Article and photos by Allanna Jackson

In the latter half of July, the White Mountains had thunderstorms and rain almost every day. There was enough rain to lift the fire restrictions, but not enough to fill the lakes or end the drought.

August 1 was hot and cloudy but dry, so I decided to trailer both horses to the Lumberjack Trail. Right after breakfast, I hitched the trailer and did a pre-trip inspection on the combination. Everything was fine. The horses finished their breakfast and watched me prepare the trailer. They weren’t sure if they were going somewhere until I started loading tack and putting hay in the trailer manger.

Cinnamon wandered off to the back corner, but then met me half-way when I called her. I tied her up and went to get Velvet, who eagerly met me at her gate when I called her. I tied Velvet next to Cinnamon as I checked and cleaned their feet and gave them a quick brushing.

I led Cinnamon to the trailer, leaving Velvet tied up. Velvet fidgeted in circles, wrapping the tie strap over the top of her head, while I loaded Cinnamon into the trailer. When it was Velvet’s turn, she walked nicely to the trailer, waited patiently for me to open the door, then jumped in. Both horses trailer’d nicely.

Besides the Mountain High Half Marathon and the Color Run events, which both occurred that morning, I saw many runners and bicyclists just enjoying the day on our way to the trailhead. The Springs trail parking lot was full when we passed it. I could see that the Country Club Trail parking was also full as I slowed for the left turn onto Forest Road 187 and Blue Ridge Trailhead no. 2.

There were four vehicles parked at the Blue Ridge trailhead, but there was nobody around. Velvet unloaded perfectly and stood tied quietly, looking around while I unloaded Cinnamon and saddled her. A few minutes later someone arrived, got into a red diesel truck and opted to back out onto Forest Road 187, rather than try to go around us. Velvet appreciated his courtesy. While I was saddling, I noticed one wire for the trailer lights had broken en route; I pushed it back together as best I could, but it will have to be repaired before our next outing.

After saddling Cinnamon and putting hoof boots on both horses, we set off up the Blue Ridge Trail at a leisurely walk. I guided Cinnamon onto the Lumberjack Trail. Velvet followed along nicely on a slack lead. Evidently her lagging on the lead was because of sore feet from the rocks, because putting a set of hoof boots on her instantly improved her manners about ponying.

We crossed a dried-out mud spot where the trail crossed a low place. There was a small rock barrier uphill that seemed to create a puddle rather than keeping the trail dry.

Before trail marker LJ1, I noticed a large, freshly fallen Ponderosa pine. A few feet up the trail, there were large chunks of trunk lying on the ground as if the tree had exploded. I’d seen lightning ground strikes in that area several days earlier, but there was no evidence of fire. The four or five other large trees in the group appear fine. Time will tell if they survived the shock that blew up their neighbor.

I didn’t see as many wildflowers as I expected after the rains; mostly thistle flowers and many more thistle plants. Near marker LJ3, there was a patch of both milkweed flowers and thistles beside the trail. The pollinators love both types of flowers.

Around marker LJ 6, I could see the mountains to the south and east, so I photographed them. When I stopped the horses to do this, they decided it was snack time and ate the nearest grass. I kept an eye out for the resident elk and deer, but didn’t see any.

The best mountain views are between LJ10 and LJ11, though as the numbers ascended the views were mostly behind us. I stopped several times to turn around and photograph them. The horses snacked on grass and duff. Cinnamon got a little willful about it until I spanked her once with Velvet’s lead rope. After LJ11 the trail climbed a summit with grass on top where both horses did more trailside snacking.

The New Mexico locust plants between LJ12 and LJ13 were leafed out but had not bloomed this year. We stopped at the junction of Lumberjack Trail, marker LJ13, and Blue Ridge Trail, marker BR9. Cinnamon looked left, knowing that it was the direction home. I let the horses snack while I drank some water. I turned right, taking the shorter loop down the Blue Ridge Trail back to the trailhead.

Cinnamon slowed down and picked her way carefully down the Blue Ridge Trail. We’d gone only a hundred yards when I realized Cinnamon was trying to tell me one of her boots had come unfastened. I stopped, dismounted, fastened the boot, then checked all eight boots. I mounted again, disrupted the horses’ snacking, and we continued down the trail. Cinnamon was still being slow and cautious going downhill. Velvet continued following nicely on a slack lead, except for stealing a few more grass snacks when she could.

Back at the trailhead, the parking lot was deserted, except for my rig. We had the trail to ourselves the whole time and never saw the owners of the other vehicles that had been there when we arrived.

I unsaddled Cinnamon and offered both horses a drink of water. They each took a sip. After removing their boots, I brushed them, then loaded them into the trailer. Velvet again loaded perfectly after Cinnamon was in the trailer. Back at home the horses unloaded perfectly, so I let them graze in the yard while I ate a quick, late lunch. I put the horses in their corrals and unloaded and parked the trailer. It was a lovely ride on a gorgeous summer day.