Swallow Rock to Seneca Creek: A Lovely Scenic Loop

This past weekend, my long-time horse mentor Sonya and I met to ride in the Seneca Creek backcountry. This weekend's adventure would start 3.5 miles up the road from the Horton trailhead at the Johnny Meadows equestrian and group campsite. I've camped and ridden out of this location numerous times in the past. However, it's been several years since I did! And the last time I was there, I rode different trails than the ones Sonya and I planned to ride.

Nettles at the start of Swallow Rock trail

Q has concerns. Stan's just bee-boppin'

Originally, Sonya was going to bring her mare and her rig, but she ran into some unexpected issues with the trailer in the week leading up to the ride. Instead of cancelling completely, I told her she could just show up and I'd provide the horse and tack. This ended up being perfect because it guaranteed that all three of my horses could get exercise, and Sonya could enjoy a day with less responsibility for once. She's given so much of her time and her resources to so many of us when it comes to horses through the decades. I was thrilled to be able to give back in a way that made her life a little simpler while still enjoying something she loves. 

Kinda like a super highway compared to Horton!

Allegheny Mtn trail

We didn't have a big plan for our day beyond heading up Swallow Rock trail to the top of the ridge where it meets Allegheny Mtn trail (the point where I turned around on my Horton trail adventure in June). When all was said and done, we ended up riding 9+ miles from Swallow Rock → Allegheny Mtn → Bear Hunter → Seneca Creek → Swallow Rock. 

Descending Bear Hunter

Lovely trail on Bear Hunter

I hadn't ridden Swallow Rock trail in over a decade. I was happy to have a more-experienced buddy for it on this day to refresh my memory on the equestrian access point. The hiker's trailhead for Swallow Rock is further downstream from the equestrian trailhead; it takes you up a steep embankment that traverses above a cliff line that gives way to Gandy Creek. The equestrian access crosses Gandy Creek above the bridge and skips this climb and traverse. Why skip it on horses? Because the footing isn't great and horses can lose traction and fall over the cliff. There was a fatality just last year. 

This bit of Bear Hunter made me think of a piece of the OD 100 / No Frills 55

The end of Bear Hunter looking at Seneca Creek

We crossed Gandy Creek and headed up Swallow Rock trail with little fanfare. There was a thick, tall patch of stinging nettle right off the bat that gave poor Q pause, but I took the lead with Grif and Stan and she followed suit without issue. It didn't take long for Stan to pass Q and Sonya, settling in between us where he'd stay most of the ride. 

Swallow Rock was like a super highway compared to Horton. The nettles were far fewer, too! We trimmed a few branches, but there weren't any major obstacles. The downed tree both Sonya and I had heard was near the top was already cut out, too! I will 100% be frequenting this trail more in the future. 

Seneca Creek and one of the many campsites

A great spot to backcountry camp with ponies

Q was very relaxed

We made a left onto Allegheny Mtn trail at the top of the ridge and followed it for about 1.5 miles to its junction with Bear Hunter trail. As we traveled Allegheny Mtn, Stan's sass escalated as he trotted to and fro grazing, cutting both Sonya and I off repeatedly and then refusing to get out of the way. Many exclamations of, "Damnit, Stan! Why?!" could be heard. He's living his best sassy senior life - no one told him he's 24. 

Bear Hunter is another trail I've ridden before, but it's been ages. It was my favorite trail we did the whole day! I heard several of my favorite birds, saw numerous plants that are near and dear to my heart, the footing was great, and the forest understory was gorgeous. Such a delight. 

The stretch along Seneca Creek was also beautiful - it always is! There's a reason it's the most popular trail in this backcountry area. However, the novelty of Bear Hunter won out for me. 

Seneca Creek trail

Native brook trout can be caught in this stream, a big draw for many

The only people we saw all day were on Seneca Creek, a duo of young men and then a duo of locals that knew Sonya. Stan took a moment to terrify the young woman in this group by walking up to her while she was cooing at Gidget. When she raised her head to look at Sonya, who was speaking to the other person, Stan's giant schnozz was RIGHT in her face. I heard her squeak but was facing the other way and didn't realize what had happened. Sonya got a good giggle out of it though!

