We haven't camped in the trailer since 2013, and that was one over-night in West Virginia to mow grass. No horses, no riding. It was one of our New Year's Resolutions, too. Finally, we're camping!
The weather could not be better for camping. No rain in sight, warm days and perfect nights.
We had 'neighbors' right next to us, a family with two girls and three horses and a dog. They went riding, ride out time was 8:00 o'clock. We were up, but we aren't riding out that early! We're having breakfast with coffee, leisurely. He showers, I shower, walk the dog and hang out.
Our friend rode out with a group of her gaited-horse friends, and we got ready to go. We left around 10:30.
We rode to Sykesville, heading out straight out the driveway, crossing the road and into the park. We turned right, going to the swimming hole. Beautiful day, holiday weekend, and no one was there at the swimming hole. We are alone!
We go into the woods to the right, following the path along the Patapsco River. I see a heron! We run into a rider, she was camping near us, not very friendly, she's heading back to the club. We continue on and see a trio of riders, meeting on a very steep bench-cut go-around at the river. I back KC up enough for them to decide what they want to do. One rider is acting fearful about the situation.
We continue on, picking up the speed where we can, relaxing and chatting, letting the boys graze at other spots.
We make our way along the river, the trail is dusty with the lack of rain, some areas are hard as bricks, others are loose sandy spots. There are hikers and joggers and dog people out on the trail. We see no horses on this stretch.
We come out onto River Road and there are people fishing and playing in the river. It is a beautiful day. As we are going up the roadway we see our friend and her group in the river. We go into the river and chat with them for a minute.
The group was tagging and routing a new trail on the other side of the river that goes back to Gorsuch Switch Road trail, and we are very interested in this way. They encouraged us to use it, the more that do the better the trail will be.
We got to Sykesville, fairly uneventful with the road and bridge, no trains. KC was great in the parking lot and along the sidewalk, that does get narrow because of the way the buildings are constructed along Main Street. It is wide enough for him to keep his feet on, but that's about it.
We had a delightful lunch, sitting on the patio in the shade. We headed back and as we got onto the road a cop pulled someone over right on Main Street, lights flashing. We rode on the sidewalk right past them, KC was stellar.
Into the river, we looked for the tags and finally found the exit from the water, crossed the train tracks and immediately into the woods and hillside. The trail was tagged very well, mostly, and it was great riding in an area we have never been in before.
We were told later their were ground bees at this lovely stone house ruin.
We did not run into the bees ourselves.
We finally got back to camp around 5 o'clock. Max was a good boy, we got positive reports from other campers. We also learned that someone had gotten into bees and fell from her horse, who then stepped on her, breaking her pelvis in three places and broken wrist. She was back-boarded over a mile to the helicopter for airlift to Shock Trauma in Baltimore. I did hear a helicopter over us, but the leaf canopy is very dense in this park.
People were worried about us, but our ride was uneventful, really.
