Back on the mountain, we turned up a heavily timbered ridge line and began our roughest stretch of riding for the week. The grade was pretty steep, with quite a few switchbacks and dead-fall everywhere. The guys had been in the area over the summer and cut this trail for the first time. It was still rough. The horses handled it with aplomb however and by 8:30 we finally made it up and over to the next ridge where we tied up to stretch and do some glassing. It had been a long 3.5-hour ride.
