FSR 516

Sadly, I have no pictures from this ride.  Forest Service Road 516 is at the border of Colorado and Wyoming.  After I had parked and unloaded, Copper, I looked at the sky and decided that it might rain, so I didn't want to take my camera.  We (Copper, Bear, and Zoe) crossed CO State Hwy. 125 which turns into WY 230 there at the border and entered the pine tree forest.  We followed this two track road for a ways.  Everything looked about the same with trees on all sides and a lot of them dead from the pine bark beetle infestation.  I really was not planning on going for a very long ride, but I did want to follow the road until I came to something like a "T" or a fork, or a landmark of some kind.  Eventually, we did get to a "T" but instead of heading back, I made a right hand turn and decided to follow the new trail 516 on a little farther.  I sure do hate to turn around.  I always want to see what is around the next bend.  There was a sign posted there that had the trail that I had been on as 516E, so I guess I was actually coming off of a little spur road.


 I continued to follow the new 516 which was posted with orange diamonds for a cross country ski trail.  It seemed to me that I was headed in the right direction to make a loop.  Big mistake!  I rode along this trail and just kept going and going until it got the point that I didn't want to turn around because I would have so far to back track.  Long story short, after a while I knew I was lost, but still travelling on that darn 516.  I had some water, one granola bar, and no cell service.   Finally, I came upon an old mine called the Village Belle that I had been to with my friend Joie and her two kids in her van.  I was very happy to finally figure out what direction I had been going in and where I was, but unfortunately, I also realized that I was 3 1/2 miles away from the paved Hwy. 125 and then still further miles away from where I had parked my truck and trailer.  


So I headed the way I needed to go.  My horse was cranky and my dogs were tired, but at least I knew we weren't lost anymore.  Luckily, when I got out by the paved highway, I was able to get cell phone service and called my husband.  He drove out in his patrol vehicle to where I was and picked up the keys to our truck.  Then he drove to the state line which was another 5 miles up the road and parked and then got in our truck and drove it down to me and my waiting horse and dogs.  Copper whinnied when he saw the truck coming he was so happy to be going home.  We loaded him up and went back up to the state line and my husband got back in his patrol vehicle and I drove the truck and trailer home.  We were all pooped. 


The next morning, we looked on a map to try to figure out where I had been, and counted up each little square and figured out I had ridden 12 miles.  It's not the first time I've been lost in the forest, but it was one of the longer times.  It sure made me appreciate being home that night.