K Diamond K Ranch - the next day

 

Livestock wanders freely at the K Diamond K. It is a bit startling to see steerhead in the parking area.

These guys tried to get into the back of the trailer this morning. They were after the hay. Look at those horns! Luckily no damage to the trailer and they left peaceably.

This little miniature donkey liked hanging around our horses as they ate breakfast.

Did I mention the bunny rabbits? They are everywhere.

In the morning, guests can help milk the dairy cows.

Kids can feed the baby calf.

The views on the trails were pretty wonderful.

We put boots on both horses for the second day's trail ride. My horse (on the left) is wearing Scoot Boots with Cavello socks. Ari's horse (on the right) is wearing Cavallo boots with Cavallo socks. The socks keep them from getting sores from the boots rubbing on their skin. They were a lot happier wearing boots during the ride.

The alpacas liked hanging out with us.

This little Tuxedo kitten hung out with me while I was playing bridge with some friends on my laptop.

Did I mention the pigs wandering around?

K Diamond K Guest Ranch - Republic, WA

 We are spending the next few days at the K Diamond K Guest Ranch in Republic, WA.

We have stayed at dude ranches before, but every ranch is a bit unique. This ranch is very different from most. Kathy is our host and she is an A+ hospitality person. She kind of reminds me of the character, Julie, on the Love Boat.

Livestock are allowed to wander all around the property. We were awakened by cattle standing outside our LQ door at 5:30 expecting us to feed them. 

Our horses are in a large paddock area with a nice large water trough. They have plenty of shade, which is good, because temps here are in the triple digits by afternoon.

This is a Mama cow and her baby nursing.

There is a lodge with rooms set up for families (most rooms have a queen size bed and two to three twin size beds for kids.).  There is a large game room to keep kids entertained.

There is a small petting zoo for children with goats, chickens, ducks, bunnies, and sheep.

This is one of the cows that woke us up.

Kathy took us on a tour of the ranch on an ATV. This baby black bear was on the road, but ran as soon as he saw us. No sign of Mama Bear, but plenty of bear poop on the road as we drove.

Lots of berries growing on the side of the road, so I expect they are eating the berries.

We rode this morning, and Ari put on his hunting knife in case we met a bear again. Kathy told us that she has lost several cattle and a couple of horses over the past year to wild wolves, but the wolf pack has supposedly moved on.

The trails are wide and well kept for the most part and plenty of riding. We need to ride early though before the heat starts.

Tillicum Riders - Cashmere, WA

 

We entered into an area where I couldn't find a campsite or horse motel. When that happens, county fairgrounds are usually a good bet. In this case, I managed to score a contact with the Tillicum Riders who have a horse camp right next to the fairgrounds.

No trails to ride, but a safe place to spend the night. The horses shared a large round pen and we had electric and water hook-up.

We were the only ones there, so it was quiet and peaceful.

It was a Sunday and we popped into the downtown area o poke around, but it is the kind of town where everything is closed on a Sunday.

We left first thing in the morning as we had a long drive to our next stop - the K Diamond K Guest Ranch in Republic, WA.

A visit from a Farrier - Easton, WA

When you are living in an RV full-time, trying to meet up with a farrier can be a challenge. It took several phone calls to locate and set up and appointment to get both horses their usual barefoot trim.

Both horses did fine for their trim. When we were riding at the Cowboy Camp a few days ago, my horse seemed to be limping on and off, so I asked the farrier about it. It looks like he had picked up a stone in both his front feet. Both front feet are bruised. His right front has a small abscess starting.  Overall, their feet looked OK. The farrier recommends that we use boots on them every other time we ride.

We had the horses feet done in mid-June, so it had been about 8 weeks since their last manicure. Normally by now, their feet would be ready for a trim. Because we have been riding almost every day, the farrier said their hooves were still pretty short, he just needed to trim them to help with their balance and open up the area where stones were catching on my horse's front feet.

So, we are going to give the horses a couple of days off from riding so my horse can heal up a bit. They are in a pasture right now, so they have plenty of room to move around.

Tomorrow we leave for Cashmere, Washington to stay at a horseman's club for the night. Then on to Rock Lakes Campground.

