Tumalo Reservoir, Rider’s Mecca

Wednesday, April 24, 2019

On a beautiful day, all the equines and dogs, my friend Janet, and I, piled into the horse rig and headed for Tumalo Reservoir’s well-ridden horse trails. The recently filled Reservoir consumed most of the beach; the sky’s glorious clouds obscured surrounding mountains. I’d not been to the Reservoir for a couple of years and while on the road leading to it saw new landscaping and big homes. I’ve worried that construction might have altered the key Reservoir area, but mostly, it’s the same lovely, cool body of water.

We turned the horses away from that water and started toward Bull Springs, about a mile and a half away. The dogs dashed ahead of me, riding Rosie, while Janet followed on Sunni, with Pimmy at our little parade’s rear. I feel ever-grateful to Pimmy who’s easily recognized and often identified with me. We bumped into other horseback riders coming toward us, and on seeing Pimmy one called out to me. She’s an old friend, Liz, a retired oncology nurse who long ago helped me, when I was a chemo patient and a brand new resident in this area. She’s a committed horseback rider who introduced me to the Reservoir.

Our trail still looked as always, except for changes caused by a huge wildfire several years ago. Today, the trail is weedy with Manzanita, framed by downed, burned trees and a once-forested surrounding area that’s become a cleared and graceful landscape. After our moseying had taken us to what remains of the once-lush Bull Springs area, we turned back.

Upon reaching the trailhead, another long time acquaintance recognized Pimmy, and also, then me. She’s Michal (pronounced Michelle) Bailey, who used to be the proprietor of Tumalo’s Blue Pony. Now semi-retired, she paused while helping a couple of riders adjust saddles to fit their horses properly and said hello. Michal very kindly also took time to help out with a problem that occurred at my trailer.

The afternoon had lots of worthwhile components: Janet recovered her “horseback legs”, I reconnected with a couple of nice friends, the dogs got exercised–worn out and slept soundly for hours, the horses behaved willingly and well, and Pimmy also had fun.

Dear Friends, the older we get, the faster time passes; let’s dive into summer. Diana