Not really, but our horseback ride Tuesday was into the Rocky Mountain National Park to one of its abandoned gold mines. For some reason, Rebecca and I were the only ones signed up for this ride. So, we had our own personal trip which was really nice. Our guide Amber was great and the ride was fun. We had to cross the highway from the ranch and then we entered Roosevelt National Forest for a bit, wandering through on an easy trail to the junction with the Rocky Mountain National Park (RNMP). Amber said that they are only allowed 8 riders plus the guide from the ranch into RNMP at any given time. I guess the daily stables get priority in the park since there are several large stables in Estes Park that offer rides into RNMP. None of them would come anywhere near where we were going since Lane Guest Ranch is 12 miles south of Estes Park. Oh well, one can never figure out the ways of the federal government.
Anyway, we had the trail to ourselves the whole time. After entering the Park, the trail got tougher and we had to cross a small creek to get to the mine. Amber was riding Mr. Man who she said was a bit afraid of the creek, but today he did fine - maybe since he was in the lead, he had to show our horses that he could do it. He only stopped for a quick drink of water before crossing.
Oh, Rebecca had her same horse - Bonnie - while I got to ride another mustang, Oreo. My horse from Monday was being used by a National Forest guy who was riding one of the trails that the ranch uses to check soil quality and trail erosion - why they worry so much about what the horses do and could care less what all the ATVs do on the trails (noise, pollution and trail damage) is beyond me. But, at least they used a great horse for that trip.
Back to our trip....The gold mine isn't much to look at - basically a bricked-up hole with some water streaming out of it and some quartz rock lying around. This was not a very successful mine but at least it left a nice trail that the donkeys/mules used to cart out the rock. After seeing the mine, we went up a steep bank and had a very steep, technical trip down to a meadow area - the horses were great although Oreo frequently wanted to make her own path and I had to keep her from taking some shortcuts. What made this bit difficult was that it was mostly sand and small pebbles, which slipped under the horses' hooves. The ride through the meadow was nice and we headed back across the road back to the ranch where we got to hang out with the wranglers and the barn dog for a while. Then, it was back to our cabin to see if Ali was back from his ride.
He chose a more difficult ride than Monday so Rebecca and I were a bit worried about him. But, he was back when we got back to our cabin. The ride wasn't described correctly and he thought he was going to have an extra 2000 feet vertical - 1000 feet down to the end and 1000 feet back to where the descent began. But, he got to his goal - House Rock - and realized that the ride had him going much further than that. He chose to turn around at House Rock, a smart move since he had already done a very technical 12 plus miles.
We all had a nice lunch by the pool - of course, Rebecca swam first. Afterwards, Rebecca and I took a silversmithing class - included in the rate and we got to keep our creations. It was really fun to do so we plan to do it again on Thursday afternoon. Ali spent his free time reading the newspapers - they arrive a bit late in the day - and then planning his next ride. Rebecca and I are scheduled to do our first Intermediate ride in the morning and I'm also getting up to do an early morning wildlife excursion the ranch offers one day a week.
Next up:
Rain, rain, go away
Anyway, we had the trail to ourselves the whole time. After entering the Park, the trail got tougher and we had to cross a small creek to get to the mine. Amber was riding Mr. Man who she said was a bit afraid of the creek, but today he did fine - maybe since he was in the lead, he had to show our horses that he could do it. He only stopped for a quick drink of water before crossing.
Oh, Rebecca had her same horse - Bonnie - while I got to ride another mustang, Oreo. My horse from Monday was being used by a National Forest guy who was riding one of the trails that the ranch uses to check soil quality and trail erosion - why they worry so much about what the horses do and could care less what all the ATVs do on the trails (noise, pollution and trail damage) is beyond me. But, at least they used a great horse for that trip.
Back to our trip....The gold mine isn't much to look at - basically a bricked-up hole with some water streaming out of it and some quartz rock lying around. This was not a very successful mine but at least it left a nice trail that the donkeys/mules used to cart out the rock. After seeing the mine, we went up a steep bank and had a very steep, technical trip down to a meadow area - the horses were great although Oreo frequently wanted to make her own path and I had to keep her from taking some shortcuts. What made this bit difficult was that it was mostly sand and small pebbles, which slipped under the horses' hooves. The ride through the meadow was nice and we headed back across the road back to the ranch where we got to hang out with the wranglers and the barn dog for a while. Then, it was back to our cabin to see if Ali was back from his ride.
He chose a more difficult ride than Monday so Rebecca and I were a bit worried about him. But, he was back when we got back to our cabin. The ride wasn't described correctly and he thought he was going to have an extra 2000 feet vertical - 1000 feet down to the end and 1000 feet back to where the descent began. But, he got to his goal - House Rock - and realized that the ride had him going much further than that. He chose to turn around at House Rock, a smart move since he had already done a very technical 12 plus miles.
We all had a nice lunch by the pool - of course, Rebecca swam first. Afterwards, Rebecca and I took a silversmithing class - included in the rate and we got to keep our creations. It was really fun to do so we plan to do it again on Thursday afternoon. Ali spent his free time reading the newspapers - they arrive a bit late in the day - and then planning his next ride. Rebecca and I are scheduled to do our first Intermediate ride in the morning and I'm also getting up to do an early morning wildlife excursion the ranch offers one day a week.
Next up:
Rain, rain, go away
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