Riding the Redwoods

We had a short break in the weather for a few days again. So yesterday I went up to Orick to ride with my friend Tracie. Orick is about 1/2hr north of me, and home to a good chunk of the Redwood National Park. It has about 35 miles of trails that are hiking and equestrian use only. It is really not well known (you have to leave Hwy 101 to get to the trailhead and it doesn't have any signage as such...a big FAIL in the whole system for out of towners). The upside of that, is that the trails are not used by much anyone, except those of us that know they exist. And since they are about an hour's haul or more for most ppl, even those that know about them do not use them much. So those that do, have an awesome, 90% single track trail system, in one of the most beautiful places in the country, if not the world. Every year, our local endurance club hosts two endurance rides here as well. It has limited entries, and is a ride not to be missed. If you get a chance, come on up (July and August) and enjoy a stress free, fun, beautiful e-ride :)
Anyway, so Tracie and I decided to go up for a quick ride on Sunday and we met around 1:30pm. I really wanted to be out of there by 5, as my running lights are out on the trailer (something is grounding out and keeps popping a fuse in my truck that runs my dash lights and the running lights, but the brake/signal lights are fine at least...going to get it fixed this week). This left me about 3 hrs (was about 2 by the time I was ready to go) to get in a nice little ride. That is about perfect for one of the loops there. We have a 3 and 6 hr loop, an overnight, and a 3-day loop. Of course that is not the real timing, a lot of us joke we could crawl faster than that... at a slow endurance pace, the 3hr takes half that time, the 6hr takes about 4, the overnight about 5-6hrs (6 if you take a lunch break) and the 3-day maybe 7-8hrs (again, with a lunch stop). The first 2 miles are straight up a mountain too, with several little stream canyons to go in and out of the rest of the ride on the further loops and some fun "roller coaster" dippy-do trails as well as longer logging roads...so tons of great conditioning. Sooooo...why do I not go there more often, you ask? MUD I answer.... since most the system is on single track trail, and we get lots of rain here, the trails are pretty slick for 8mos of the year. This makes it so you have to walk quite a bit, and it just isn't much fun, esp when you have to haul all the way up there... then on top of that, the park does little to no maintenance for most the year, so we are left to our own devices, especially during the winter when the storms knock trees down all over the place. This means, you may get 6hrs into your 8hr loop, only to run into a HUGE redwood that came down, with NO WAY around, over, or under (and I have made some...interesting...bushwacking attempts in my time, to get past those...just to come onto another one that truly is not negotiable). This means you now have to turn around, and go BACK...for another 6 hrs... oh joy... So most the winter we either don't go up, or just do the short loops that are not too bad time-wise if you have to backtrack.
Yesterday, I picked the 3 hr loop, which would prob take about 2-2 1/2 hrs with the slower pace I have to put in for mud and the allowance for getting on and off the horse a bunch of times to break up the smaller branches and trees that fall over the trail (course I was dumb and didn't bring my handsaw this time, which I normally ALWAYS carry...least most the downed stuff is Alders, which usually break easily when you hop up and down on them).














This is a big, old, burnt out Redwood that is about a mile up the trail. It is traditional to take your picture in it, usually mounted (course another thing I couldn't get without another person there, LOL). It has a HUGE cavity in it :)
A pony could prob turn around in there, a bigger horse we just back up into the tree instead.


After the first ways up the mountain, you have the choice of going left or tight to start your loop...left means slightly uphill through the older growth grove and then down to the Alder trail, going back and having to go UP a really steep, slick hill. Right means DOWN that really steep, slick hill, down the Alder trail, and back around, coming back down through the Redwood grove (my favorite perspective...it just looks cooler coming down the slight hill, vs going up it...not sure why, but that is how I always route the E-ride trail too if I am in charge of the trails for the ride...just a neat view).
My main choice really was, do I want my horse to sit on his ass and ski down the slick hill, or scramble up it and potentially fall on his face? Either way, I'd be off his back leading or tailing...hmmm....I decided on going right and sliding down the hill in the end. It tends to be easier for the horse to catch himself on his rear, than to fall on his knees and nose when going up (sounds fun, huh? Most horses that ride here, between the bogs, the downed trees, the slick hills, the bridges and water ditches, would do great at a trail trial, LOL...). Decision made, we went on down the trail til I hit the hill...I really wish I could have videoed it, but just by myself I had a hard enough time keeping a hold of the horse and not falling myself or getting slid into by the horse. Usually, I ride with someone else, and we just send one rider to the bottom or top of that hill when it is that slick, secure the reins of the horse, and send it down/up on its own...same with the next, the other rider "catching" the horse when it arrives...the trail is tight enough there is NO where for the horse to take off to, but to where the other rider is...works great! Which reminds me, I WAS going to ride with Tracie, but she brought two horses so her friend that was going to meet us as well, could pony her other horse. Anyway, long story short, they were going to be a good while before they were ready to head out, and I really wanted back in time to get home before dark...so I took off on my own (good practice for Storm, as he did NOT want to leave the group, so we had to discuss that a little bit...once about 1/2 mile down the trail, he was fine though :) ) So that left me with no one to play the release and catch game with, and no way to video the action. And action it was...he was REALLY good, but it was really slick and he had to ski a few times. But he just sat on his butt (literally), didn't panic, and slid on down the worst parts, taking careful steps the rest of the way. Just what I like to see :) Meanwhile, I had to scramble around in the bushes on the side of the trail, so as not to get plowed into by a skiing horse...It was a good choice to go DOWN I think, as it would not have been nice going up it....



