Close to the town of Mount Laguna. As you can see in all the pictures, I always wear a backpack. It's not large, but it holds 3 liters of water as well as essential things should I become separated from my horse. I've got a down jacket, rain gear, hat, gloves, and an emergency kit that contains fire starter, an energy bar and emergency shelter. Pray for the best and plan for the worst!
Looking out over Anza Borrego desert. The views are fabulous! I don't know if you can see it in the picture, but on the left of the mountains in the background, you can see all the way to Mount San Jacinto and Mount San Gorgonio, two high mountains in So. Ca. that we will go over in the days to come. It would be nice if the snow would hold off until we cross them!
Starting Day Three. Mile 40. This morning we were able to meet our rig long enough to pull all the tack out of the horse trailer because it was being moved to another location. Once Janine left, we realized we forgot our saddle pads! Oops. At least we had a phone signal there at Volunteer Headquarters (also called Red Tailed Roost) and I was able to call her and ask her to come back.
Fred Canyon road. Unexploded Ordinance! Don't know if you can read the sign, but it says to stay on the trail because there are unexploded ordinances in the area. A plane crashed in this area, from Camp Pendleton, about a year ago. While they tried to clean up everything they could find, there could still be some live ammunition around.
Mile 37.5 Lunch at Long Canyon. Okay, so we ate lunch there too, but we didn't eat grass! This was a beautiful and warm day. We woke up at Boulder Oaks with the sun and took our time eating breakfast and getting the horses tacked up. We only had a 15 mile day ahead of us, but a good climb uphill. We began at 3500 feet and rode up to just under 6000 feet. I love how the horses stay with us when we are the only ones around. We don't tie or hobble them when there's good grazing....even in January!
