Endurance.Net Ridecamp Archives

Hi Folks, I thought I'd go ahead and put in a plug for this new ride. 
Don and Nicki Meuten and crew are doing a great job getting this 
together and it's going to be a blast. Gina Hagis and I are doing the 
trails and everything looks good. The newly updated ride map should be 
on the web site soon (the map that in up now is outdated). Here is the 
web address if you want to check it out plus all the other things to do 
while you're there.
http://www4.ncsu.edu/~cullins/VHEC/index.html 
<http://www4.ncsu.edu/%7Ecullins/VHEC/index.html>
This is going to be a challenging but totally doable mountain ride in a 
very beautiful part of Virginia. The camp is right on the New River and 
you can even go in and cool yourselves and your horses off! The weather 
is always cooler than all points south! The trails will consist of the 
Virginia Highlands Horse Trail, the Iron Mountain Trail and some 
connecting trails. The route will traverse several mountains and take 
you through hardwoods, pines, rhododendron/hemlock forests and along 
ridges with awesome views. You will actually go somewhere on this ride 
as all the vet checks are away from camp but easy to access. One vet 
check at the Iron Mountain Horse Camp will even have ice cream available 
for sale and a tack shop! The footing is mostly good with some rocky 
areas (after all, it's the Virginia Mountains!) with only about 4 miles 
of gravel road (in small sections) for the 50's and none for the 30s. 
Although hoof protection is recommended our horses are barefoot and have 
no problems with the trail but this is where they condition so they are 
used to it. If you are from a sandy area you should count on some kind 
of hoof protection.
When you arrive back at camp you will be treated to a gourmet meal 
prepared by Tom Sites and some good old time mountain music played by my 
husband Bill (bass)and myself (fiddle and banjo) and some other local 
musicians fresh from the Galax Fiddler's Convention, you can even do 
some clogging if you're not too tired!
So.....if you are planning on coming why don't you go ahead and send in 
your entry! Even though we have heard all sorts of rumors of who is 
coming no one has sent in an entry yet. Please make these new ride 
managers feel more comfortable about their expenditures and send them 
some money! It will make their planning go so much easier! After all you 
don't want to be the one at the back of the dinner line if the food runs 
out because everyone waited until the last minute to commit,  do you?? 
Anyway, enough brow beating, come if you can it will be a great ride, 
send in your entry....see you on the trail!
Nancy Sluys

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