Corrales Bosque Ride

My buddy Dana and I decided to enjoy a Fall ride among the cottonwoods in the Rio Grande Bosque.
After saddling up we rode across the river on the Alameda Pedestrian Bridge and headed into the bosque.

There was still some beautiful Fall color, but the yellow wasn't as spectacular as in years past.

It was still a treat to ride beneath the tall majestic cottonwoods.

My trail selfie shows that I was very happy to be riding in the forest beside the river.

Dana and her horse Blaze.

Riding through the tree tunnels is my favorite!

I love how secret and magical it feels riding through the tunnels created by the trees and other vegetation.

Apache and I led most of the way. I was excited to explore some new trails I hadn't been on before.

I love how the trails wind through the forest, rarely ever traveling straight.

You just never know what's around the next bend. But it's always beautiful.

I took a photo of Dana and Blaze showcasing the Fall colors and vista of the Sandia Mountains..

And Dana took a photo of Apache and I.

Did you notice the big difference between those two photos? 

A photography tip: When taking photos you want to place your subject lower in the image, to give perspective, especially in nature photos. Too much foreground of grass and dirt is not very interesting nor impressive to the eye. Notice the photo I took showing the height of the trees and how small Dana and her horse look below them. It's a more interesting photo because your eyes travel up and down and side to side taking it all in. The photo that Dana took makes your eyes want to just stay in the upper section of the photo and you feel as if the image was chopped off.

The bosque trails are so fun to ride and so interesting, even though their are flat.

After a couple hours of riding we tied up our horses and stopped for a lunch break.

After lunch, we explored along the edges of the Rio Grande.

Apache and I beside the Rio Grande. Sandia Mountains in the background.

We rode through some very thick and tall grasses.

The sunlight was glowing through the golden leaves.

Such beautiful trails!

Riding past some jetty jacks.

Shadow Riders

Riding across the Alameda Pedestrian Bridge.

Riding under Alameda Road.

It was Dana and Blaze's first time riding underneath the road.

It's very loud under there with all the traffic above.

 

Riding through the park trail head.

A very happy Dana!

The horse gate to the horse trailer parking area.

We unsaddled and watered our tired ponies.

As the sun was starting to set, we saw a hot air balloon in the distance, flying over the Rio Grande.

What a great ride and a beautiful day!





Life is Good!!

Corrales Bosque Autumn Ride

One of my favorite local rides is along the Rio Grande River in the Corrales Bosque. My favorite time of year to ride there is in the Fall, when the Cottonwood trees are covered in golden leaves and the bugs have all died off.

I invited my friend Gin to ride with me in the Corrales Bosque as she had never been.

One of my most favorite aspects of riding in the bosque are the magical tree tunnels and being surrounded by all that colorful vegetation. Such a treat for us high desert folks.

It's absolutely enchanting to ride a horse through these tree tunnels.

The trails are beautifully maintained and smooth and sandy.

The majestic cottonwoods glow yellow overhead.

The ditch banks are also easy to travel and very scenic, too. But there are many bike riders, dog walkers, hikers, and horseback riders that share the trails, as well. And the ditch banks are bordered by homes, sometimes with people doing noisy yard work or with curious livestock, like sheep, goats, donkeys, llamas, and other horses.

They say that if your horse can calmly and bravely ride the bosque trails, you've got a very broke, safe horse.

I led our ride through the bosque with the goal of riding to Village Pizza where we could enjoy a delicious pizza lunch with the trail rider's special discount. They even have hitching rails and good trees to tie up our horses outside the restaurant.

Gin wasn't sure how her mare would do tied up on the rail, so we decided to tie her up by herself.

It was such a beautiful, sunny, warm Fall day that we decided to eat our lunch outside in the courtyard, where we could easily check on our ponies if needed.

After our lunch, I rode over to the main entrance where Apache and I had our photo taken to remember the special day.

We had to ride along the road to get back to the trails, and there were a few interesting sights to see. Apache is pretty much used to the weird stuff that humans decorate their yards with.

And then we were back among the trees, riding through the magical tree tunnels again.

My happy to be riding my horse selfie face!

Some of the tree tunnels are a little dark and mysterious.

The yellow color was made even more bright with the sun filtering through.

Gin was enamored with these yellow, fern-like bushes or small trees.

Gin liked them so much that she plucked a small bouquet of them and wore them tucked into her shirt so she could take them home with her.

Some of the tree tunnels were like true tunnels! I just loved riding through them so much!

And even though the sky was mostly hidden by the tall cottonwoods, the trees themselves provided such beautiful views.

But when we did see sky, the bright blue was the perfect background for the gorgeous yellow leaves.

To ride in the Corrales Bosque means traveling across many bridges. Some long, some short, some wide, and some narrow. The Alameda Pedestrian Bridge is very long, because it spans the entire Rio Grande River. And as you ride across it, so do bike riders, dog walkers, people pushing baby strollers and other horseback riders. And on the south side of the bridge is another bridge, the Automobile Bridge with traffic off all sizes and types driving across. And when you get to the east side of the Alameda Bridge, then there is a shorter bridge to cross, followed by having to ride underneath the Alameda Automobile bridge, which feels more like riding through a tunnel, but with the sounds of traffic from above echoing within. It's quite an adventure!

Both of our horses did pretty great the entire day, even if they both balked a little at crossing a couple of the smaller bridges and going under the auto bridge. But it was a gorgeous day to ride, and we had a wonderful lunch, too.