing that I didn't have much time before the park closed so we turned back to the trailers. At this point, Gwyn fought me about turning around and really wanted to keep going. It was definitely encouraging.

The following Saturday I met Cortney and a new EDRA member, V, at Bracken, Pilchuck Tree Farm. V wanted to see how we condition.  The trip at PTF was more sedate than we would normally do as V's appy was very very slow and V was gaining confidence moving out on the trail with her guy.

It was a gorgeou day and V and Cortney were good companions on the trail. V lives near me so she and I might continue to condition together!

Neither of them were familiar with the trails, so it was up to me to navigate. I don't think I've replicated the same loop twice since I started riding here. I want to get more familiar, but I also appreciate just how many trails there are! There are even trails I haven't touched yet because I didn't know they existed until Cortney pointed them out. She'd ridden here in the past for some events with the rider's association.

The creek was nice to cool off feet before finishing up the ride and I was feeling pretty confident for the endurance ride. 

 

September Lord Hill Ride

Work was being stressful in September and with the change from summer to fall (you could smell the difference once day), I needed some forest time on horseback. I asked Cortney if she had plans and we were going to make a big day of things down south with another person who was just cleared to go back to riding.

Unfortunately, she couldn't make it after all, so rather than drive down to her, we adjusted for a more local ride. Cortney and Robin would come and meet me at Lord Hill Park. Robin had never been and given the forecast, it would be the most ideal spot for us. 

We met at the south parking lot, which is a shared lot, and to my surprise, there were a ton of people! Usually that's due to an event at the park and this was no exception. Search and Rescue was practicing that day. The lot is big, so there was plenty of room for our two rigs.

Starting in the south lot means that you start at the bottom of Lord Hill and have to climb. The 'usual' horse lot is at the TOP of the hill. I do like starting from the bottom because the climb up is a nice leg stretcher.

The forest was nice and quiet. Robin and Cortney are always down for adventures so I was able to finally figure out where that trail went (that my barnmates were convinced was not a trail - it is) 

Cortney rode her older mare, Splendid and ponied Reign. Reign has been changing so much that her saddles aren't fitting well. Hopefully the new saddle she ordered will be perfect! It arrives at the end of October!

We stuck mostly to the horse trail and had a good, quiet time in the woods. We encountered a few hikers, mostly near to the main parking lot. 

I always feel like I'm in a fairy tale when I ride through here. The best part is, it mostly stays this green through winter.

 The video I have below is from the section in the above few pictures. Just gorgeous!

We even found bones on a log, it looks like they were laid there by humans, but were not human in origin.