Trail Report: Great North Mountain – Half Moon Trail to overlook

04/26/25

Wednesday I went out from Halfmoon Trail to the Halfmoon overlook.

Just a pinch over 9 miles in and out round trip.

Easy closed (soft footing) fireroad to Rocky Mountain trail with a rather easy climb up and back down.

Water crossing before/after the climb

Must cross a bridge at the start of the trail behind the closed fire gate.

Parking: outside of Wardensville, WV. Enough room to loop the trailer around.

The fire road portion of this ride is really pleasant. It is not a driven on fireroad and has mossed over in areas, with several small creeks crossing over.

This is a good place to move out. The grade is pretty low so it’s only slightly inclined.

It eventually crosses a wider more prominent creek. There is also a camping site on the left. The wider trail continues left and the smaller trail, which is not marked and is easy to miss is on the right.

Going right is a light but greater incline, going up along the side of the mountain. It’s a pleasant and enjoyable minor climb.

Some of the initial climb

The trail reaches what appears to be the top of the mountain. The trail continues to the right. And there is a prominent trail breaking off to the left.

There is a visible signpost here.

There is a camping site here, and a nice view. There is another camping site down the trail to the left, in the direction of the overlook.

The trail just before the left hand break off to the overlook

Baring left comes to another camping site on the right about a half mile ahead. This is also where German Wilson Trail connects from the right.

Some of the trail towards the top

Continuing is still a pleasant trail, mildly climbing. It does get rocky as it elevates to the top. There is a rock outcropping along the ridge top on the right. Eventually the trail comes around the corner of the mountain. To the left is a large camping site with some small overlooks and a couple separate stone fire rings.

The top. Left hand camp site at overlook and right hand bend to climb up to the main overlook.

The stone foundation

Some of the on foot climbing

The trail continues to wrap to the right just a bit further. I tied Simon here and climbed the rocks on the right up to the overlook.

It’s an amazing view that photos just can’t do justice for. Not a large area to sit but there are a few small spots.

The overlook

There is also what appears to be an old lookout tower’s base. I’m guessing. Initially it appears to be a pile of rocks until you note the mortar between stones.

The ride back down is pleasant and a mild easy descent.

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by riderofchaos on April 26, 2025 • Permalink

Posted in Trail Riding

Posted by riderofchaos on April 26, 2025

https://blueridgepony.com/2025/04/26/trail-report-great-north-mountain-half-moon-trail-to-overlook/

Ergots

4/25/25

I was grooming Pip up this morning and I noticed his ergots are hugeeeee. The front ones are like 5-6inches long.

Crazy

Apparently this is much more prominent in horses with feather.

Look at this close up

Etymology: The word “ergot” comes from the French word for “rooster’s spur”.

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by riderofchaos on April 25, 2025 • Permalink

Posted in Pony Stuff

Posted by riderofchaos on April 25, 2025

https://blueridgepony.com/2025/04/25/ergots/

A Missing Hoof Boot

04/23/25

Back in March I tried out a new trail. It was a quick spin after work where I was racing daylight.

On the ride back to my trailer I noticed a missing hoof boot. I rode back and forth over the 2 mile stretch it was likely lost in to no avail. And with the shadows getting long I called it.

I went back a couple days later and looked for it again. Still no luck. So I made a sign and taped it to the post at the trail head.

It is notable that I have not lost a boot since the first time I used them at the Murder mystery ride hosted by Glen More Hunt (such a cool event). The hunt members were so kind and found the boot using a search line.

Back to this list boot…

A week or two later, while at MA1, I received a voice mail that someone had found it and left it on the post for me! I was so excited and really happy with humanity.

That Monday after work I was about to pull out of the driveway to go pick it up and I received a text from another kind soul letting me know it was there.

Both of these people would have had to think about reaching out after they had left the trail head because there is no phone service in the general area.

I picked up the boot successfully and have gained a bit of faith in people.

