A few weeks ago I took Aubrey on a long ride up to the top of the mountain behind my parent's place and then down the back side. This is one of my favorite rides. My mom, sister and I spent a lot of time riding in these mountains. We use to take Dad's cows up to the top. It was an all day event and the cows got very tired by the time they got to the top. We had cows that would just hide out in the brush and refuse to move. I even remember one getting bitten by a rattlesnake. It has been so much fun to take the girls to all my favorite places. I am really enjoying riding with them this summer as they are getting more independent on a horse. Having a trustworthy horse sure helps! Good old Shasta!
When we were riding over to the mountain, Aubrey saw this old structure and wanted to go inspect it. It use to be a well house were the homesteaders drew their water from. It was made from rocks found on the mountainside and part of it still stands today. Aubrey asked how old it was. When I told her probably just over 100 years old, her eyes got big and she got so excited that it was still standing and couldn't believe it was 100 years old!
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| Aubrey with Shasta in front of the 100 year old well house. |
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| Inspecting the inside of the well house. |
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| A view of some of my parent's and brother's land. My parents live in the area with the buildings on the top left and my brother's house is hidden by the trees in the middle of the picture. |
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| Going along the side of the mountain to get to the trail. |
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| A couple of summers ago there was a fire on my parent's and brother's place. My Dad, brother, and I fought the fire along with many friends and neighbors. The tribe finally sent over a large crew to fight the fire, but it got to close for comfort to my brother's house. We were sad it burnt some of the trees we love riding through, but it could have been much worse than it was. It burnt a total of about 250 to 300 acres before it was put out. |
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| Aubrey and Shasta heading up the mountain. |
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| I was taking a picture of Aubrey when I saw a flash out of the corner of my eye. I put down the camera and saw a bear running in front of Aubrey and Shasta. They were just sitting there watching it run up the road in front of them. I quickly put the camera back up to get a picture but it was running so fast I barely got it. You can see a blur running behind the bush to the right of Aubrey's right shoulder in the picture. We also saw quite a few deer on this trip. |
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| Aubrey and Shasta watching the bear run into the bushes. |
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| I thought this was a cute picture of both Shasta and Aubrey looking back at me. It looks like Shasta is saying to us, "Come on slow pokes, I am the one who is 25 years old here, not you!" |
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| The view from the top. Farm land, ponds, the valley, and our neighbors houses can be seen from the top, but my parents house is blocked by the mountain below this one. |
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| Aubrey took this picture of the horses and me at the top. |
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| We stopped and had a snack in the shade. |
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| Aubrey and her trusty stede. She greatly enjoyed this ride! |
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| Looks like Shasta is checking out the view. |
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| Down the other side where there aren't any trees. We lost our shade to ride in. |
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| It gets pretty steep on this side, but Shasta knows what he is doing. |
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| Riding though the buck brush. |
We had a great ride, but it sure was hot that day! Aubrey gained a lot of confidence in her riding ability and I enjoyed showing her one of my favorite places to ride!