Last night we hit the trail again with a friend of mine. Just for variety, my compadre suggested taking a new (for me) path leading through Kagel Canyon, which is to the west of where I stable, and then pick up the fire road and make a loop similar to that of the Lookout Trail.
Naturally I agreed so we snaked our way down a series of bridal paths and made our way to Kagel Canyon. It's hard to describe but essentially Kagel Canyon is a tight canyon with lots of Oak trees and VERY narrow streets which we had to follow for awhile. It sort of reminds me of a scaled-down Topanga Canyon with lots more horses. However, while I like the rustic feel, it's also a fire trap waiting to explode and in places you can tell where the Merek fire from last October burned down to- good luck getting out of there quickly!
Max handled this all with no problems- marching in parades over pavement seems to have had a good effect and he didn't flinch even when passing people with baby carriages and noisy dogs.
Eventually we wound up at a park called Dexter Park and at the extreme northwest end, there's an entrance to the fire road. Basically, it merges with the main fire road and if I'd taken a right turn, I would have been heading towards the extreme slope that I described previously in regard to riding Lookout Trail.
We then followed the fire road along the ridge and eventually wound up at the ranger station. If it wasn't getting dark, we could have followed the rest of the Audry Trail.
This wasn't an exciting trail ride but it was relaxing and Max just took everything in stride (which is perfect to me!). It also provided some good training in riding in the dusky/dark conditions, something that's always valuable.
Hopefully I'll get some pictures soon and when I do, I'll post them.
Naturally I agreed so we snaked our way down a series of bridal paths and made our way to Kagel Canyon. It's hard to describe but essentially Kagel Canyon is a tight canyon with lots of Oak trees and VERY narrow streets which we had to follow for awhile. It sort of reminds me of a scaled-down Topanga Canyon with lots more horses. However, while I like the rustic feel, it's also a fire trap waiting to explode and in places you can tell where the Merek fire from last October burned down to- good luck getting out of there quickly!
Max handled this all with no problems- marching in parades over pavement seems to have had a good effect and he didn't flinch even when passing people with baby carriages and noisy dogs.
Eventually we wound up at a park called Dexter Park and at the extreme northwest end, there's an entrance to the fire road. Basically, it merges with the main fire road and if I'd taken a right turn, I would have been heading towards the extreme slope that I described previously in regard to riding Lookout Trail.
We then followed the fire road along the ridge and eventually wound up at the ranger station. If it wasn't getting dark, we could have followed the rest of the Audry Trail.
This wasn't an exciting trail ride but it was relaxing and Max just took everything in stride (which is perfect to me!). It also provided some good training in riding in the dusky/dark conditions, something that's always valuable.
Hopefully I'll get some pictures soon and when I do, I'll post them.
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