Harris Park/South Fork

Tonight Lara picked me up about 5:30 pm at the barn. We loaded Sinwaan up with hardly any fuss at all into the back section of the trailer, as Rocker was already in the front slot. We drove up to Harris Park/South Fork which took quite awhile with all the windy roads and section of gravel road.

We found a place to park, brushed the horses and tacked up. I put Sinwaan's boots on him again and after a couple of funny steps he was fine. This was to be an easy walking ride as the footing was very rocky and there were many water crossings. I had never forded a river before and tonight we crossed it 8-10 times. I lost count after four! In the water we could see LARGE fish, the Chinook were spawning and many of them were black and some were dead (which seemed to really get to Rocker after awhile, Sinwaan I don't think ever even noticed them). The trail was double track winding back and forth across the river with little single track offshoot trails.

We took one of the little offshoot trails and came to a LARGE downed tree across the trail. We dismounted and led the horses over it and Sinwaan did a funny little jump to clear it. Then the trail wrapped around and we never did have to go back over it the other way.

Very soon into our ride I heard the buzz of a dirt bike motor. I was in front so I held up my hand and tried to be as visible as possible. Thankfully this part of the trail was wide with good visibility (some parts are so thick with brush on the sides there are blind corners). The biker slid around to a stop and said "Oh hey, how are you!?" I said, do I know you? I could not ID the person with the large full helmet and goggles. The rider removed his goggles and then I could see it was Miles. He was with another rider and they went on their way. It made us aware of the possibility of more riders.

The horses were full of themselves tonight and Sinwaan was eager to trot. I held him back most of the time due to the footing. He did awesome with the river crossings. I was not sure what to expect but he gave me no trouble at all. About half way into our ride, he started kicking out his foot and shaking it and Lara noticed his boot was twisted. I dismounted and fixed it, and checked the other one but after another river crossing it was obvious they were not going to stay put any longer. I took them off and managed to stuff them into my saddlebags. They are fairly large, I was surprised that they fit. I rolled them up real tight and folded them over and that worked. After about five water crossings I started smelling an odor and realized it was the fishy water that had hitchhiked with us in my shoes. Sinwaan kicked up enough water to soak them and they were starting to get cold too!

Towards the end of our ride out there was a section of crazy deep smooth rocks. It was like a dry riverbed. That led us to a river crossing that looked too dangerous for us to attempt this evening. So we turned around and headed back then. I gave the camera to Lara so she could get a picture of us in the water and she doesn't know if it will turn out, she thinks she cut off my head. We took a number of photos tonight, I can't wait to post them.

On the way back we decided to take one of the narrow winding single-track trails, as it looked less rocky. Turns out it was less rocky but it also had drop-offs. There was one part, the view above was so magnificent, I wanted a photo of Sinwaan and I with the mountain in the background. Lara told us to go up on the knoll in the trail for a better angle. So we did and climbing up there was like a mini Cougar Rock. Well then Sinwaan's butt is to the camera and she wanted me to angle him more into the hill. So I did and his rear foot slipped a little on the edge but it was ok. He got turned around and then I think Rocker tried to walk off or something, anyway Lara didn't get the photo. So then somehow we got turned around again, I don't even remember how and started down the trail. The ledge there at that knoll was making me nervous so I went farther down the trail to turn around again to face the camera. Coming back to the knoll, Sinwaan started walking ON the edge of the ledge and lost his footing (it was soft dirt) and started slipping down! I have never been so scared in all my life (except the time[s] Dee would run away with me) I was yelling for him to get back up on the trail and I could feel him slipping and scrambling below me. I was really close to bailing off of him when he made it back on the safe part. WOWIE! Lara wished she had taken a photo of my horror-stricken face. :-P Sinwaan was a little more careful about where he put his feet after that. We did finally get our photo.

The sun was setting and we knew we didn't have much time left to get back to the trailer before dark. When we got to the end of our single-track offshoot trail we again heard the buzz of motorbikes. We waited where we were since we were off their trail and they went on by. There were three of them and we thought that was the last of them. We started down the double track main trail and heard some more coming up behind us. Sinwaan does great with them if he can see them but he doesn't like them behind him. We turned around and faced them and this guy turned off his motor and waited for us to get out of his way. He thought he was the last one but turns out there was another behind him. Rocker was starting to get really tense and bothered. Lara said we needed to get the heck out of there so we went back across the river again.

At one point there was a little no-hands bridge and I didn't know if Sinwaan would do it but he followed Rocker right over with no hesitation. Shortly after we realized it was a wet, steep and potentially dangerous trail so we turned back again. There are all kinds of options for riding around out there on trails, if you don't want to cross the river at all you don't have to, but then you are stuck with the bike trails which would be really troublesome if a biker came around a corner and ran into your horse.

In the thick parts it was really getting dark and COLD, it was a beautiful day to begin with, and now that it was dusk it was really cool next to the river, and with my feet soaked I was chilly and so glad I remembered my jacket. On our last stretch Sinwaan was getting spooky and jumping at noises in the bushes. We let them trot a little bit on the smooth parts of the trail to get back faster but they were short-lived and we were hesitant to let them go with how jumpy they were then.

We made it back safe to the truck and untacked as fast as we could and loaded them up just before darkness fell. It was perfect timing. It was a great ride full of new experiences and challenges and memorable moments. :)

Less than a week now until the Lakeview Ride!!!