Fun Trail Outing

A friend and I trailered out this afternoon for a ride in my favorite local area.

I seriously debated bringing Ginger, since it was just going to be a couple of good friends and their horses who are all used to Ginger and her quirks. At the last minute we realized bringing Ginger would mean rearranging everyone in the trailer since she's so large. It ended up being easier to just leave everyone be and instead catch and load Midge in the back. It was a blessing in disguise because when we got to the trail head there were some hydro crews with big equipment working on the overhead lines - not sure Ginger would have been cool about getting tacked up under all that!

We headed out for a three hour tour of the area. It's changed a bit since the last time I rode there  - a ton of active logging and even a new gravel pit. It's always a little sad to see some of our favorite outdoor areas clearcut and temporarily turned industrial, but I've lived here long enough to know that it's a cycle. In a few years from now, everything will be replanted and green and beautiful again. If we're really lucky the gravel roads will even be resurfaced into a horse friendly trails.

 For those not from the area, the vast majority of the land base (Google tells me 94%) around here is public lands managed by the provincial and federal government. In much of the province, those lands are essentially leased out to forestry and other interests. Because they are theoretically public though, access for recreational use isn't overly regulated and we have an unlimited amount of trails to explore if we don't mind sharing with industry now and then! The company currently holding the lease in the area we ride in is super interested in keeping us happy and is wonderful about leaving our trails alone and building and maintaining access routes.around their active areas. Long story short, we don't begrudge them too much for cutting down some of the scenery once in a while :)

No more big trees, but lots of afternoon sunshine!

Love this trail - it's an old logging railroad and the footing is nice and soft!

All in all, a great outing with friends.Bridget was super well behaved, and tackled creeks, bridges, ATV's, and even a fully loaded logging truck with zero fuss. There are days when she's worth her weight in gold :)