Gettysburg Spooky Trail Ride! (pics and vid within!)

[analise]

So it was a sort of last minute thing but we ended up driving up to Gettysburg for a trail ride yesterday and got there and started late enough that the last 45 minutes or so we were riding in the dark (save for the nice full moon lighting our way). Anyway, it was cool, my first time at that particular spot, and my only regret is I wished I'd worn gloves and brought a slightly heavier jacket once the temperatured dropped along with the sun.

My pony did awesome. Wasn't scared by cows, dogs, segways, bikes, cars, or ghosts. He crossed his first wooden bridge without a care, too(and actually we did several and some of those were these little narrow things mostly covered by leaves that I guess crossed boggy spots and not actual water but you had to keep an eye out for 'em).

I'd love to go again when we could do the full loop and in, you know, full daylight.

Pictures!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...9/DSC00104.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...9/DSC00105.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...9/DSC00108.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...9/DSC00111.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...9/DSC00112.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...9/DSC00117.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...9/DSC00121.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...9/DSC00141.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...9/DSC00151.jpg
That's me there second from the left. The only picture of me that got taken, by a guy walking by kind enough to do so.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ov%201%202009/
Anyway, there's like 99 pics and you can see them all right there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eatOUr5kmoQ
And there's a video, first time I've pasted a bunch of clips together and set a musical background.

Enjoy!

[ChocoMare]

Looks like everyone had a lovely ride! Such good ponies!!!!

[analise]

They were very good ponies! Though Rocky (the horse you see most of in the pics because he was leading in front of me) spooked twice. Once when we had to cross a road and a lady in the car that stopped for us took a picture with her cell phone and it made that camera noise out of the blue and he jumped (and then Kieran jumped a little because Rocky did) and the lady was like, "oh, I hope I didn't just scare them" and we were like, "uh...yeah, actually you did." Apparently even after being told that, she asked one of the riders at the end of our group to take a picture too. *facepalm* At least she asked instead of just taking one with no warning.

Rocky also spooked much later in the ride, it was nearly dark and we were walking along with a corn field on the right and some woods on the left. He was sure there was something in the woods and it made him jump. (even Kieran got looky over that way). One of the guys behind us later said he thought he saw something in there but had no idea what it was (was expecting a deer but was pretty sure that wasn't it) so that was our ghost sighting.

[Bank of Dad]

Great pics. How much mud, and how bad was it, up there? I'd like to get back there if its not too bad.

[analise]

The most of the ride wasn't that muddy. A lot of the paths we were on were pretty clear, level, and with just enough sand/gravel that there wasn't much in the way of mud. However, when the trail went up into the trees (approaching the Devil's Den area, as I was told but looking at the map I'm thinking it was more the southern end of Cemetary Ridge and around behind Little Round Top), there were a lot of low spots with really deep mud (up to knees/hocks) that we had to slog through. It'd get solid for a bit, then muddy again. We actually ended up cutting along the road for a while till we crossed an equestrian path again rather than trudge through the woods for God-knew-how-much-longer (which was probably a good thing since we ended up riding so late).

The part of the trail in the woods along West Confederate Avenue (past the observation tower and the ampitheatre) didn't really get boggy.

And there were quite a few spots that were open/flat enough for trotting, which was fun, though we ended up only doing so twice.

[jazzrider]

We've ridden there twice this fall -- once right after a rain. Most of the trails are "all weather", except for Little and Big Round Top. Parts were very muddy, but work arounds were made through the woods. Little and Big Round top were also a little bit more rocky than we expected, but then we're spoiled because we usually ride on some beautifully maintained trails.

Looks like you guys had a fun ride!

[analise]

We did! I want to go back again and do the proper loop.