One fine summer day, I invited my friend, Yvonne, to join me on a ride in the Manzanitas. She came by and picked up my horse and then she followed me, driving my on truck, to the trailhead on Juan Tomas Rd.
I had mapped out a double loop ride using the Juan Tomas Rd parking area as our middle home base.
We tacked up and rode north into the National Forest on Bear Scat Trail.
There were some beautiful expansive views to the east.
The terrain was mostly rocky with junipers and a few pinon trees. As we climbed higher, there were also some ponderosa pines trees, too.
Most of the trail was exposed to the sun, but there were a few tall trees to provide some sporadic shade.
It's always great fun to ride and explore a new-to-me trail. I consider it an adventure!
There was also a pretty meadow to ride through as we climbed higher.
Yvonne and I stopped often to let our horses enjoy a few bites of grass along the way.
The trail got a little more exciting as it climbed higher and got steeper.
We climbed up to the saddle between two mountains, where there was a trail junction.
This is the trail junction where we turned off of Bear Scat onto Poker Chip Trail.
There were some beautiful vistas of the Sandia Mountains as seen from the saddle between the two mountains.
We left behind the saddle and climbed some switchbacks up a very steep, rocky section...up and up and up!
This northern section of Poker Chip Trail is rugged and challenging.
But the views as we climbed higher and higher were spectacular!
As we rode south, we could even see the Manzano Mountains in the distance.
We reached a beautiful plateau with a nice stretch of smooth, flat trail. And there were vistas all around.
And then we began a steep rugged descent.
There were a few flat areas where I was able to snap a photo or two, but for most of our descent, I just stayed balanced and directed my horse as she navigated the steep downhill.
We eventually made it back to the trail head parking, where we stopped for lunch in the shade beside her trailer, and gave our horses a rest.
Afterwards, we rode back onto the same
trail traveling north again, so that we could look for Yvonne's glove
that she had lost at the beginning of our ride. We never did find it,
though, so we turned around and continued south on the trail.
We rode down Mahogany Trail for a short distance and turned onto a new trail that was just completed earlier this summer on Father's Day weekend. I had hiked it that same weekend, but it wasn't named yet. But on this ride, I saw that not only had they named the trail, but they had also installed a sign. The name tickled me and made me laugh.
Because the trail is so close to Juan Tomas Rd, they name it Another Juan....BUT, in small letters beneath the name.....
Another Juan...Bites The Dust! hahahah!
From the beautiful, but short Another Juan Trail, we hopped onto Poker Chip for a little while.
And then we rode down into Ponderosa Canyon.
I love this trail because I discovered it myself and it's not listed on any National Forest Service maps.
And this area is just so beautiful!
I have no idea what the true name of this area is, but I think Ponderosa Canyon is a fitting name.
Yvonne loves it as much as I do!
The single track trail is easy to follow and just winds itself through green meadows and tall ponderosa.
Yvonne and Etta Bay leading the way.
I love riding in the shade of the tall pines.
There is a lot of shade on sections of this trail, so this makes a wonderful summer ride.
We continued on our double loop ride, basically creating a figure eight using Gambel Oak Trail and Mahogany to ride back to the trailhead parking area. where we unsaddled and watered our horses and sat down in the shade to enjoy some ice cold beers!
Cheers, Yvonne!
Toasting to another absolutely awesome ride!!
Rio Grande Green Chile Beer and Bud Light.
Life is Good!