After a mile or so on Seneca Creek, we came to the junction with the second half of Swallow Rock trail. We headed up that, crossed Allegheny Mtn trail on the ridge, and continued down Swallow Rock back to Gandy Creek and the trailer. This stretch was just as smooth as the rest of the ride had been, minus Stan not paying mind to the trail about a third of a mile from the end. He startled himself and chose to jump down a 6-8 foot slope into the creek while Sonya and I laughed and chastised him for his choices. He even looked surprised by his choices. It was hilarious. 

Stan kept cutting Sonya and Q off. It was kind of hilarious.

Climbing up Swallow Rock trail

As we crossed Gandy Creek on our way back to the trailer, the sounds and sights of numerous bikers became apparent. The final stretch of our ride along the short section of one-lane road would turn into a small adventure of its own as we navigated a steady stream of bikers and cars. The big GRUSK (Gravel Race Up Spruce Knob) was in full swing that day, featuring race distances ranging from 19 to 318 miles. (I’ve participated in the 36- and 54-mile rides in past years.)

Grif and I led the way, followed by Stan, the dogs, and Sonya on Q. As more bikers and vehicles appeared behind us, I decided to pick up a big trot for the last hundred yards, figuring it was safer to quickly reach the campsite/trailer and get everyone well off the road rather than try to let a steady stream of bikes and vehicles squeeze past us in such a narrow spot. One particularly bold biker passed Stan, while another held back to ask Sonya if it would be safe to pass the freely trotting horse. Ultimately, that biker waited patiently behind until we all pulled off the road and into the campsite.

The clearing where Swallow Rock trail crosses Allegheny Mtn trail

Almost to the end!

We reached the campsite with no issues, and I turned to see Sonya with a HUGE grin on her face after enjoying Q's giant trot. She was smitten. And rightly so, that little mare moves much bigger than you'd expect a 14.1hh animal to!

All in all, it was a great day. Sonya had an absolute BLAST on Q (going so far as to offer to buy her and/or just let Q live with her anytime Q wanted lol). Bonus? Grif's shoes performed beautifully and of the 6 boots we had on horses (4 on Q and 2 on Grif), none had a single issue! And Stan didn't seem too bothered by his bare feet at all if his sassy little shenanigans during the ride were any indication. 

I have a sneaking suspicion Sonya and I will repeat this riding arrangement this summer. It served everyone so well and was a ton of fun. I'm already plotting which trails I'd like to travel next time!

Nailed It (Without Nails): My First Glue-On Experience

For over a decade, I’ve been my horses’ farrier. I still check in with my vet and local farrier now and then, and their encouragement has been so validating. But for the most part, I’ve managed everything myself.

Over the years, I’ve primarily relied on hoof boots. They’ve served me well, but I’ve also used both metal and synthetic shoes at times, usually for endurance races or when we were riding consistently over rough terrain and boots became more of a hassle than a help.

Don’t get me wrong! Boots can be fantastic. But unless your horse has textbook hooves for them, they can be wildly frustrating. Even when your horse does have perfect boot feet (looking at you, Q!), I've still had to wrestle with twisted or broken boots. Interrupting a ride to fix a malfunction is just not my idea of a good time.

For a while now, I’ve been craving a hoof protection solution I could apply myself. Something that didn’t involve nails but also offered more security than boots. I’d seen endurance riders find success with glue-on boots, but for some reason, they never really called to me. 

But as glue-on and synthetic shoe technology has evolved, my interest piqued. The past few years have brought so many new products and materials into the scene. I started paying attention. I read everything I could get my hands on. I joined online groups, especially the Facebook Glue-On group, and saved dozens of detailed posts from experienced farriers. I’ve learned so much from that community from application and removal tips to troubleshooting and product comparisons.

After three years of lurking, learning, and saving posts like my life depended on it… I finally took the plunge.

This summer, I glued shoes onto Griffin for the first time. 

Some of my prep material laid out as I double-checked my list; the shoes zip tied to Grif so they'd stay put while I applied glue; wrapped post-glue application; the messy-but-effective final product before I sealed it in super glue. 

