My friend Dana asked me to do some more trail research so we could find another route for riding up to Sandia Peak and the High Finance Restaurant, so I did and mapped out another fun loop ride across the ski runs.
I met Dana at the 10K parking area and we headed out on the 10K south trail..
The light shining through the trees was so beautiful and mystical. It made the forest seem like it was glowing.
The grass was so tall across the ski runs that the trail was almost invisible.
Apache didn't even have to lower her head to graze on the lush, green grass.
Dana and I stopped often and let our horses graze because our horses are kept on dry lots at home so this lush, green grass was a special treat for our equine trail partners.
One of the things I enjoy about riding with my buddy Dana, is that we always take turns leading and following. It's so good for horses to take turns riding in different positions while trail riding. Apache is comfortable leading and following and we enjoy doing both. Neither of us enjoys being in the middle of a group, though. But Apache is fine with it.
Dana and her mare beneath one of the ski runs. Notice how tall the grass is? Keep in mind that Dana's mare is about 15.2hh and has very long legs.
Apache enjoying the views to the east and down the ski run.
I like how the trail travels in and out of the forest as it makes it's way across the ski runs.
Apache and I leading while Dana and her mare follow.
Such a beautiful trail!!
Trail Selfie!
Dana and her mare leading the way on a lovely trail.
As we rode out of the forest into another ski run, we saw a couple of handsome bucks with full racks of antlers!
By the end of the day, we ended up seeing at least 5 deer. Two jumped right out across the trail in front of Apache only about 20 feet in front of us! It startled me, but Apache just stopped and stared.
Apache searching for more deer up the ski run.
I don't look happy in the trail selfie...but I most definitely was!
Very close to the Sandia Peak above 10,500 elevation. The High Finance Restaurant just up ahead.
After we parked our horses, tied on a hitching rail outside, Dana and I made our way inside the restaurant. We ended up ordering one Akaushi burger and an order of onion rings to share, because the servings are huge.
But we each ordered a delicious pomegranate margarita.
How lucky we are to be able to ride our horses up to a wonderful restaurant to enjoy a tasty lunch! No beef jerky, cold cut sandwiches and boring water for us. We do lunch in style!
After lunch, we made our way back outside and saw a German family admiring our horses.
The teenage girl was enchanted to be so close to our horses. She asked us if she could sit on one of our horses and Dana invited the young girl to climb up on her mare.
Look at that happy face!
The young girls' parents took photos and video of their daughter as Dana took the girl for a pony ride behind the High Finance Restaurant. They were so excited to have the amazing opportunity to watch their daughter ride a horse on top of a mountain while visiting a foreign country!
I am sure that our gentle, well-behaved horses lit a horse loving fire within the teenage girl's heart and she will return to Germany searching for more opportunities to be close to horses.
After the pony ride, I showed the girl one of Apache's tricks: giving kisses for cookies. And I invited her to ask Apache for a kiss.
She was so thrilled that she asked if she could give Apache a huge hug!
Apache seemed to enjoy the hug just as much as the young girl did.
The girl's mother asked if she could ask Apache for a kiss, too.
And my sweet Apache was very generous with her kisses.
The Mother was so enchanted with Apache that she eagerly gave Apache a big hug and lots of kisses and petting.
Apache enjoyed all of the attention and affection, and Dana and I were so happy to be able to share our horses with this kind family. Our horses were wonderful equine ambassadors and we were very proud of them.
Afterwards, we mounted back up and headed back down the mountain.
We had noticed that a large storm cloud had formed lower down on the mountain, in the east. We even heard thunder and could see rain falling in the distance.
I was a little concerned that we might get caught in a thunderstorm, but I knew we needed to stay calm and just focus on getting back to the trail head.
Dana was concerned, too, but we decided to just walk a little faster, but still enjoy these new-to-us trails on our ride down the mountain.
We rode across the top of the ski runs.
And through gorgeous stands of aspens.
And into mysterious, deep, dark, green forest.
We both loved riding through this beautiful alley of forest.
The trail was obviously not heavily used, so we needed to keep an eye open to make sure we didn't lose the trail and look for any side trails, that might lead us away from the main trail.
We never did lose our way and the storm never found us on the trail. In fact, even though we continued to hear thunder behind us in the distance, we only had sunshine and blue skies above us.
My happy Trail Selfie!
And we even made it to the parking area by 2:30pm!
We were able to untack and water our horses without even a drop of rain.
It wasn't until we had driven all the way to the base of the Sandia Mountains, that the sky finally turned dark and rain began to fall.
And by the time I got home, the rain had stopped and I didn't have to unload Apache in the rain.
How blessed we were!
An awesomely fantastic ride and great weather, too!
Life is Good!!
We were able to untack and water our horses without even a drop of rain.
It wasn't until we had driven all the way to the base of the Sandia Mountains, that the sky finally turned dark and rain began to fall.
And by the time I got home, the rain had stopped and I didn't have to unload Apache in the rain.
How blessed we were!
An awesomely fantastic ride and great weather, too!
Life is Good!!
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