Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Those gorgeous TN Mountains

Just after we got started on the trail....it was kinda chilly, but as soon as the horses started heating up - we got steam.

This is a place for hikers to stay during the night, so the bears (yes I said bears) will not get them. There is a place for you to hang your food up really high on a highwire also.
There are signs everywhere up here that tell you that there is active bear activity, and not to approach them. Not sure if the horses understand that -
Have you ever been on a horse that even smells a bear????
They start snorting and dancing around.....even sometimes start to bolt.....just say - they FREAK out !!!
The bears up in TN are pretty much protected, so they really do not fear humans, and they pretty much stay hidden.
Although in Cades Cove (where they have a drive around road to look at the animals), they just walk around - through cars and such. I have some pictures of our honeymoon where my Bear is about 4 feet from a real Bear.....oh scary !!!!

Gorgeous shot of the mountain we were riding on.

Ooooo.....So Steamy !!! LOL
Look at Rio biting at my foot.....she is crazy and does this alot while we are standing still. (not in the show ring), but on trail rides....I think it calms her nerves....LOL
She really just teethes on my stirrup or my boot.

Getting a drink from one of the many, many streams


I love this picture of Chance and Bear....



Creek running beside the trail.



Gorgeous waterfall we went by on the trail. There are lots of these, especially after the snowfall. The melted snow has to have somewhere to go.
We went up during the drought last year and there was almost no water.


Thanks for letting me share - I still have some other pics to get, so hopefully I will have some more.
Jamie






5 comments:

Trailboss said...

Beautiful pictures! Looks like a great trail ride.

Laughing Orca Ranch said...

I'm loving all these photos.

That one with Bear and Chance is a cool angle.
You and Rio look beautiful together. The nibbling on the foot photo made me smile. Baby Doll does that to me sometimes, too.

Those steamy shots are amazing. If anyone doubts that horses aren't able to stay warm outside in winter, they oughta see those photos.
Those horses are like big, four-legged heaters. I bet you almost wanted to ride Rio bareback to keep your hiney warm, eh? lol :)

You'll have to explain/describe those horse bear shelters for me. Are they stalls enclosed with chain link fence?

I hope Baby Doll and I never come upon a bear. Of course up here Mountain Lions are pretty common, too. Scary!

~Lisa

Train Wreck said...

Gorgeous! What a beautiful ride! We do have alot in common! We are long distance related!

Tonya said...

We just got back from G'burg / P-Forge. Love it up there this time of year. I soooo want to go back and go riding one day!

Mikey said...

That looks like SUCH a pretty ride!!