Took a short jaunt back to my old neighborhood yesterday. We rode trails up in Taylor Mountain Regional Park. I used to live less than 5 miles from those trails and for quite a few years rode them daily with Ariel. Ah the memories! Things have really changed up there in the last 12 years or so. The area was owed by Manke Lumber Company and recently was purchased by King County. Since then, lots of work has been done to maintain old trails and reroute poorly placed ones to accommodate salmon-bearing streams. I love riding in that area pretty much any time of year. The terrain is varied and occasionally there might be a bear or cougar sighting! Berries are abundant in July!
This ride was with a couple of my close girlfriends and my good friends Alayne and her husband Matt and three new folks I hadn’t met or ridden with before. We all had a great time and I look forward to riding with each of them again in the future.
Forgive the Buena ears in the photos as I only have pictures of everyone else so far. If I get some from the others, I will add them to this post later.
Here is one group photo from my good friend C’s camera; Buena and I are third from the left. Buena has Old Macs boots on, in case you were wondering why her front feet look so large in comparison!
11 comments:
Nice ride! I'm jealous! I don't think we'll hit any trails this winter. They are just too muddy. And finding time that both Paint Girl and I are both available, with daylight, and no rain... hardly possible. But we'll get back out this spring!
Looks like a lot of fun!!! I cant wait until me and Figi are able to go trail riding.
Looks like a really great ride out with friends in some pretty country, too.
How do you like your Old Macs?
I'm making plans to buy a pair for my mare soon.
~Lisa
New Mexico
Hi again Latigo Liz!! Wow, I am filled with envy. I haven't been on my horse for a couple of months at least! It looks like you had a very nice ride. I love riding on old logging roads like that, especially in the winter where you don't have to worry about traction or mud. And by the way...I love seeing Buena's lovely ears in your photos!! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!!
Looks like a great ride!!
Looks like you had a great time! I had a very nice ride last week.
What beautiful trails!
I had a dream about Taylor mountain the other night. I miss it more than I can express. I know where you were when you took some of those pics. I got the feel for the mountain as I looked at your pics, the odd semi-quiet solitude of that place before they put up a big blue sign which really invited everyone else in.
I rode my little endurance mare there a lot alone, and had some fun tresspassing adventures. One time we ran into a mother bear with babies - I was so scared. One year I almost got us stranded in deep snow. (When beaver pond freezes solid, try throwing rocks at it. It makes the most incredible noises.)
There is a watershed near where I live now in Germany, and as we hiked the trails recently, we came to a big fence surrounding the water, with big ominous signs saying keep out, water protection area, or something. My mind flashed back to the multitude of warning signs on Taylor mountain, "KEEP OUT - SOURCE OF SEATTLE's WATER." : ) (That didn't really keep me out though, oh, I used to be bad!)
~lytha in Germany
http://horsecrazyamerican.blogspot.com/
Liz, get in touch with me directly please. Jean Hoiland "Mindful Intent" magazine. I'm looking for writers and contributors. Need someone to write about the horse seen on the Plateau for the magazine. jean@mindfulintent.com 360-825-8282. I'm meeting some writers today for a brainstorming session. Join us 2:15pm at the yoga studio at JJ Smith, rm 17
Looks like you had a great ride, albeit cold and damp!
PG, I hope you got out there Saturday. It was warm and dry. Can’t say that I rode myself, though. ;)
Brenda, would love to hook up with you for a ride next spring/summer!
Lisa, the Old Macs are great. Easy on and easy off. A bit clunky, but Buena doesn't seem to mind much. I will be looking into other boots once these are worn out probably.
C-ing, our Thanksgiving was great, up until we all got sick! Doh! And it took us almost a week to get back to ‘normal’ around here, once we got home from MT!
Lytha, Taylor Mtn. has changed a bunch since you left! You wouldn’t even recognize some of the trail I bet!
Thanks everyone else, too. It was a good ride. I need to make it more of a normal occurrence instead of an occasional event!
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