The stormy weekends the White Mountains had for Thanksgiving and the first weekend of December interfered with my notions about trail riding someplace different. I’m not going to complain about receiving a little much-needed rain and snow!

Saturday, Dec. 2nd dawned with a light covering of snow on the ground, sub-freezing temperatures, and clear skies. It looked like Cinnamon and I might be able to sneak in a morning trail ride on a trail close to home before the snow melted into mud. I took a walk myself while Cinnamon ate breakfast.

It was late morning by the time I saddled Cinnamon and we set off for the Ice Cave. Good stewardship of trails involves staying on the trail and hiking or riding only on durable surfaces. But what’s a durable surface? Here in the White Mountains, the dirt trails are a durable surface when they are dry, but when those same trails are muddy they are extremely fragile and very easily damaged. Furthermore, our clay soil changes from hard-as-concrete to a sticky, soupy mud bog very quickly. Snow counts as a “durable” surface when it’s thick enough to protect the trail because it erases all the user tracks when it melts off. But melting snow creates mud. How much snow does it take to make the trail usable? That depends on the temperature since a frozen trail is more durable, but it’s more comfortable being outdoors when the temperature is above freezing. Add it all up and it’s challenging for trail users to figure out when the trail has made that abrupt transition from being dry enough to be durable to being too muddy to use.

The Ice Cave trail was still mostly covered with about half an inch of snow when Cinnamon and I set off, though in the sunny areas the snow was already melting, adding to the thin trace of mud created by the trace of rain we had before the snow. Cinnamon’s boots were leaving only tracks in the snow. We stuck to the most heavily compacted trail where a thin layer of mud was just beginning to form in the sunniest spots. Cinnamon’s boot tracks were no deeper than they are in the dust when the trail is totally dry.

We crossed Porter Creek, then the spring feeding into it, and climbed the small hill between Scott Reservoir and the south fence line. Part of the way up the hill we met a woman and her dog crossing the trail as they picked their way in the snow. They continued across the snow toward the lake to get out of our way.

Cinnamon and I continued up the trail to the gate in the east fence of Scott Reservoir Recreation Area. The gate was standing wide open. As we approached the gate Cinnamon alerted to a couple of hikers with two dogs. They immediately caught the dogs. One of the dogs started barking at Cinnamon. The man held and reassured the dog and explained to me that she was a 4 -4-month-old puppy who had never seen a horse before. It was a large puppy! I was grateful when the hikers and dogs stepped well off the trail, staying mostly on the snow, to let us by.

I was pleased to see that Cinnamon’s boot had not collected any mud by the time we reached the gate. That quickly changed as we rounded the turn where the trail crosses a spring aftermarket IC6. That area is muddy even when the rest of the trail is dry so finding the most durable route is tricky any time. So we did the best we could but got muddy anyway.

The snow was melting in the sunny spots while it was still snowy in the shade. Cinnamon was a bit sluggish and getting slower. I generally let her pick her own speed through tricky sections of trail, but when she got so slow she tripped instead of stepping over a rock I informed her sleepwalking was not acceptable! I urged her a little faster and she woke up and paid better attention to where she was walking.

As we approached the Ice Cave I heard chainsaws in the distance but couldn’t tell if it was woodcutters or residents of the nearby neighborhood. We followed the official trail around to the right aftermarket IC9, then took the unmarked but heavily used loop in front of the Ice Cave. The cave had a little bit of snow around the edges but no icicles. The contrast of the black rock with the snow made the entrance look darker than usual.

Cinnamon perked up as we rounded the loop and turned toward home. The trail was already getting muddy, but there were tracks where some sort of OHV had crossed the trail on a logging route in the few minutes since we’d come the other direction. The green Dodge pickup truck that somebody abandoned in a logged clearing several months ago was still there with its two flat tires.

The sunny portions of the trail were getting muddier by the minute. The best we could do was stay on the marked route and continue back toward the trailhead. The shady spots were still snow-covered. Cinnamon and I had the trail to ourselves until we got back to Scott Reservoir. The recent storms have raised the water level in the lake. Someone was walking along the east shoreline, calling a dog who was about halfway between us and the hiker. The dog was far enough around the shore it didn’t matter.



Cinnamon and I had the trail to ourselves the rest of the way home. It was a pleasant ride on a nice sunny day. I was glad I’d opted to do my hiking and riding in the morning before the snow melted and the trails got too muddy to use.