We ended up setting up our portable corral at the Battle Creek Campground. We had the campground all to ourselves and when the rangers came by they had no objections. Of course, the horses were happy because it gave them a lot more room to move around.
There is one loop trail around the Battleground Park and several smaller inner loops.
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The trails were pretty and easy to ride.
We were surrounded by wildflowers most of the ride.
Once again we were riding through a botanical garden.
As we were packing up to leave Battleground State Park, three lovely women equestrians rode through our camp and stopped to chat with us. They recommended a couple of local parks - Rock Creek Horse Camp and Mt Adams Horse Camp. Rock Creek was only 16 miles away.
Staying a night at Rock Creek Horse Camp meant we would spend the entire next day driving to the next destination, but we wanted to give it a go.
The horse camp is first come, first served - no reservations, but when we arrived there were at least four empty campsites and we snagged one that we thought would fit our trailer the easiest.
The horses were once again in log corrals, but they were a bit roomier and the horses appeared pretty comfortable.
There is one large loop trail called Tarbell Trail that circumvents the park and we decided to give it a try.
Part of the trail took us through open meadows.
This mountain could be seen in the distance. I am not sure which mountain it is.
The wildflowers were putting on a show for us.
Ari and Lennox riding through the wildflowers.
We set off on our ride around 4 in the afternoon figuring it would take a couple of hours. Unfortunately, we took a wrong turn on Sixth Sense Trail and ended up at Grouse Creek.
The section of trail up to Grouse Creek was extremely rocky. So rocky, Ari and I both dismounted and hiked it. Lennox got a stone bruise and was favoring his right rear foot, so Ari insisted on walking. When we hit Grouse Creek we knew we had made an error and turned back and re-traced our way.
Ari ended up hiking a good five miles before he felt he could get back in the saddle safely. He was really worried about laming Lennox.
At that point, we were back on Tarbell Trail and Lennox wasn't favoring his foot any more.
We didn't get back to our campsite at Rock Creek until after 9 pm and it was starting to get dark. So our two hour ride actually went more than five hours.
I ride with a Garmin, but when the trails constantly zig zag it's really hard to get a good reading on what direction you need to go.
I had taken a picture of the trail map before we left, so we had a trail map and a Garmin on us, and still ended up seriously lost.
We fed the horses when we got back. They were troopers throughout.
Ari was starving so even though it was late I cooked him up a burger. I made smoothies for both of us to help us rehydrate.
We both showered to get the sweat and stickiness off before we went to bed.
It was a beautiful ride, but we were both happy when it was over.
The campsite at Rock Creek was great. Water for the horses and a manure pile, but no garbage collection. No internet or cell service. Camping there is FREE with a Discovery pass.
On the plus side, my Fitbit rejoiced at the amount of exercise I got when we got lost.
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