The long trail! Warner Springs

We rode some more when we ran into some cows.  Janine ran off the cows with her horse because her dog was hurt by cows before.  Aero was afraid and only wanted to get out of there.  Dakota just stood there watching, unafraid.  It was now Aero’s turn to conquer the cows.  Janine helped by having Aero follow her.  Once he knew he could move the cows he was no longer afraid.  

Eagle Rock!

I told Mr. Sunshine that he should grab Dakota as he might take off.  Janine’s horse too, was pulling back.  She had gotten up, grabbed Dakota, then, went to pull her reins from the rock.  She had dropped Dakota’s reins and I didn’t see a reason to grab them again.  In about 2 seconds flat, Dakota started galloping across the grassy hills.  Aero followed, hobbled!  They were about a half mile away when they stopped.  Paul walked after them and Janine rode her horse.  Two of the oncoming riders diverted from their group and also went after Aero and Dakota.  I stayed on top the mountain to guard the food and secretly smiling at the ordeal.  It was a beautiful sight to see the steeds running across the grassy hills.  I knew they couldn’t go anywhere as it was a ranch that was fenced, with gates on either side where the PCT passes through.  We had our fun for the day.  Mr. Sunshine rode Aero back while Janine ponied Dakota.  We then finished our lunch and had a nice chat.  

We stopped at a pile of jumbo rocks across from Eagle Rock to have lunch.  There were people at Eagle Rock and I didn’t want to interrupt them.  Janine tucked her reins into a cleft of the rock and Aero was hobbled.  I just let Dakota loose because, after all, he wouldn’t leave the “herd”.  We sat down to a wonderful shared lunch of cheese, nuts, salmon, bread, fruitcake and lebkuchen.  As we were eating and taking in the beautiful scenery, Dakota was getting agitated.  There were some riders coming in the distance, about 6 of them. 

Riding on the edge!

We purposely skipped over the section from Scissors Crossing to Barrel Spring so Janine could ride with us.  She really wanted to ride a beautiful section from Barrel Spring to Warner Springs and would take us through a beautiful valley and to Eagle Rock.  We drove to Barrel Spring the night before because there was a good area in which to high-line the horses.  We met Janine, with our horses, in the morning at the intersection of Hwy. 79 and S22.  We put our horses in her stock trailer and drove both rigs to Warner Springs.  We parked our rig at the 2^nd crossing of the PCT in Warner Springs and all got in her rig and returned to Barrel Spring.  We had a beautiful relaxing day and a little fun too.

Water! An oasis in the desert!

Cinch up!

We couldn’t wait to get back on the trail.  We drove back to the Sunrise Creek Trailhead last night.  It was late, but we needed there the night before so we could get an early start today.  Another Backcountry Horseman, from the San Diego Unit, Bart Switzer and his wife, met us at 8:30 AM at Sunrise Creek Trailhead.  We had already begun cleaning the horses and tacking up.  This would be the first time we met them.  He drove our rig to Scissors Crossing where we would meet it.  At the 9 mile mark we had lunch, at the Rodriguez Spur Fire Tank.  There was wonderful water and all we could want.

We got there long before they did.  We found a place for the horses to graze and good water at a water tank.  When they arrived, we agreed to have them come over and visit that night, since we’d stay another night before going home.  We were a day ahead so we had the extra time.  We cleaned all the tack and took it easy for the afternoon.  We also drove into Julian to get gas and try to get a Forest Adventure Pass.

Just before Sunrise Trailhead. Beautiful scenery to end the day.

One of many "Cliff Walks" ! Dakota is always steady.

Pioneer Mail to Sunrise trailhead.

This was one more very easy day.  We figured we’d make it easy on purpose since we also had a three hour drive home.  We drove back to Pioneer Mail to pick up the trail where we left off.  Janine and Lance would pick up our unit and drop it off at Sunrise Creek Trailhead on their way to Palm Springs.