Alone on my 40th birthday, with my husband living over in Wenatchee, WA. I decide that I would go for a ride to take my mind off it. I can't believe I am 40!! Where did time go?
I loaded Izzy up in the trailer and headed for USFS 232 trail, one of my favorites. Saddling up, the warm September breeze ruffled my hair and I couldn't wait to get going. I set my GPS and off we go. We briefly stayed on the forest service road and then turned left up an old logging road. It was about a 2.5 hour loop, approximately 14 miles +/- any detours. Izzy pulled on the reins and we moved into a nice long trot. The path is an old abandoned logging road, mostly overgrown with the occasional fallen tree jump/obstacle. I glanced down at the GPS to try to rate our speed to about 10mph at the trot. Occasionally off to the side the brush moved, and I caught a glimpse of a coyote. Must be a curious fellow I thought. I pointed Izzy up a hill, taking a different route and climbed through the slash reaching the top of the ridge. Up on the ridge the road flattened out. I urged Izzy forward into a gallop; within seconds we were flying in reckless abandon. I do love to go fast. There is nothing that makes me smile more.
All of a sudden, I feel Izzy drop her haunches and we start sliding across the shale. Looking up, I see this grayish animal coming right at us from the trees. My heart starts pounding and before I can do anything, the gray ball collides with Izzy's shoulder. In that instant she does a rollback...I stay on.. As I am trying to contemplate what the heck just happened, she stops and freezes. Her legs quivering, I look around to assess the scene. I see the coyote about 20 feet away up the embankment from us and a very stunned looking hare on the shoulder of the road to the right of us. I quickly grab my phone and snap a picture before the hare bounds off.
Chuckling to myself, Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom flashes in my head. I never though I would be right in the middle of the classic prey predator chase. By sheer luck, I think we saved the hare; at least for today. What are the odds?
I cluck to Izzy and she tentatively steps forward. I am still cracking up. As we round the ridge and drop down into a narrow trail and 90 degree turn, Izzy spooks. Seriously? I say out loud, "really girl?" and laugh out loud. She snorts loudly staring off into the trees to our left. I urge her on and then stop when I think I see something too. Peering into the trees, I see a dark brown animal. OH it's just a deer silly girl. I snap a picture in the direction of the deer. Picking up the reins, I push her on and she happily trots away snorting as I shake my head.
The sun sets and turns the ridge an orange color. I glance down and look at my GPS and realize we still have 6 miles to go and we better get a move on it. The fall colors are beautiful and I feel renewed. What a perfect way to spend my birthday. We make it back to the trailer with 5 minutes to spare.
After I load Izzy up and give her some hay I glance through the pictures on the phone. I chuckle when I look at the hare, the peek of the coyote and that deer in the trees that looks like a dark brown spot. Silly mare, I think. And how many deer do we see on a ride!? I think I should call her "Dizzy Izzy".
After getting home and settling everyone, I head for the house to download the pictures on the Internet. As I scroll through them, I blow up the deer picture. What the heck? That is no deer. A large black bear comes into focus. No way. No wonder Izzy behaved like she did. It really kind of freaked me out looking at the picture and realizing it was a bear. Surprise.
Anyway, it certainly was an adventure. Look at the pictures for yourself! Do you see the Bear?
Squirrel
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