Every season at Western Pleasure Guest Ranch has its special beauty, but I have to admit that winter may be winning out as my favorite season to photograph. Winter photography presents an interesting predicament for me as I am always cold. I can relate to Charlie Brown’s little sister, Sally, when she declares, after trying in vain to apply multiple layers of winter clothes, “I wasn’t made for winter!” Know that while capturing the following photos, I either looked like the Michelin Man, or I was acquiring frostbite.
Spring Adventure #3: Outside Your Front Door
Not every adventure is hundreds of miles from home, across the ocean, at the top of a mountain or the bottom of a valley. Sometimes a great adventure is right outside your front door.
Spring Adventure #2: Copper Falls, Bonners Ferry and Camping
No adventure is really an authentic experience when it is perfect. Memories are made in the imperfections of life.
Spring Adventure #1: Easter Sunrise Service
Adventure, explore, experience. These are the buzz words swirling around the tourism marketing industry. People want to experience and explore something that is new to them yet represents an authentic adventure and no group craves this more than the Millennial Generation.
A Giant Green Tomato, Gabe’s Carrot and a Smokey Sky
The air was so smokey at our house yesterday that we spent most of the afternoon hiding in our house. I was told the many fires in Washington are to blame for the socked in, smokey, grey sky we are experiencing here in North Idaho.
iGrow
For several years now, I have tried to grow a garden here in North Idaho or at least veggies in pots. I love my grandma’s garden and I have very fond memories of picking peas and carrots from her garden and eating them dirt and all. So my desire to have a garden must have come from there. I started out going all in and trying to grow a whole garden. Everything that first year became completely overgrown with weeds. The next year I reeled in my enthusiasm and fairly successfully grew some veggies in pots around our house. At that point I formulated the strategy that I would start small and each year gradually begin growing more and more. The next year Landon helped me build a larger raised bed in which I grew corn, beans, peas, strawberries and some radishes. All was well and I even got a large amount of Dilly Beans pickled, until the cows got in and feasted. No corn that year. The following year I decided it was time for an actual, real, full-on, in the ground garden. The first location for the garden I picked turned out to be the drain field for our septic system. Relocate. I spent hours laying paper and hauling composted manure. My plan was to create a miraculously weed free Back to Eden Garden, but when I discovered the price of woodchips/mulch that I was planning to use I skipped that and just did some good old fashioned weeding by hand. This worked for most of my 30’x30′ garden plot. The fence that I was hoping to put up didn’t get done and the deer ate well that summer. I will say that although they ate most of my garden, they did eat the weeds as well so I have to thank them for that. My corn was the last hold out since the deer didn’t seem to be very interested in that. As the time approached to harvest the corn, the calves got in and ate it.
How to Row a Boat
While the Northeast part of the U.S. is being covered by a massive snow fall, we here in the Northwest are beginning to wonder if its time to brush up on our nautical skills. If you feel the need to review your boat rowing, here is an excellent link to show you how: How to Row a Boat
Yesterday was beautiful. As we were driving to Post Falls, Landon kinda reminded me of a happy lab that has been stuck in a dark house for a week straight and then gets taken out into the sunshine for a ride in the pickup with the windows down. He was that excited about the sunshine. Which brings me to this:
A Fall Ride on the Moose Mountain Trail
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Blacktail Lake |
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On the trail to Blacktail Lake |
The Moose Mountain Loop Trail is an approximately 9 mile, round trip trail that takes you past two great mountain lakes. This is a great horseback ride or hike. I rode this trail with my parents; Roley and Janice, my brother and sister-in-law; Isaac and Libby, and my two kids; Emily (4) and Gabe (2) on August 27, 2014. Gabe rode in front of me and Emily rode behind Libby as neither of them are ready to ride their own horse on this sort of trail.
We drove to the trail head and unloaded our crew of 5 horses and 7 people. The trail head has a large parking lot with enough room for our 4 horse, goose-neck trailer and several other cars. We headed out and followed the trail markers to Blacktail lake. This first part of the trail is a moderate climb with several long stretches of boardwalk. Blacktail is a smaller lake but still beautiful. We took our lunch break here and the kids had fun catching tadpoles and baby frogs until Gabe fell in. We started a fire to dry off his clothes and keep the half naked toddler warm. There are a couple primitive campsites here and plenty of grazing space that would make for an excellent spot for the horses to stay overnight.
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Gabe, just after going for an unplanned swim |
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Our lunch spot and campfire |
To continue on our loop, we followed Trail 213 to Moose Mountain. The trail levels out after the first short climb and is a very pretty ride through the high mountain trees. As you approach the summit of Moose Mountain the trail get steeper and rockier. With Gabe riding in front of me, it was still not too difficult. Riding the ridge up to the summit offers some great view of both Blacktail Lake and Moose Lake. The ridge narrows as you reach the top and I have to admit that last switchback made me thank God I was riding a great horse (I have a good healthy fear of steep drop-offs). As you come down off the summit, the ridge begins to widen and offer some beautiful eastern views. At this point in our ride, Gabe and I dismounted and mom led my horse. First of all, riding down hill with a two year old in front of you is not so easy and second of all that awesome horse I was thanking God for, is a bit mutton-withered and I would be riding on her ears by the time I got to the bottom.
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Views coming off Moose Mountain |

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Little Horse looking at Moose Lake |
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Dad and Pepsi on one of the many boardwalks |
About a mile out from Moose Lake, on the way back to the trail head, one of the bridges crossing a creek was broken in the middle and lay in the creek bed. It looked as if it had happened recently and my bet is that the Forest Service will have it repaired soon as this is a high traffic trail. We were able to get around the fallen bridge easily enough. Dad and Isaac rode and us ladies (plus Gabe) led our horses across.
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The broken bridge |
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Almost back to the trailhead |
This was a really great family ride with beautiful views, great horses, not so great fishing. This would also make a great day hike or overnight trip. I would not suggest taking small children on this ride unless they ride frequently and a hardy in the saddle. I was so proud of my little ones as they never got scared or tired. As we were leaving Moose Lake we told Gabe that we were headed back to the trailer and he started crying and said he wanted to keep riding. Oh and he wanted me to get off his horse!
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Wylie and Blacktail Lake |
*As a side note, this is not a ride that we take our guests on as we do not have permits to outfit in this area. This was just a fun ride that we went on as a family and I though you might like to hear about our adventures in North Idaho.
For more information on trail riding at Western Pleasure Guest Ranch, visit: www.westernpleasureranch.com