Between my aching back (which thank goodness is all better now) and "one thing after another," we haven't had the time or desire to do much riding since early January.
But with a little nudging from a friend (thanks, Barb!) we finally hooked up the trailer and left the boarding stable. Cloud literally jumped into the trailer she was so anxious to go out and see some new sights!
The Glenwood Horse Trail is a 65 mile long multi-use trail in the Jefferson National Forest. An easy 40 minute drive from the stables, the trail is mostly located on the western slope of the Blue Ridge and often runs near both the Appalachian Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Gus..... isn't he a handsome stocky fellow? |
We had a pleasant 8 mile round trip "out and back" ride, following the Glenwood Trail south and turning around when we reached Belfast Creek. Under blue skies and with the temperature eventually up in the 70's; I started out the day with a light jacket which I took off before the end of the ride.
It was another relaxing ride on Cloud who gets better with each outing. Sarge wanted to set speed records going home and so got a little "jiggy" for Joe on the return trip which is one of the drawbacks of not riding a loop trail. The rest of our group was Barb on Gus, Wendy on Dante, and Lisa on Tie. Poor Joe.... the token man once again!
I expected more rocks and elevation changes but that four mile section was mostly flat, wide trail with good footing which will be perfect for moving out on when we get the horses in a little better shape.
I'm planning to work on an effort to catalog the horse trails in this section of the state, so we'll be exploring this section of the NF a lot more in the spring.
Wendy on Dante |