In which we run away and go camping with good friends and their horses

We didn't all bring horses.

Setting up camp at Silver Ridge

Megan doesn't ride at all, and Patty's four horses are (in order): Too Old, Too Silly, Too Young, and Way Too Young so she didn't bring any of them.

 

Picking up Megan on my way outta town.  Her neighbor said "there's a HORSE in there?"
Yes.  Yes there is.

We can all camp together anyhow!

Traditional "proof of surviving Seattle traffic" photo at the top of Snoqualmie Pass

We headed to Silver Ridge campground, near the top of the pass.  I visited there in 2020 and 2021.  

Since then, the campground has been sold to a California developer, and they've done some essential work around the place (repairing some very iffy corrals, for example).  That was nice.  

The trails, aside from the "main drags" mostly used by dirt bikes, were in desperate need of some chainsaw work.  I took my hand clippers with me (they ride in a bag on my saddle routinely) but no saws or loppers.  Instead, I wiggled through some branchy spots, but otherwise stayed on the main drags.  

And then there's the lake. 

August 2020, swimming in Lake Kachess

Standing in the same spot as shown in the photo (above), September 2024

An extra month makes a difference in the lake level, but the drought is responsible for most of the change. 

Catherine, if you're reading this:  I looked for the hoof boot you lost the day we went swimming but I didn't find it!

Betsey and I rode to the lake edge (about a mile away from the two photos above) and tried to wade the horses.  Fiddle was Deeply Dubious:  where was her lake?  She remained mad that we were in the camp by her lake but I never took her there.  

Betsey's horse Willy desperately wanted to swim and roll in the water (while wearing his tack).  Because he's that kind of a horse.

In camp there was plenty of food.

Veggie str fry, using up lots of garden veggies

Eggs, with lots of veggies

and plenty of bugs (not very aggressive yet, still at the dumb-and-drunk stage of their end days)

We ran experiments to see which concoctions of gatorade and ripe fruit
would attract the most stripey b@stards into our traps.

Megan got stung the first day, but I think the rest of us were unscathed all weekend. 

The horses wore fly sheets and masks whenever they were in the paddocks, because the flies were a plague.

The almost-inevitable apocalyptic skies of September.  This week's smoke was courtesy of the 
Williams Mine fire in SE Washington.  AQI was never above 50, which is something we
know to check on because that is our world now.

And plenty of fun, especially when we took a humans-only trip to the lake.

We un-hitched ONE truck and crammed all SIX of us into it.

The in-dash GPS showed us EXACTLY where we were.

We sampled the water together.  It seemed cold at first.

The day was warm but not hot.  Did we really want to swim?

Megan brought floaties.  We were very dignified in their use.

We swam.

Piratical post-swim laundry line

I rode out every day--never too far or too fast.  

Blurry photo courtesy of a dirty lens, not smoke!  The Dragon insisted on greeting the baby.

She did not like this lake.  Why couldn't I take her to her lake?

Happy Dragon, happy rider.