Loping and Rock Climbing

Today was our day to try for an Intermediate ride. To do an intermediate ride, you have to pass a loping test. Loping is faster than trotting but slower than a gallop. My horse today was Squirt - the other riders say it is because she frequently "passes gas" but that is just talk. Squirt is a lovely Paint mix who the wranglers say has a very nice lope. I took the test and passed, thanks to Squirt, not any great skill on my part. Rebecca was on Bonnie again. On her first try, Bonnie only got up to a trot. But, on her second try, Bonnie got up to a nice lope. Rebecca, however, decided that she wasn't quite up to loping. Thankfully, Denny, the head wrangler was really nice about it and asked Amber to take us on a shorter ride along much of the same route the other group was riding. So, once again, we had a private ride. Amber's a really nice guide and we enjoyed having more time to talk with her. She was riding one of her favorites - Mr. Man - he's still young and needs some work but will be a great lead pony soon. (He's not the normal, small pony either - as big as some of the horses and quite stout!) We went on Cabin Creek Road, which was the road Ali used to get to several of his rides. It was just a dirt road but we got to see lots of small and large homes. I assume many of them are vacation homes but some looked like year-round places. (We were amazed how many places were for sale everywhere we went - of course, Colorado has one of the highest foreclosure rates in the country right now.) We also got lots of chances to trot with the horses, which was fun. Squirt has a reputation for biting the other horses (she's in heat right now so no wonder!) so I had to make sure we stayed back from Bonnie. For some reason, these horses really like to stay right behind the horse in front so it's work to keep them back. Squirt is also one of the horses they use to lead rides and I could tell she didn't like to be in the back. At one point, Bonnie stopped to use the bathroom and Squirt just walked ahead, ignoring my attempts to keep her back. Oh well, at least I kept her from biting Bonnie.

Ali chose to ride to Johnny Park again – this time he planned to descend to the park and ride back up. We had hoped to go hiking in the afternoon so he didn’t want a really hard, long ride but he left earlier so he could do this one. He really enjoyed it – by this time, we were all feeling much more acclimatized to the altitude so it was a good day to do this ride for him.

As has been the case all week, after lunch the storm clouds started rolling in. It seems this time of year, they come from every direction and roll over the mountains with their pitch black clouds and occasional lightening. We hoped for the best, setting off in our little SUV with a plan to look for sheep again at Sheep Lake, head into Estes Park to buy a few things, and hike around Bear Lake, a nice easy hike for Rebecca. Ali was worried that our gas gauge wasn’t working right – it showed over ¾ full despite quite a bit of mountain driving. So, we stopped for gas on the way. Surprisingly, our little Kia SUV was getting about 30 miles per gallon, a nice surprise! Unfortunately, when we got to the Park entrance, it started to rain. And, when we got to Sheep Lake, the sign said that no Bighorn Sheep had been seen since they saw 14 on Friday, August 10. We spoke to one of the volunteers and she said that the likelihood of seeing them at Sheep Lake was about nil – they tend to stop coming down about mid-August and it was raining so the visibility was poor, meaning they couldn’t see if there were any predators about (primarily coyotes). She told us they have their babies in May so the best time to see them is much earlier in the season. We promised Rebecca we would come back earlier next year so we would have a better chance of seeing them. We nixed the hike around Bear Lake due to the rain and headed into Estes Park to the main shopping drag – Elkhorn Avenue, which of course should be named Elk Antler Avenue…. Afterwards, we headed back to the ranch – on the way, we saw quite a few Elk – a pair grazing next to a church, a couple of yearlings a bit further up, and a small herd at a pond near where I saw the large herd on the early morning guided drive.

Later, Rebecca finally joined the Kids Camp for some fun – it was a tie-dye party with games and a cook-out. Ali and I ate on the patio and Rebecca joined us when she was done for her dessert.


Next up – Early birds catch the wildlife