Trail Riding
Lippitt Morgans
in Okanogan County of Washington State
By Mary Curtis
In Okanogan County of Washington State we are very fortunate to have about 70% of our County as public land. This makes for miles and miles of great woodland trails and land to ride our horses on. My husband, Don, and I have lived here all our lives. It is a very rural, sleepy atmosphere and perfect for all outdoor activities. Our passion just happens to be on the trails. We try to take to the mountains about three times a month and rarely ride over the same trails more than once a summer.
We rode the Pasayten Wilderness recently. In this wilderness area there are 531,000 acres of land that is restricted, so no motors are allowed. We didn’t go all the way into the wilderness area but stopped at the Toats Coulee Creek campground and took off up the creek to the west. It was a very primitive ‘trail’ that disappeared from time to time, but we didn’t let that stop us. The wildflowers were glorious, the creek was rushing and the air was crisp and cool.
When we finally ran out of trail, we came upon what once must have been a bridge. There were concrete columns on both sides of the creek and a massive tree that had been sawed flat on two sides for the bridge deck. At this location, two creeks converged and there was a waterfall with about a 10’ drop. Huge boulders were scattered throughout the creek. It was spectacular.
Just as we were finishing lunch and starting to mount our horses, a large tree fell on the other bank of the creek. What a racket! The horses were quite startled, as were we, but no real trouble. This ride is definitely worth a redo next year.
46 / Sport and Trail Magazine
Sometimes the trail was very close to the creek, the noise was deafening! As we would move away the trees would act as a sound barrier. An amazing ride!