The Many Reasons I LOVE Horse Camping

Horse camping became a part of my family's culture when the kids were younger and partcipating in Horse 4-H. Our first big adventure, with The Mavericks, was to Nehalem Bay State Park. The wide, white-sand beach was a great place to get our hooves wet -- LITERALLY! There were subsequent annual trips to Nehalem, Timothy Lake, and Silver Falls State Park, each one a blast.

These outings were a fun way to wrap up the 4-H show season, a stress-free time for families to get to know each other. Looking back, the horses seemed to enjoy camping, too.

Back then, our activities ranged from story-telling and skits around the fire, to card games, and swimming in the lake. There were twice daily trail rides and plenty of S'mores or other goopy marshmallow inventions.

So, after years of yearning to recapture some of the fun of horse camping, I did something so spur-of-the-moment this last week, that it shocked even me. I reserved a horse camp at Stub Stewart State Park, which is a mere thirty-minutes drive from the ranch. Far enough to be out in the woods, yet close enough to spin home and care for the rest of our critters.

Rosie and Don helped me get the trailer parked at site 3 and the horses settled into their corrals on Friday night. Nick drove in from the coast to join us and we roasted our dinner -- and a few S'mores -- over the fire.

That night, our sleep was punctuated with horses squealing at each other -- mostly our two mares -- and the wind rustling through the tall stand of Douglas Firs that surround the park's fifteen horse camp sites.

Early the next morning, as the sun was rising, I fed the horses their hay and took a snapshot of our camp spot.

 

A couple of hours later, Nick and Rosie and I were saddled and out on the trail. We climbed to Unfit Settlement viewpoint -- the highest point in the park at 1,500 feet, which was deemed "Mountainous, Unfit for Settlement," in an 1879 survey. While there, Rosie snapped this photo of Nick and Irish with Drifty and me.

 

I can't remember the last time Nick and Rosie and I got to ride together, but it felt wonderful to do so once again.
 

From Unfit Settlement, we dropped down to the Hares Canyon Trail, one of the longest trails in the park. A work crew was grinding branches ahead, so we cut over on Bullbucker to Sidewinder Horseshoe to Bucking Pass to Boomscooter, all sections of trail named after logging terms. We made a quick loop through Skidder Row before heading back to camp.

 

Come lunchtime, we were eager to visit with Don and Nick's sweetheart, Chelsea, who brought Ima, an adorable Black Lab pup she was dog-sitting. Here's a snapshot of Ima with the water bottle she's been chewing.

 

Our lunch fare was a reprise meal -- tube steaks (chicken hot dogs), pickles, olives, carrots, chips, grapes, watermelon slices, and S'mores. Afterwards, Rosie took a nap while the rest of us played Kings in the Corner, a card game we learned from one of our 4-H friends, Dea Tran. If you look close, you can see Nick pretending to sneak a peek at my cards!

 

 

Rosie soon joined us and it was time for the afternoon ride. This time, Chelsea rode with Rosie and me and we definitely picked up the pace for some fast canters and trots.
 

First, we dropped down Boomscooter to the Banks-Vernonia Trail, where we encountered a lot of bicyclists. Steady as usual, the horses did great. We set a fast pace south until we hit the base of the Hares Canyon Trail, swinging into the Brooke Creek Hike-In Camp for a rest stop. From there, we climbed high up over Jackstrawed Tarry, dropping down on to Bullbucker and then Hooktender Horseshoe back into camp. Here's a snapshot of Chelsea and Irish with Rosie and Venus.

 

 

We fed the horses their dinner and loaded up our gear before heading home late Saturday, leaving much of the unpacking for today. Everyone had a great time and we hope to horse camp one more time this fall.