This is a view of going down the Alder trail...all those skinny, gray trees are Alders and they fall over in the slightest windstorm, to litter miles of trail.... The park only comes in around June or so to do a little maintenance and even then, it is usually us riders going out the back loops, telling them if there are any BIG downed trees. Apparently there is only a small window of time, that they are allowed to use power tools like a chainsaw in the park. Kinda a dumb rule, as some of those trees in that come down in the backwoods are BIG, OLD trees that really need chainsaws...if they do not get in there during that window, then someone (often the Back Country Horseman) has to go in with one of those huge, old fashioned, two-person saws to clear the trail...



That was the worst of the trail...after that, we walked the slick or boggy (fetlock to half-cannon deep, sucky clay that can pull a shoe right off a horse) parts and gaited the few drier areas. He climbed right over all the "cavaletti" (downed Alders) on the trail, that very from on the ground, to mid cannon height. If they got higher than that, I hopped off and moved them, broke them and moved them, or stomped them lower if they didn't break (note to self...DON'T FORGET THE SAW next time...sighhh). A few were high and I ducked, or had to lift while in the saddle and walk under (another good test, as the horse has to walk to the branch, stick the head under, STOP when I say so with branch in front of me, and then let me lift while they walk forward again....the branch will also often drop on the horse's back/butt after I let go and some startle at that....no issues there with Storm. Some were not movable/breakable and he had to navigate a knee-high tree...he did great! One set I couldn't move, and they were not high (mid cannon maybe?), but spaced one footfall apart. Meaning he'd step with one foot over one, then the next steps over the second, the third stepped by the other front again, as the hind foot navigates the first, and so on til all feet are through all three....takes some thinking on the horse's part...like I say, great trail trial horse in the making, LOL). That would have been another good video, but again, had my hands full leading him through it and not falling on my own face. :) Oh well...
We almost had to turn back at a small Redwood that came down, but after working on it and taking some branches off, there was one little spot that was low enough for him to just get over (I think I need to teach him to jump stuff in hand next, LOL...would be a good thing to have in the tool kit...my other horses will do that if I hit a tree that they can't walk over and I don't feel safe jumping in the saddle).
Here is a video of the Alder section, ending at the fallen Redwood.

After that, we had clear sailing but for a few small Alders, the rest of the way around the loop. We popped out into the old Redwood grove and I videoed that some as well.... Storm spooked once at something while I had my hands full videoing...I figure maybe he saw a T-rex walking through the trees or something :)














This is the "Jurassic Park" section of the old growth you pop into coming back down the hill.... The camera makes it seem like the trees are not all that big, but they are really thick and tall... in the summer, it is much brighter green and there will often be a layer of fog wisping between the trees....

We also picked up Tracie's trail, who came up a little ways, then went back...he KNEW it was her trail too (I ride with her enough, he knows her horses well) ...stuck his nose to the ground and followed the trail like a bloodhound, til I made him put his head up, LOL... too funny :) We caught up to Tracie and her friend halfway back down the switchbacks that go up and down the first big climb. Tracie's friend's horse had been whinnying at us for a while, so Storm was eager to catch them and just gaited on down that trail like a champ (this is the only non-slippery area, as the switchbacks are slightly graveled). We caught them and Tracie was riding her one horse, and ponying the other...turns out her friend's horse did not like her horse, so that was not going to happen. Her first time ponying, the first time for both her horses too...luckily they were all good, so it seemed to go fairly well :)
Back at the trailer, Tracie was stuck on the lawn (the parking is at the Orick rodeo grounds on grass...it gets pretty wet and the mud under it gets slick...4wd is generally a good idea, LOL) and was not going to get unstuck. My trailer is easy to unhook and re-hook, so we used my truck to tow her back onto the gravel access road. Hadn't towed anyone before, so that was fun :) Even with that, I was loaded up and ready to go in time to get home before dark...whoo hoo! A great day, a fun ride, and now back to showers all week :( Hopefully I can get one or two days of riding in anyway...
Here is a Video of the Jurasic Park section....