Well it finally happened. I had avoided it up until this point. Have you figured it out yet? Probably not. Well, this evening, after a great session of wake boarding with my friend Justin and his dad at Sloan's Lake, we stopped at Starbucks and I had my very first coffee concoction. I believe it was a venti Espresso thing with caramel and milk. It was pretty good, but I should have gotten the decaf.
You'll never guess what we did this past Sunday.
Jennie and I went on our first camping trip with our horses: Cody and Little Anne. We spent one night at the Equestrian campground at White Ranch Park in Jefferson County.
After owning a packing saddle for 4 years we finally used it!
We took a packing and outfitting course at CSU before we purchased the saddle. We learned about tying knots and hitches (which are ways of securing the load to the horse), preparing a horse for a trip and his care during it, how to plan a packing trip, and setting up camp. Our instructor, Chuck Peterson, was a character and good teacher.
We left our home on Sunday with the panniers, the bags on the horse I'm standing next to, all packed. One of the keys to a successful trip is to have them weighted the same. This keeps the horse balanced and helps prevent sores from developing on its back. I used our foot scale to weigh the panniers, they each weighed close to 42 pounds.
When we started out Jennie ended up leading Little Anne because we all weren't accustomed to our tasks yet. Our rig spent the night in the parking lot that is just over the hill in the background.
The hike in from the parking lot was around 1.6 miles. Not too far, but Little Anne asked for some breaks on the way. By the time we got there our nerves were rattled a bit, but we made it in one piece.
After unloading the horses we setup camp.
The campground was free to use, but we had to make a reservation with the county. This was the Sourdough Springs Equestrian Camp. You can see the hitching posts in the above picture and the corral below. In addition to these facilities there is a toilet, firewood, and a pump.
Our site was surrounded by woods like these. It was very peaceful.
For dinner we cooked our hamburgers on the grill. Before going to bed we put our food up to keep it away from the bears and them from us.
Sleep didn't come easily at first because our horses were bored for lack of something to do. We were greeted by this site in the morning.
Breakfast was also done on the grill since Zac didn't check the fuel level in the stove we brought. It was a 2 hour, 3 course meal!
After breakfast we did a little hiking and then we packed up and headed back home. This time Little Anne was more cooperative so we were able to lead her while on Cody's back.
The trip was a blast, but it had its frustrating moments. We agreed though we'd be doing it again and hopefully sooner than later.
Thanks for coming along.
Hay ya'll!
We recently got another load (~5 tons) of hay for our horses. My cousin Chris and his family helped us along with our roommate Mendy. Five tons may sound like a lot, but it is quite easy with five people helping. It took around 1.5 hours to move it all.
Got my hair bleached/dyed in a salon for the first time. My sister-in-law, Hannah, did it a couple weeks ago. Here are some pictures.
Under the dryer
