Natchez Trace Ride this past Saturday (pic heavy)

[FrogInABlender]

Well, we finally got to make our annual Trace ride after having to put it off a week because of Kari's husband's kidney stone attack. The weather couldn't have been much more perfect this past weekend though so it all worked out in the end.

There were 8 of us in 4 trailers who drove up from various points in Alabama, through Lawrenceburg and Columbia Tennessee. Then we stopped and left my friend Elizabeth's SUV at the parking near a little town called Fly, near mile marker 416. Then we drove on up to the Garrison Creek rest area, which is near mile marker 427, and hit the trail there. The distance between the two on the road itself it's about 11 miles, but since the trail snakes back and forth across it I think it's a good bit farther than that. The batteries in my GPS bit the dust or I could've told you exactly. http://tvgpha.org/forum/images/smiles/icon_mad.gif But I got some nice pics anyways, so here's a few of them...

Heading out from Garrison Creek around 10am...
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=329&pictureid=3278

The view from the Garrison Creek overlook...
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=329&pictureid=3277

HaveFaith on Daisy...
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=329&pictureid=3276

Elizabeth on my mare Hope in the foreground and another friend, Carolyn, in the background on her gelding Blade.
Hope and Blade are half siblings through another blue mare I have...
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=329&pictureid=3275

http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=329&pictureid=3274

Bob reading about the Natchez Trace...
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=329&pictureid=3273

Me on Bob(L) and Elizabeth on Hope(R)...
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=329&pictureid=3272

http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=329&pictureid=3262

http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=329&pictureid=3261

http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=329&pictureid=3260

http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=329&pictureid=3259

http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=329&pictureid=3258

We made Trail's end around 3:30pm...
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=329&pictureid=3257

Then the drivers loaded up in the SUV we'd left there, drove back up and got the trailers we'd left at Garrison Creek, drove back down to pick the rest of us and the horses up, then we headed our various ways back home. It was a blast and couldn't have been a more perfect ride. http://tvgpha.org/forum/images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

I've got a video clip of us going through the Garrison Creek tunnel that's kinda cool, but I'll have to post it later.

[cloedoll]

I wish I could have joined you guys, it looks like you all had an amazing time! Beautiful horses and pictures, thank you for sharing. =)

[FrogInABlender]

Hey, we've loved to have had you along! The more the merrier! :)

[Gypsy Rose]

Looks like a lot of fun! Pretty scenery, too.

[WashingtonBay]

Great pics! Looks like some in the group were dressed for rain, but the weather looks marvelous!

So what can Bob tell us about the Natchez Trace? I tried to read it but it's a little too small.

[Equine_Woman]

I would love to ride that trail!!! Gorgeous shots!~! Thanks for sharing!!
Can't wait for the video!

[WashingtonBay]

If there's 8 of you on the ride, and 8 in the pictures, who took the picture? Did you lasso some one at the trailhead to take a group pic? :)

[CircleR]

Looks like beautiful horses on a beautiful day!! Wonderful pictures, thanks for sharing your ride with us.

[WashingtonBay]

Hey - You think you'll get BladeRider to register over here? Good to see her and Blade.

Blade is, BTW, the only gaited horse I've ever ridden. :D And he was a lot of fun.

[mtnmollie]

Great pics! Looks like some in the group were dressed for rain, but the weather looks marvelous!

So what can Bob tell us about the Natchez Trace? I tried to read it but it's a little too small.

Is that an old outlaw trail?

Is that where Lewis was killed, (of Lewis and Clark fame.)

[gaited07]

Wow Frog, What a beautiful ride that must have been. Love all those colors nature has to offer.
Wish I was closer, I would be riding with you guys.

[Ranger44]

Great pics! Looks like a it was a fun time and some beautiful scenery. After Bob reads the info does he share it with anyone?

[HeartofSteel]

Wow that looks like alot of fun! Great pictures! Bob should tell us about the Natchez Trace;)

[Arrow]

Great pics! In the early nineteenth century, folks taking flatboats down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans came home overland over the Natchez Trace.

[FrogInABlender]

Great pics! Looks like some in the group were dressed for rain, but the weather looks marvelous!

So what can Bob tell us about the Natchez Trace? I tried to read it but it's a little too small.

The coats were mostly for the cold and the wind. It was in the low 40's when we started out.

Bob says to tell you that the sign said this...

"This dirt path running along the ridge is a remnant of the original Natchez Trace. In the early 1800's it was the most direct route northward from the port of Natchez on the Mississippi to Nashville. In between were 500 miles of wilderness.

Boatmen, mail riders, traders, soldiers, Indians and outlaws passed here. On horseback and on foot - later with wagons - they followed the serpentine trail into the deep woods of Indian country. By the mid-1800's cross-country travelers turned to other means of transportation - steamboats, railroads, and roads connecting developing towns. As the wilderness began to fade, so did the old wilderness road. Today only pieces of the Old Trace remain."

[FrogInABlender]

If there's 8 of you on the ride, and 8 in the pictures, who took the picture? Did you lasso some one at the trailhead to take a group pic? :)

Yep, we ain't shy! ;) There was a couple at the Garrison Creek trailhead and she was taking pictures of us anyways so we just started shoving cameras at her (well not really, we asked nicely first). Then there was another couple at the rest area with the stone wall and historical marker so we got them to take that one. Most people don't mind at all.

