Blackhawk Trail Ride

Way back when, in the pre-BFS (that's Bee Fields shawl) days, we used to actually trail ride.  And now that we are finally seeing light at the end of that tunnel, I thought I'd throw in some pictures and a brief recap of a ride we took just before the BFS hysteria ensued. 

We had been wanting to ride the Blackhawk Trail, which is a portion of the Nebo Loop in the Uinta mountain range, for a while.  There are tons of trails in this area, but this one seemed a nice 13-mile loop and would afford us gorgeous views.  So, back in July, we trailered up the very steep and windy access road to the trail head, which is nicely situated with a big parking lot for horse rigs, several bathrooms (I really cannot tell you how nice this feature is!) and good water for the horses.

The trail starts out at a fairly high 8500-foot or so elevation, so you've done the bulk of your climbing in the truck.  It's a nice, rolling single-track trail through small groves of trees:

and then back out into the open meadows with spectacular views of the surrounding mountain peaks. (Gratuitous horse ears in shot, just for you, Cathy.)

The only thing Diggs doesn't like about the meadows is... uh oh... cows.  We ran into several large groups during the ride, and part of the reason his ears are so "alert" in the photo above is he is 99% sure there is a cow hidden behind this sign.

The trail is wonderful to ride for our Fox Trotters.  Fairly smooth, packed dirt with little rocks and it lets them really step out in their gaits and motor along.  We did quite a bit of running walking, even on the steeper uphills.  The crew took a break at a local stream while we had a snack and looked at the map.

There's Hap's rather round bum on the far left, with D; Pam and Shahara in the middle; Dan's riding his paint horse, Abbey; and John's digging for more food from his packs on Jazz.

It was a great trip.  Sadly, the day after we rode the loop, the area was hit with another devastating fire (as so many areas have been this summer in Utah) which you can read about here.  We haven't been back since, but would like to ride it again to see the damage and what the area looks like post-fire.  A reminder that when you are in the high mountains out west, and the sky looks like this:

It's getting time to gather the troops and head for home, with an eye to the sky.

All for now.....

Comments

[Mary Lou]

Looks like fun. oh those scary cows. We had a great all day ride planned and partway thru Ms. Holley started favoring her right front, so we just turned around and walked back to the trailer. sigh. But fun while it lasted. I think she may have a little arthritis in her knee from an old injury and her feet got too long, aggravating it. Trying Surpass, a nsaid cream, we'll see how it goes. and a shorter time between farrier appts!

[Carole]

I'm glad things with the BFS are under control and you were able to get out and enjoy a ride.

[margene]

The Unita's get all the rain! Wish we had more of that sky around here lately. Maybe hurricane Dean will come our way, maybe we'll have some fall weather soon, maybe we won't burn up before this all happens. Nice ride! I totally love the Unita Mountains.

[Cathy]

Oooohhhhh - wonderful!

[Sheepish Annie]

Seriously...everywhere I go now there is a reference to the Bee Field Shawl!!! It's hysteria, but a good kind, right?

Too bad that it takes some time away from the trail riding, though. Those are some lovely pictures and all the more precious since the fire swept through.

[Chris]

Top of my wish list these days are a good truck and a horse trailer. The fantasy? Haul out to ride trail everywhere I can. Puts the expense of a custom spinning wheel in better light, no?

[Beth S.]

I think it's hysterical that your horse is afraid of the big, scary, menacing cows. ;-)

[cyndy]

beautiful ride! thanks! It will be interesting to see how things grow back after the fire....hopefully the fire cleared out all of those bad cows...moooo!

[Liz]

thanks for a ride photo montage.... i can feel the sun and a warm breeze in the meadow.... whoops, there's a cow... thanks for the trip!

[Carol]

Very nice ride! It's terrible to hear about fires, even if it's Mother Nature's way:( So Diggs is afraid of cows I presume?

[Birdsong]

The photos look lovely... I am envious as we haven't had two days off together this summer and we certainly haven't gotten any of the burros out. Hopefully in the fall.... and you be sure to squeeze in a few more outings, too. I am so glad to hear that Bee Fields was such an overwhelming success.

[Karen]

Hehe...I hope the cow didn't scare him when he jumped out from behind that sign! It looks like it was a beautiful ride.

I'm glad things are getting under control for you. :)

[ellen]

Thanks for sharing the trail pictures. I think Utah is the most beautiful state I've visited, and it's so hard to find the time to get back to see it again. I came over to take a peek at your blog from Ravelry - lovin' the Snowy Evergreen socks!

[kathy b]

You know I love the pony posts so much. Thanks.