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by riderofchaos on April 23, 2025 • Permalink

Posted in The no category, category, Trail Riding

Posted by riderofchaos on April 23, 2025

https://blueridgepony.com/2025/04/23/a-missing-hoof-boot/

Mid-Atlantic #1 – Morvin Park, VA – April 12/13, 2025

4/22/25

Two weeks ago was the MGAA season opener, MA1.

Currently I ride on team, Minor Threat in the O25 division. I think this is our third season together. I missed part of the previous two seasons due to eye issues. Missing competitions is devastating, and last year I was out after July for the rest of the season. It was a real kick in the pants.

This weekend we competed four man with Jenny, Averi, Bailey and myself. And we did a darn good job!

We were lucky to have Maddie sit in with us on Jenny’s spare pony. Linda was kind enough to lend her DJ for the weekend while Seven is still legging up. It was an excellent pairing and Jenny really seemed to have fun on him.

I feel like Simon really held us back. He was slower than he usually is, particularly Sunday. At times I couldn’t even get him to canter. It’s very discouraging. But I love him and am happy I have a pony to ride. Hopefully a new pony will come along before too long. Unfortunately I am all tapped out right now due to vet and medical bills. So Simon it is.

The whole team rode very well with very few mistakes. And truthfully, none of us are really fast. So we do our best to keep it clean and have a good time.

We held our ground in 4th out of 6 teams in the first two sessions and 5th in the 3rd session for a final finish in 6th.

It’s nice having a venue so close to home. It was only about 1:15 away! I still stayed over night on the grounds so I could socialize with friends and get more sleep. I did consider going Saturday morning since it was raining all day Friday and Saturday making socializing a bit more challenging. But I still had an excellent time with friends, weather be damned.

I am looking forward to MA2 in two weeks at Grange. Woo go team Minor Threat!

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by riderofchaos on April 22, 2025 • Permalink

Posted in Mounted Games, Uncategorized

Posted by riderofchaos on April 22, 2025

https://blueridgepony.com/2025/04/22/mid-atlantic-1-morvin-park-va-april-12-13-2025/

Great North Mountain – Half Moon Trail Head – Wardensville, WV – 4/19/25

4/21/25

I rode out from the Half Moon Trail Head.

Yellow blaze

Parking: The entrance is off a paved road outside of Wardensville, WV. It’s a smallish parking area but plenty of room to circle around and park the trailer.

I started out crossing the bridge. There is a billboard and map at the start of the trail.

Slight incline, wide fire road with several small creek crossings.

At about the 2 miles mark there is a dirt trail branching off to the right. This is the trail to half moon overlook. Which was my goal for this ride. But when I got there I realized the Old Dominion Endurance ride was coming out of that trail and curving to the right. I didn’t want to get stuck going against them on a narrow trail so I turned left instead, following the path they are following.

I went another 1.5 miles and the trail narrowed out and got rocky. I have ridden this trail from the other direction. I had already been passed by two groups and I figured more were coming so I turned around and headed back.

I passed 3 more groups before I branched off. The positive is after the first group Willow didn’t seem to care. And by the last group she would sit where I pointed, next to me, and stay. Huge improvement. She even got a “wow, good dog” compliment. She has a lot of improving to do but it’s in there.

I leisurely rode back, checking out a few side trails. Two went to private property and two looked like very old logging branches. I did see old mostly downed fencing in the forest a short ways off the trail. I am assuming it marked the boarder of private property.

That was pretty much the ride.

I passed horse crossing driving on the way out and back at the Paddys Run entrance. And I noted the base camp was at the closest spot. It’s one of the first places I rode here. On my second or third ride there I had a bear run out to the parking spot and stand behind Simon. This prompted me to go in the opposite direction and up a trail to an overlook. Gorgeous. It was a bit busy though. On my way up the trail a guy coming down whipped out pepper spray yelling “I don’t like horses, don’t come near me or I’ll spray!” I avoided him completely and got well off the trail.