[FrogInABlender]

Hey - You think you'll get BladeRider to register over here? Good to see her and Blade.

Blade is, BTW, the only gaited horse I've ever ridden. :D And he was a lot of fun.

Yeah, I'm sure she will eventually. She's just been real busy at work here lately.

[FrogInABlender]

Is that an old outlaw trail?

Is that where Lewis was killed, (of Lewis and Clark fame.)

Yes it is Mollie. There's a historical marker and monument on the Trace, not too far south from where we were, called Merriwether Lewis. He supposedly shot himself in the head at an inn on the Trace called Grinder's Stand. But there has been some controversy recently about whether he may have actually been murdered. You can read more about it at this link...

http://www.salon.com/it/feature/1999/03/22feature.html

[WashingtonBay]

Thanks Bob :D

[FrogInABlender]

Wow Frog, What a beautiful ride that must have been. Love all those colors nature has to offer.
Wish I was closer, I would be riding with you guys.

Yeah, I wish you were too. I don't imagine you get to ride with a whole lot of other gaited riders out where you live.

On the flat places we were racking right along. It was fun!

[jeezitsjacki]

wonderful pictures, it looks like a blast

[menagerie]

OMG! What fun! When I saw the title I thought, hey! we could have joined ya'll! I'll have to check out where Fly? is but we live just outside Jackson, MS and go up to the trace to ride from time to time. Its been awhile lately as we have started going to Beinville National forest more.

Great pics too BTW!

[FrogInABlender]

Fly is just north of Columbia, TN, so we were probably a good 200 miles from your end of the Trace.

I have been down to the Witch Dance trailhead on the Trace, which is about 30 miles south of Tupelo, MS. I have no idea why they call it that, but it sure sounds SPOOKY.

[Remali]

Man, is that ever some gorgeous country there! Looks like you guys all had a great time, and all the horses are so beautiful....of course I especially like those roans! ;)

[FrogInABlender]

Figured you would! ;) One thing about 'em...you never ride the same color horse two days in a row. They change so much with the temperature and the seasons.

[Dixie]

I'll have to look that place up. Hoping to get in some trail rides soon. Where in AL are you at? Looks like a nice place to ride. Great pics!

[shynbvs]

great pics! I love the blue roan. :) It looks like you guys had a great time!

[FrogInABlender]

I'll have to look that place up. Hoping to get in some trail rides soon. Where in AL are you at? Looks like a nice place to ride. Great pics!

NW corner, near Moulton.

[shynbvs]

totally of subject but i absolutely love you avatar FrogInABlender!

[FrogInABlender]

LOL! Me too! I've come this close to actually building one and putting him out in my front yard, but I live right behind an elementary school and the parents probably wouldn't appreciate it. I think it'd be a hoot though.

Here's a bigger version for your viewing enjoyment...
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=92&pictureid=2913


I love this one too...
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=92&pictureid=2914

I'm just twisted I guess! ;)

[Whitedresswind]

That looks like MUCH fun! And those blue horses are beauuuttiiffull!!

[Horseless]

Did that scarecrow just moon me. :eek:

Hey great pics, Ive been thru there several times, beautiful country.

[mtnmollie]

Yes it is Mollie. But there has been some controversy recently about whether he may have actually been murdered. You can read more about it at this link...

http://www.salon.com/it/feature/1999/03/22feature.html

I read an old book from the 1950's that said he was murdered.

[qh trail rider]

Looks like you all had a great ride. Loved your pics. Don't you wish Fall would last forever? It is my favorite time of the year and my favorite time of the year to ride horses.

My son got talked into a 100 mile bicycle ride on roads that run along the Natchez Trail. He did not get conditioned before he took that ride, so needless to say, it was not a smart thing to do. LOL

[twofingers]

thanks for sharing, that looks like a great ride. I mostly ride alone these days, no trailer but where I board is backed by 12000 acres of timber and DNR land.

[valleyrider]

Just love the pictures, looks like a great time. I would love to go on a group ride like that. Oh and love the Blue Roan, I used to have a Blue Roan, now I have a Red Roan.
Click on my eggs pleasehttp://tinyurl.com/5aclef/.gif (http://tinyurl.com/69723z)http://tinyurl.com/5tbhql/.gif (http://tinyurl.com/5f6mo5)

[HaveFaith]

Hey, great pics. I had a great time. Great bunch to ride with and a beautiful place to ride.
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=346&pictureid=3530
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=346&pictureid=3529
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=346&pictureid=3525
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=346&pictureid=3526

[Arrow]

Great pics, HaveFaith!

[HaveFaith]

More Pics
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=346&pictureid=3528
Dalton & Andy
http://www.baywindfarm.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=346&pictureid=3527
Donny & MFT

[WashingtonBay]

That's a great spot for portraits :)

[HaveFaith]

Yes, it was. Not only did the leaves have color, but I LOVE that fence. It's a reproduction, but I love old things.

[mtnmollie]

It is so cool to be able to "ride" different trails in America through our board memebers.
Thanks for sharing.

[FrogInABlender]

thanks for sharing, that looks like a great ride. I mostly ride alone these days, no trailer but where I board is backed by 12000 acres of timber and DNR land.

Wow! I don't think I'd ever trailer either if I lived someplace like that.