In which Day 3 of the Fall Ride is a nice long one with some sunshine

The weather on the Fall Ride was never what you'd call

"really nice and warm."

I took this photo in the morning when we parked the rigs at Hyak. 
By the time we arrived in the afternoon with the horses, the hills had sn*w on top.

Thanks to a large collection of good gear, I stayed comfortable the entire time...but there was a lot of swapping out layers along the way.

Biggify the photo to zoom in on the driver of this unusual rust bucket,
parked just a half-mile from camp in Easton.

The sky might be increasingly blue, but temps varied from cold wind to kind of cool swampy humidity.

Short tunnel, no singing necessary. 
I may have been singing anyhow, because messing with acoustics inside tunnels is fun.

It may be pumpkin spice latte season for the rest of y'all, but we were in the mountains!

I wore my long poofy down jacket for part of this ride, and then traded it for my long Dragonwalker raincoat, which keeps in heat from horse and rider, without the bulk of the down coat. Of course, I was also wearing fleece tights, wool socks, a long-sleeved wool shirt and a wool sweater the whole time too.

Fee keeps watch on these bridge railings with her "danger ears"

Washington is called the "Evergreen State" for a reason.  We appreciate our deciduous trees, but we are mostly surrounded by cedar, fir, and hemlock trees, especially on the wet side.  This stretch of trail is still technically east of the mountains, but the flora in the mountain passes is closer to wet-side plant life than dry-side.

Only the vine maples will turn interesting colors.  We have other deciduous trees, but they mostly
fling sulky soggy brown leaves at the ground without any ceremony whatsoever.

Here's something to love:  Rob and Gaylord and the Coyote Comfort Lounge, aka the porta-potty station, which met us halfway on the trail.  They also had a big pink bucket of water for thirsty horses, and a bucket of tasty apples for horses and riders.

Thanks for bringing the mounting block too, y'all!

After about 10 miles on this 19 mile stretch of trail, the Dragon decided to spend some Quality Time with Piglet.  She slowed her marching speed and insisted he hustle up his, so we were able to walk together for a few friendly miles.

"Push with your butt, Piglet!"

She even made him lead across a (little) bridge, and he did it perfectly.

Fiddle followed behind with her usual "bridge warning ears."

It was at this point that Jenni decided to make this her last riding day.  Their Day #3 ride was just about perfect, and it was a good place to quit.  I agreed with her.  I knew I was going to miss their company on the trail, but hey:  3 days is still a multiday!

More and more blue sky as we tromp west

I've never been on this stretch of the trail before, but I've seen it plenty of times--from Interstate 90.  This was the first time I have ever seen the highway from this vantage point.

I think I'll never drive that stretch of road again without remembering how it looks from the far side of Lake Keechelus.

You can't see it in the photo, but Fiddle is looking across the lake
at our new "wildlife bridge" over the highway

We stopped beside the lake to take photos of Jenni's last day on the trail.

He was a really good Piglet on day 3, thanks to good training, good riding, and good chemistry

You can't quite see how many layers of warm clothing I'm wearing, but it was a LOT.

19 miles of trail behind us, we walked into camp.  There was sn*w on the mountains above our parking area, but the riders didn't care much.

Suzie and Andrea and Gaylord were lounging around when we arrived. 
Andrea's horse had been a knucklehead at the start,
but she got his wheels all pointed forward and moving down the trail...finally.

To celebrate the long day, Olympia hosted a margarita bar for everyone!

Olympia is really good at celebrations

The last ride meeting was quick, because it was held in front of a TACO TRUCK, and we were all hungry.

Shrimp burritos with fresh guacamole, mmMMmmm!  Are you still talking?

Jenni was happy with her horse, happy with herself, and happy with the decision to sleep overnight and then drive home instead of riding through the LONG TUNNEL on Day #4.  The margarita might have helped a little bit with the happiness.

I do like that smile on Jenni

Next up:  a tunnel 2.5 miles long!