Six Hours on the Trail

...and both Sandy and I are tired and sore!

Torri and I headed up the hill at 9:15 on Tuesday morning. We were wanting to explore a new trail which Torri thought would loop around to Ogallala. Rather than go up the so called Beginner's Trail (which in no way, shape or form is for beginners), we stuck to the logging road. I was beginning to come down with a cold, had maybe 2 1/2 hours of sleep to my name and had made a mad dash to the grocery store for some daytime cold remedy that wouldn't put me to sleep in the saddle. Upon reading the directions (and who does that, really? But for some reason I did...), I found that I couldn't take the meds if I were taking acetameniphen. In other words, my non-asprin pain relief pills that I'd just popped made it impossible for me to now take the big orange capsules that would clear my sinuses. Great. I swallowed down a couple of throat lozenges over the next couple of hours until I knew the cold meds were safe.

The trail was nice and wide for the most part. Quite steep in some areas. A bit muddy in spots. And there were where it was quite evident we were traveling up the face of a mountain by the rock beneath our horse's hooves. Torri brought along her Australian Shepherd who trotted happily along at our feet. By the time we were heading home, she was not trotting quite so briskly, but she was still happy to be out with us.

Once out of the trees we found ourselves with a view that far surpassed those which we normally found at the lower level hills. I've been taking this same basic shot from below, but at this point we can see well beyond the tip of the bay and up into Blaine. It's incredible, really, when you see it in person. Perhaps in the spring we won't have quite so much haze and I can get a really good shot for y'all to enjoy. Or maybe it's just my head cold that created that fog? That lower left patch of green, the little bitty bit triangle shape, is where the horses and sheep spend many summer days. It seems so far away!


Torri's been up here before, although it's been a few years. She tells me that once we round the bend in the road we'll be able to see Mt. Baker and the Twin Sisters. From here, however, I'm content seeing the Canadian Rockies way out there beyond the county...and country...line.

"See? I told you!"

Isn't it lovely? It's been logged here the past few years, so we've got a magnificent view of the mountain right now. Small trees are planted and in 15 years the view won't be so spectacular, but right now we're enjoying it. Miles upon miles of logging roads lead over the hills and I can't wait to get out there and explore. Once winter hits and the trails are closed, we'll be limited to the roads, so that's when we'll head out on these merry adventures.

It turned out that we never did make it to Ogallala. There was work being done, new roads being built and heavy equipment up at the top. They were willing to shut it down for us, but with dump trucks coming up the road and not knowing if there'd be a place to get safely out of their way, we opted to turn back this time. But next time...next time we'll figure it out!

Oh, wait...no, next time we said we'd go down trail #5 and see where that went instead. Well, no matter which way, it'll be a great adventure! And maybe by then I won't be living in the fog of a head cold.