What's better . . . ?

My leading question today is inspired by what I see out my windows. Cloudless blue sky, changing deciduous leaves, no sign of interruption to the glory of autumn. What could be better than to face a phenomenal September day with the promise of an afternoon horseback ride in the mountains?

I'm sure lots of folks have lots of other possibilities, but in my mind, it's going to every bit as good as that apple pie soon to come from those bright red apples hanging from the tree just north of the driveway.

I think we all live for fall here in North Idaho. Summer's heat is gone. Many of the tourists are gone. In our case, much of the toil involved with necessities around this place has passed. And, when we're promised a week of autumn days in the '70s, we feel blessed.

So, why not, load 'em up, drive 'em to a good trail system and saddle up?

With that in mind, I'm going to leave this posting incomplete . . . and report the results of this glorious day's plans later. . . . . . . . . .

Later came the next morning. I wanted to finish this up last night, but the new season of "60 Minutes" and Sunday night drowsies took over. So, today I'll still say it doesn't get better than the experience we had yesterday.

Barbara and Laurie called and said they were loading up their horses too. So, we met them at the Colburn place and drove to Stampede Lake near Naples, Idaho. The road north of Stampede Lake took us to a huge parking area where the Forest Service has thinned and burned a Ponderosa pine forest and created a park for motorcycles, ATVs and horses with views of the magnificent Selkirk Mountains between the trees.

Fortunate for us, the noisy vehicle population was at a minimum, so the horses didn't get too spooked. We saddled up, tried a few of the ATV trails and then resorted to the network of sandy roads that run through the area. One jaunt took us to some signs that advised of private property, no hunting and no OTVs.

We figured we didn't fit in any of the three categories, so we plodded through the gateway and were treated to a gorgeous small lake off to the right and a family's quiet castle off to the left. I really wouldn't call it a castle, but it's as close to a castle as a structure can get. Two spires of varying height reached toward the blue sky in an isolated meadow setting. It seemed like Viggo might approve.

We felt like we'd entered a strange but beautiful sanctuary, and we respected it from a distance by simply resting our horses, snapping a few pictures and raving about the quiet splendor around us. Laurie, who'd just returned from a week at the Arabian Sport Horse Nationals, rode Phansey, thought about having to go back to the school after our ride, and lamented that she'd love to stay in this equine escape away from the cares and concerns of the real world just a little while longer.

After an hour's ride, the horses had settled down into walking rather than jigging, and we had enjoyed "the longest trail ride of the year" as Bill put it. He hadn't been on a horse for three years and had reached the stage where he knew those knees were gonna remind him of that once he stepped to the ground from Casey.

Back at the trailers, the horses got grain, carrots and apples, while the people drank tea and Pepsi and gobbled down cookies and fritos. We loaded up, headed back toward the Selle Valley and all agreed that nothing could be better than this beautiful autumn horseback ride.