Stay Tuned

With the holiday weekend and busy schedules, we were not able to commit to a group ride for May. As the weather gets hotter, many members will choose to wait until fall to get back out on the trails. A few, however will plan some early morning rides and we will post those as they come up.

April Ride - CANCELLED

RIDE CANCELLED - STAY TUNED FOR MAY RIDE

We will be at St. John's Trailhead to ride and camp on April 19th and 20th. This is south of Palatka on the road going to Rodehaever Boy's Ranch (just after the big bridge). Ride out time will be approximately 10 am. If you can't come for both days - please come for a day ride. There is primitive camping with water and a porta potty - no corrals or stalls so you will have to tie out or bring a portable corral.

JP Hall Ride

VIEW PHOTOS OF THE RIDE HERE

Six riders enjoyed the trails at JP Hall/Bayard Conservation in Green Cove Springs. Although Pinky was without her horse to ride, it was nice to see her astride Clyde the mule. Many of the trails were under water and mucky due to recent rain and logging. We saw numerous loads of trees waiting to be hauled out of the woods, but luckily the logging operation was down for the weekend, so we did not have to deal with any crashing trees or heavy equipment. We stopped for lunch at the picnic area and practiced some trail obstacles - a little bridge to cross and some bleachers to back through and ride through. From our lunch spot we rode to the river and enjoyed the low tide view of the St. John's river. After riding for almost 5 hours, we got back to the trailers, said our goodbyes and look forward to our next adventure. Thanks to Chef Liz for sending us home with homemade strawberry jam!

Ride Schedule

Mark your calendars.... enjoy the good weather while we have it.... First Coast Trail Blazer's upcoming ride dates are:

March 15 - 10:00 AM - JP Hall in Green Cove Springs

April 19 - 20 - St. John's Trail Head (near Rodeheaver) There are primitive camping facilities here, so if you want to spend the night, you probably will have company! Ride out time on Saturday to be determined!

Guana Ride

VIEW LOTS OF PHOTOS HERE

Five members and two guests enjoyed the trails at Guana River Preserve on Saturday. Jamie and her son Justin missed us at Princess Place, but were able to ride with us this trip. Pinky met us in the parking lot before we headed out, and walked (on foot) with us a little way before she sadly went back. Hang in there.... we are wishing Doc a speedy recovery so you can join us soon! The first 30 minutes of our ride was hardly worth the drive. We went through knee deep water for a long way and then trudged through heavy muck beside a fence next to a paved road. Thanks to our cellular trail boss, we found out that we had taken the wrong trail, so we turned around and went back to where the mistake happened. After we got on the right trail, things were much better. We rode near some open marsh areas and then went down some nice roads that had a huge oak canopy. We took a short rest/lunch break in a clearing in the pines. After that we were ready for more exploring. We found our way to the "official" picnic area at Diego Pond, complete with hitching posts, picnic tables, running water, AND a mounting block. After about 3 1/2 hours of exploring we made it back to the parking area. Everyone enjoyed a smorgasbord of Liz's famous cookies before we headed off to the next adventure.

Some decided to go home, while two trailer loads decided to go just up the road to Mickler's Landing for a quick ride along the ocean. We crossed A1A and made a U-turn into the parking lot and came to an abrupt halt. Since it was such a nice Saturday afternoon, most of the area population had the same idea as we did, and the parking lot was full (not horse people.) There is a designated horse trailer parking area, which was occupied by a film crew and all their trailers and trucks. Cathy, KD and Traci got out to walk around and survey the turn around situation (not too good!). We had one movie star sighting - a smart A#$ young guy named Cole Hauser. A security guard came and made the crew move some trucks to give us enough room to circle the parking lot and exit. There was nowhere for us to park and some other riders told us that it was high tide and there was not much beach to ride on anyway. That will have to be another trip... probably NOT on a weekend!

River Rise Clean Up

9 members and a guest braved the chilly morning to help clear a trail at River Rise Preserve. After camping Friday night, we joined many other locals Saturday morning to tackle cleaning up the newly created trail. Everyone had fun and used some muscles that had been on holiday for a while. Some of us took a nice little ride Friday and Saturday afternoon and everyone except the Huff's stayed over Saturday night as well. Here are some PHOTOS .

2008 Membership

Remember to send in your membership dues by Jan 31st in order to remain on our e-mail list. 2007 was a great year and 2008 should be even better ! Don't miss out on the fun ! Print an application from our files section and send in along with a check payable to KD Huff. See you on the trails !