Tuesday Trail Ride at Elk Mountain

Tuesday was by far my most favorite trail ride. I loved the scenery that we saw that day. The trails weren't too steep or rocky. I have this horrible fear of heights. And some of the trails were steep in the down wards direction. Then add rocks on top of that and if that wasn't bad enough, as we would go down the hill, I would give Billy his head and all Billy would do was try to eat on his way down. So, as we were headed downward all of a sudden I wouldn't have a horse head anymore. It was scary. I knew I was safe, but it still made my hands sweat. This picture just makes me laugh. Mr. Cowboy's face is just about the same as Ally's face. We were sitting and admiring the view. Not too shabby huh? This is Caleb and his horse Scout. He is a Mustang mix of some kind. He was a really good boy. Really stout too. Then next came my favorite part of the ride. We got to go into some really awesome Aspen groves. It was so beautiful. Again, the picture doesn't do the Aspen trees any justice. But there were trees as far as we could see. And can you see Billy eyeballing some of that green grass? I swear that was all he thought about the entire day. Billy and I have a lot in common.......we LOVE FOOD!!! Mr. Cowboy was resting up a bit. He really liked riding Ally. Which is a lot to say for Mr. Cowboy, because at home he always tells me how much he hates to ride horses. I know, GASP!!! But he always says, "Let's sell all the horses and buy a boat!" He just sees horses as a money pit. So, for him to say he liked Ally, was a big deal. We rode our horses until we came to a clearing where we were going to have lunch. Caleb, our awesome Wrangler, took all our horses and tied them to a high line. And we waited for the rest of the groups to meet up with us. Here is the second group and Martine, in the pink sweater, was doing a little dance for the group. I had to laugh. She was such a character. Martine is from Paris. She said that if I ever were to go to Paris that we would have to stay with her. I may just have to take her up on that. The views at lunch were fantastic. It just amazes me how high up we were and how far down that valley looked. Do you see how strong I am? I bent this tree right in half!! Watch out Mr. Cowboy, you better keep in line, or else!! Yes, I am a dork!! This was a fun tree for pictures. Mr. Cowboy thought it would be nice to take a picture of me taking a picture. The man by the tree is Spike. He is a retired airplane pilot. He has some fun stories to tell. By then all of the other trail rides had met up with us and the Wranglers got started on some Brunch. There was some bubbly. Well, it was non alcoholic, because there is no drinking and riding!! Some ham being cooked over the fire! Nate did a fantastic job!! Jason added in 5 Ostrich eggs. Well, that is what he said. Rumor had it, it was more like 85 chicken eggs. But that was just a rumor. Mr. Idaho himself, Mike, cooking up some awesome potatoes. Can you all just see the weight piling on me? Oh how the diet went out the window! We were just hanging around talking and someone offered to take our picture. The two girls next to me were from Denmark. They were a lot of fun. Then the girl all the way at the end with the black and blue zip up on is Hunter. She is Tom and Sue's daughter. She is one lucky girl, getting to grow up on a Dude Ranch. But she is a girl after my own heart, she likes to show Pleasure horses!! Just before brunch was ready I needed to use the little girl's room. But one thing about the mountains is that there aren't any little girl's rooms. So, I ventured away from the people to find me a good spot. Romeo was tied to a tree a little ways away from everyone else. He has issues with Billy. I think he is jealous of Billy's super find dorsal stripe. Okay, probably not, but it sounds good right? Here is Cochise, Mike's horse for the day. He looked so beautiful tied there with all those Aspen trees. See that spot on the Aspen tree where the bark is missing? That is from an Elk! We also saw a few trees with bear claw marks in them!! Then when I found the perfect spot, I handed Mr. Cowboy my camera and walked away. That was a mistake. Yes, Mr. Cowboy thought it would be super funny to take a picture of me. So much for finding a good spot with out any peeping Toms. And yes, Dad, I did just put that picture on my blog! By the time we got back to the group it was time to eat. The Wranglers made us all some brunch. Eggs with ham and cheese with some potatoes on the side. It was really good. Mr. Cowboy and I with our Bubbly!! After everyone ate, we had a few minutes to let our food settle. This is Karen and Mark, they were the cutest couple ever. Now if I could just find the paper that has their email address on it I would be in business. They were both such wonderful people. It was just so peacful eating lunch and looking out at the mountains. I could have built me a house right there in that exact spot. Sigh.........but after we were finished eating it was time for a game of Fat Bat Ball. Which was so fun!! Mr. Cowboy eyeballing the ball. I guess he didn't feel it was in a good spot. Then Mr. Cowboy porceeded to hit the ball into the only tree in the entire field. Really, come on Mr. Cowboy!!! It was pretty funny to watch Celeb run after the ball in his chincs. Spike had some mad skills!! But Martine......well......she had never played before. Man I loved that lady!! She cracked me up!! But she got a hit!! After a very fun game of Fat Bat Ball, we all got back on our horses for a fun filled afternoon of trail riding. Our group of trail riding buddies. See Billy? He is looking at that grass again. But this picture was taken after we got the chance to canter trough the field. Oh I was so excited. It has been one of my dreams to canter through a field. Me being mostly an arena rider, I have never gotten much of a chance to do mountain trail riding or get to canter through a field. It was awesome! The field we cantered through. It was so lovely. There were a lot of wild flowers there. This white one was pretty popular, but nobody knew what it was. Caleb had told us that is was called a "Bytrailya". Martine and I totally believed him. The guys in the trail group just laughed at us. Get it? It's a flower that is by ya on the trail? Ha ha ha ha.......... It was a fantastic day. I loved riding Billy. When we were finished with our trail rides for the day I would take his briddle off and scratch is face with my fingernails. He loved that. Then I would spoil him rotten with treats. I could do that because I was giving him back at the end of the week. Kind of like grandparents with grandkids. Okay, truthfully, I spoil all of my horses. If I could have fit Billy in my suit case I would have. I do think Tuesday was my favorite day.