To my relief, the process went much smoother than expected. Likely thanks to the hours (and hours) I spent researching beforehand. I definitely have room to improve my technique and confidence, but for a first attempt? I’m proud of it. The shoes have held up beautifully through weather and plenty of riding for over three weeks now.

While I haven’t been riding at the same volume or intensity I was during my peak endurance days, I haven’t exactly taken it easy either. We've done plenty of miles involving climbing, descending, off-camber traverses, mud, rocks, and water. And the glue-ons? Still solid.

Horton Trail

Making a routine of blogging again is challenging! I've several draft posts just sitting. Writing has been further complicated by the fact that for whatever reason, the blogger post composition page kills my browser frequently. And most recently, it ate this entire blog post after I had written it. All I needed to do was add the photos. So I'm going to make one attempt to write it again and get it uploaded. I really want to be back in this habit, but technology is fighting me.

 

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Last month, I made good on my goal to explore the Seneca-Spruce Knob backcountry more on horseback this year. While not as dramatic of a landscape as the Dolly Sods wilderness area, this backcountry is only 25 minutes from my house to the closest trailhead, is less busy, and has much less technical terrain. In Dolly Sods, there are only a handful of trails/trail segments that are safe for horses. The Seneca-Spruce Knob backcountry area, conversely, only has two trail segments that aren’t safe for horses - one had a fatality as recent as last summer!

   

Horton trail is the first trailhead I reach on my way into this area. I had heard from local equestrians that this section was passable for horses, but wanted to check it out myself. The verdict? It’s narrow single track cut into the hillside that follows the stream (crossing it 8 times) as it climbs up to the ridgeline over 2.4 miles. Not bad at all! 

At the ridgeline, Horton crosses Allegheny Mtn trail before descending another mile down to Seneca Creek. This mile-long section of Horton between Allegheny Mtn and Seneca Creek is Not Horse Friendly. However, the remaining 4+ miles of Horton on the other side of Seneca Creek are just fine; I rode them last year with my local BCHA chapter.

   

My goal on this day was to head up Horton and ride along Allegheny Mtn trail until I reached the junction with Swallow Rock trail, as Swallow Rock is the next-closest trailhead I will frequently use. 

Q, Taiga, Gidget, and I traveled up Horton without any fanfare. Q was relaxed and forward. Intermittently, she’d ask to trot. However, because there are random flat dinner-plate rocks embedded in the trail and it was a damp day following a lot of rainfall that week, I kept her to a walk to reduce the likelihood of slipping on a random rock. 

Once we reached the ridge, we turned right onto Allegheny Mtn trail. It’s a gorgeous, grassy trail that extends for a total of 13 miles. I haven’t ridden all of it, but every section I have ridden looks the same.

 

Allegheny Mtn trail was blissful, and once again without any fanfare. Q thought she might like to ask to turn around and head home a few times, but she didn’t try very hard. All in all, we traveled approximately 3 miles on this trail before we reached the Swallow Rock junction and turned for home, retracing our steps all the way back to the trailer. When it was all said and done, we traveled 11.5 miles over 3+ hours. It was peaceful and uneventful and the dogs were happily tuckered afterward.

   

Things I’d change if I did this ride again: 

1. 1. Go on a drier day: while the rocks weren’t huge and the consequence of falling wasn’t anything extra (no drops, cliffs, etc.), it’d give me more ease of mind to travel on a day when there was more friction and less chance of gravity having its way with me. 
2. 2.  Choose a time when the nettles aren’t up or are past stinging or have been cut back: I’ve ridden through patches of nettles many, many times through the years. Never have I noticed my horses have any care about them. Horton has about 1.3 miles of nettles though. When Q asked to trot on the ascent, I thought she was just eager to go down the trail - uncommon, but something she has and will do. However, when she did it on the descent, I realized it was because she was very bothered by the nettles! Ugh! Unfortunately, there wasn’t much to be done about it other than just powering through. I let her pause in each creek crossing for a good scratch (nettles make me itch something fierce) and we marched powerfully toward the trailer. Once we were out of the nettles, she had another long scratch and settled. By the time we reached the trailer (where she was stuffed with treats and grain), she was totally relaxed and fine. Not the best thing to have happened, but certainly not the worst either! Lesson very much learned.