Rain has plagued a large portion of our trip. This morning we were given a little grace so that we would have time to do the River Wild tour with Dart Stables. They picked us up from our hotel, and off we went to the scenic drive to Glenorchy. The driver even pulled over so that we could take a quick picture of one of many rainbows that were dotting the countryside.

We were each given horses in accordance to our level of experience. Or at least that was the general idea…Kevin wanted to ride western style saddle, and it looked like there was only one horse for the job: Bob.

Just so you know, Bob is massive. In fact, everyone in the paddock was joking about who would get to ride the intimidating creature. One of the more well versed horse folk guessed he was some 19 hands high.

I rode on Scar. Scar was a wild horse that had been found as a baby with a large piece of wood lodged in his side. He healed up, and has been apparently the only horse that can deal with Bob’s ornery nature. Fitting, yes?

Most of the time, I held on for dear life until Scar and I got to know one another better, so not many pictures. Which is a shame, because it truly was magnificently beautiful.

There were tons of blue and pink wild phlox as we crossed over icy blue rivers, that looked like opals from the glacier melt. This area truly is a “gateway to paradise.”

Looking back from where we came from, you can see the storm clouds rushing in. We got out just in time.

And now our butts really, REALLY hurt.