Big Ridge, Redux

Lacking in imagination or in Steve’s time to figure out a new route, yesterday we re-did our perfectly fine route from my last entry’s ride. Here’s the trail through the aspen: We worked in a few changes as we figured out some shortcuts, ending up with 16 miles instead of last week’s eighteen. (Our newfound “old elk trail” from the trailhead to the road is not a keeper. Much too steep. The horses hated it.) Elevation gain was about the same as last week, 3900 feet, under 5 hours in the saddle. We topped out at 11, 100.
Here are Boss and Daisy taking in the scenery: Here’s Daisy resting in the only shade around: Lupine still grows at that altitude, although the flowers were done and the plants had formed seed pods. Summer is over up there on the tundra. Weather was still warm yesterday, though. Probably in the low 60’s and windy. The views were magnifique, maybe even more beautiful than last week because the air was clearer. (Last week there was a fire in the Split Mountain area.)
As we rode along the ridge, a red tail hawk cruised on the thermals at eye level.
Steve found some red gooseberry currant berries a few hundred feet below the top. He thought they tasted good. I wasn’t as impressed. We also saw some lovely red rose hips: On the way down, we met a couple of hunters on a 4 wheeler who stopped to talk horses. One young man described his mustang with great enthusiasm. He’s from Bluffdale and apparently does a lot of riding. He flipped through his cell phone pics and came up with a photo of his horse. Steve attempted to convey his email address so the boy could send him a photo, but in retrospect, we’re pretty sure Steve gave the wrong address anyway. Oh, well. Interesting how we communicate these days, with photos on the cell phone and email addresses. None of us had a pencil, pen or paper. The simple stuff is out, it seems.