Staying Safe on the Trail...

Contributed by the Capitol Riders BCH Chapter in Olympia:

Recently there was a bike/horse collision in the Capitol Forest. Both it seems were moving fast and both were approaching a blind corner from opposite directions. No major injuries, but the horse rider did have to get 15 stitches on the face. The horse sustained no injuries but the bike rider was pretty shook up. Moral of this story: Remember that most of our trails are multi-user and to ALWAYS expect the unexpected. Don’t approach blind curves at high speed no matter your chosen mode of transportation.

Lake Creek Trail

Margi Allen and Keith Zielke planned for a relaxing time with their mules camping at the Lake Creek Trailhead last weekend. They were very dismayed to find severe damage to two of the corrals by a large tree that had been felled across them. Keith is no stranger to working on these corrals, so they were both disheartened to find this most recent damage. In 2002 Keith, Joyce and Vern Anderson, and Allen Byrd had spent 3 days at that camp rebuilding the corrals with rails and posts contributed by the Forest Service. Keith and Ken Melvin (Keith and Margi's son-in-law) replaced some of the posts and rails again in 2011. Moving forward once more, Keith and Margi spent 4 1/2 hours on Saturday July 20th removing parts of the felled tree and rebuilding one of the corrals. Not all was work, however. They still had a wonderful time, even enjoying an early morning visitor when a bull moose chose to wander into camp. Pretty exciting; even the mules got to snortin' and blowin'! Unfortunately, the camera was in the camper at the time so they couldn't capture the photo op! (Contributed by Margi Allen/Keith Zielke)

The tree was felled across the corrals

Smashed rails and posts were everywhere

Margi does finishing work on the nails

Keith fits more rails

Finally, a usable corral!

North Summit/Loup Loup Ride in August

This ride was originally planned for August 9-11, but has been changed to August 16-18. We are hoping to make it a “Raffle Ride” to benefit The Nourishing Hand Equine Rescue in Oroville and the Keystone Animal Rescue in Riverside. Nancy Palagruti has a few items gathered up for the raffle portion and we are asking for other items to be donated by our members. Nancy will need a few members to help with the planning and organizing and pitch in to do such things as selling tickets or tending an information booth for chapter/state info. Ann Port suggested she could do a breakfast one of the days and we may want to sell/serve hamburgers one day. Anyone willing to help out is welcome! Please call Nancy at 997-4802 or e-mail her at nanpal@centurylink.net if you’d like to be a part of this informal but very worthwhile experience. We want this to be stress-free, and there are lots of generous folks out there. You don't need to be camping to join in the fun. Come on up and help to expose folks to the new (proposed?) horse camp area, help out the equine rescue folks, and have a great time doing it. Call or e-mail Nancy pronto, and thanks for stepping up!

Progress on South Pass

Three hardy fellows got back to working the trails right after the 4th of July celebrations! On July 5th Roger Jackson, Ken Shannon, and Willie Kemper began at the Twisp River Horse Camp with 3 mules and 2 horses and, packing a chain saw among other things, they started clearing the South Pass trail. After clearing as far as they could, they rode on up to South Pass for lunch. (photos courtesy of Roger Jackson)

Ken up front, Willie follows

Ken (L) and Willie taking a lunch break at South Pass

4th of July BBQ at Twisp River Horse Camp

A great time was had by all at the 4th of July MVBCH BBQ at the Twisp River Horse Camp. There were 22 members at the event, some of whom were already camping at the site with their horses and mules. Everyone enjoyed the pleasantly warm weather and the great pot luck BBQ picnic. 

Members mingled and relaxed at the site

(L-R) Joe Hebert, Keith Zielke, Ann Port and Carla Lange

Carol Hebert keeps the hot dogs on the flame!

Equine Clinic Coming Soon!

Kenny Selvidge, equestrian trainer from Republic, WA will be coming to the Bear Creek Equestrian Center July 26-27 for a ground working/trail challenge clinic. The clinic is 10:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. each day, but Kenny is very willing to stay later and help on an individual basis. He will also return for one Saturday in September and in October for follow up help. This is a great opportunity to get back in touch with your ponies and learn new--or polish up old--techniques for happy and safe trail riding. Get advice from an expert on your own horse's "quirks" that keep getting in the way of a good ride! For more information, check out the clinic flyer here, or click here to use the registration form. There's lot's of room to audit the clinic, so if you can't bring your favorite trail mount you can join us to listen in on the lessons and tips.

June 2013 Trails and Camp Work Projects

June was a particularly active month for all the busy volunteers in MVBCH! The month started right up with Trails Day on the 1st and the annual clean-up of the Twisp River Trail....

Frazer Creek Ride

Ignoring the rain, a hardy collection of riders headed out on June 20th for the “rain or shine” adventure to Frazer Creek. The group included Betty Wagoner, Dave Stephenson (Betty’s neighbor), Dick Freitas, Sally Nelson, Cathy Upper, Kathy Bader, and Julie Johnson. Although they started out in the rain, they ended up having a perfectly lovely day. Lunch was at the rigs after the ride.

Riders take a rest and enjoy the view

Moving on...

Spring Ride Thank You Party

On June 14^th MVBCH members gathered at the home of Ann Port to celebrate the success of the 2013 Spring Ride and give a big “thank you” to everyone for the hard work and dedication that went into the annual event. The pot luck and steak was thoroughly enjoyed by everyone and it was a lovely setting for good conversation around the cheerful camp fire next to the Twisp River. Thank you Ann, for opening your place to us!

BBQ-ing steaks and hotdogs

Great setting for sharing trail tales!

Judd Ranch Ride

On Saturday June 11th Julie Johnson, Wayne and Suekii Cornwall, Sue Robbins, Sally Nelson, Dick Freitas, Betty Wagoner, and Jackie Iddings headed up the hill and were met by Pete Stoothoff. Pete guided everyone to his beautiful place in Texas Creek. He and his wife Donna had put out a variety of ice cold drinks to have with lunch. Everyone had a relaxing time lazing around the Stoothoff's yard before the ride back up and over the top of the hill to their rigs.

Riding out on the trail

Pete meets up with the group

Wayne has a snooze before heading back

Heading back to the rigs

 (L-R) Dick, Sally, Sue, and Betty