We are heading south. I had hoped to spend time in Yellowstone National Park - but due to COVID-19, all the horse campsites are closed. I had hoped to spend time at Arches National Park, but the campsite I wanted to stay at is fully booked and I am on their waiting list. But, we will get to spend some time at Bryce Canyon and near Zion National Park.

 

Silver Ridge Lodge & RV Park - Easton, Washington

 

We are currently staying at the Silver Ridge Lodge, an RV park that allows horses. We are in an RV site with water & electric. The park has a dump station, so we can dump our black and gray water on our way out. There is a gas station next door where we can top off our propane. There is a diner and a coffee place next door as well. Ari walked over there this morning after feeding the horses and picked us up a couple of chai lattes. I feel incredibly spoiled.

The horses are sharing a large pasture. It is pretty much devoid of grass, but they have plenty of room to move around.

There is a water trough in the pasture. I filled it up and then Ari pointed out that it had a large hole and basically couldn't hold water. So, we brought over the water buckets we use for the horses and filled those up.

I hung our stall signs on the pasture fence so folks would be able to call out to our horses by name.

This is the trail map we got from the office. It is not very useful, but we were able to pick out the power lines, the airfield and locate the lake on our rides.

We are able to tack the horses up right at our campsite, so that's nice.

On Friday, a large family moved into the campsite behind us. We let the children give the horses cookies and gave pony rides to all the little ones.

The horses appreciated the cookies and the pets.

To get to the lake, you ride across a private airfield. This is the airfield.

Signs are posted all around the air strip so you know a small airplane might be coming in at any point.

The trails are well maintained even if they aren't marked. Because there are so many trails and they criss-cross, we cut up small sections of bale twine into ribbons and dropped them as we rode to use as breadcrumbs so we could find our way back.

You are allowed to swim with your horses in the lake. We had the lake all to ourselves. The only way to access this part of the lake is to hike or ride in. We didn't want to swim with our horses, but we did wade in the water a bit.

In other news, I got the collapsible desk I had ordered from Walmart. A leaf folds down so the desk fits in the space between the fridge and the door. When I want to work, I just rotate the desk, unfold the leaf and set up my laptop, monitor, etc. It is a lot more comfortable and then Ari has the dinette all to himself for his laptop. I am using a padded bridge chair that folds up to sit on. 

The RV park where we are staying is up for sale. Hopefully whoever buys it keeps it open for horse people as it is pretty popular.

Cowboy Camp - Harry Osborne State Forest

 

Our next stop was recommended by The Trailmeister (who we actually met at a Horse Expo several years ago).

The Cowboy Camp at Harry Osborne State Forest.

This is a perfect place for equestrians. Plenty of space for large rigs. Lots of trails. Quiet and private. You are boondocking - no water or electric or cell service, but it is such a wonderful place it is worth it.

There is a vault toilet. Non equestrians have found this place, but they keep to one side of the park away from the horse area. 

The campsite is free with the state Discover Pass. No rangers came by to bug us, so I expect anybody could camp for free as long as they want as long as they don't bother anybody.

There is a day use area for equestrians which sees four or five riders each day.

There is a creek that some campers drive to and take water from the creek and drive it back to camp. We carry a water tank in the tack room for the horses, so we had enough water to last through the stay. We use a transfer pump to fill the horse's water buckets, and it works great.

We set up a portable corral for the horses. There are high lines, but they are so tall I am not sure how you would tie to them. You would need a ladder or park your truck next to them and stand in the bed to tie up the line.

The trails are extensive. Enough riding for several days. We stayed two days and rode every day. It is easy to get lost, so carry a garmin or mark the trails.

The trails are well maintained and in good shape. Most are pretty easy. There are some downed trees, but if we hit an impassable trail, we just double backed and picked a new trail.

A family was camped next to us with no horses. The two girls were horse crazy, so the parents thought it would be fun to camp at a horse campsite. We let the two girls walk our horses around on their lead ropes so they could eat the grass.

Not sure who had a better time - the horses or the girls.

I really liked staying at the Cowboy Camp - especially the name. There is a private equestrian camp a little up the road, which charges and is also called Cowboy Camp.  That camp appeared to be doing a good business even though they also don't have water or electric. So, you can boondock for free at the state park or boondock and pay money at this private camp.