In which we meet up with golden friends and explore the Cowboy Camp trails

"Come visit and ride with me at Cowboy Camp!" 

said Rosemary (about a million times).

Finally, I went.

Rosemary, a gracious hostess

Cowboy Campsite was started years ago as a place where riders and their families could camp with horses adjacent to the beautiful Les Hilde/Harry Osborne trail system. 

The "Golden Boys" at home in their paddocks

The organization works very much like a condominium association:  people buy their lots and improve them (or not) as they like.  There are a great many rules governing the types of buildings and fencing, which allows the site to maintain a tidy, "western" look that is very appealing.

Fiddle is ignoring the geldings.  Ignoring. The. Geldings.  Ignoring!

Having their own sites means members never have to hope they'll find a spot to park and camp at the nearby Les Hilde trailhead, which often hosts poker rides and other gatherings.  (Les Hilde hosted the 1998 Bully Wully, the first endurance event I ever attended!)

Still ignoring.  Food helps.

Members like to socialize with the neighbors.  I was VERY curious about this adorable little trailer parked near Rosemary's site, so we went for a visit and asked to poke around.

I. Want. This.  We wouldn't even need to paint it purple to make it perfect.

Turns out that I already knew the owner (really, the horse world is not that big), and she took us on a tour.  The trailer is a Sundowner "Horizen 6906", with a 6' living quarters (including a little cook top, a fridge, and even a teeny toilet/shower room) and only 17' of deck.  Pretty much perfect for the stuff I do!  Now all I need is money....(don't hold your breath).

More visitors came by as we sat chatting in the shade.

This horse is wearing a GoPro on his head!

Time to go explore the trails.

Hank ("Harry Potter" is his "hanging out with Rosemary" name) is learning to be a trail horse.
Griffin and Rosemary pony him all over everywhere.

The trails are beautiful.  Although I know they get really soggy in winter, we haven't had significant rainfall since June, and the ground is dusty and dry.

The leaves are green, but we really do need rain.  Fire danger is high again.

We stopped at the creek for a quick drink before heading back to camp.

Griffin has taught Hank well:
both of the golden horses plonked directly into the creek for a drink.

At the end of our ride, Rosemary took Fiddle and me for a little tour of the Cowboy Camp.

The entry gate

My camera battery sputtered and died about 1/3 of the way through the tour, but you can see what it's like.  People would say "hi" as we walked by, even though I was clearly a stranger.





Most folks like to exclaim over the pretty golden horses, but one lady pointed right at Fiddle and said, "oh, she's beautiful."   Nice to know that somebody besides me thinks so!

Thank you for inviting me, Rosemary.  I definitely want to visit again!