Summer in Southern Oregon

We went to Cathedral Hills today. First thing I see when we get there is... Horses. Tons and tons of horses! So many horses, there were at least seven. It was like a horse party was going on at the trailhead. It looked like they were going to pack up soon, so I sat around and waited as Conker tried to see what all the hubub was about.
The moment I decide they aren't going anywhere and get out of the Jeep is the one when the riders all start walking towards Conker and I. Their dogs got to us first. Conker was very nervous with the dogs, a Pointer and a Carin Terrier, and snapped loudly at them a couple times. The riders did nothing to get their dogs away so I did not tell him to stop, but I did shoo the other dogs away since Conker obviously did not want them around him and were pissing him off.
I was able to get Conker distracted enough that he did not focus on the horses walking closer and we hit the trails. Two horses did not go to the trailers. One followed us, and the other trotted along the trail parallel to the one we were on. The following horse soon disappeared, then reappeared at the crossroads to the exact trail I wanted to take. The trotting horse was already on it, so that cut about a mile and a half out of our trip.

I did not get any pictures during this since I was on high-alert for the horses and was too busy scanning the surrounding terrain for them.

Anyways...

Conker was insisting we take Hogback instead of Cloverlawn. I said no. We took Cloverlawn.

Thankfully we did not run into any more horses after the first few at the trailhead and crossroads.

Obligatory.

Even though today was only a mild 82 degrees, we took several water breaks on Conker's request. We are still learning how to read one another during hikes, and I have just now figured out what Conker's "I need water" behaviors are.

There was a lot of rolling on things. That often resulted on Conker getting covered with burrs that itched when he moved so I'd have to pull them all out after every rolling session.

My favorite trail, Skycrest. Look at how dry the grass is and how well Conker blends into the terrain. Time to get that orange bandana out again!

Conker investigates scents on a pine tree. His tail was down in this picture because I refused to remove the burrs from his ass since I'd just pulled about a million of them out of his fur seconds before he ran and rolled in dried grass again.

Conker begins a rolling session. Probably to scratch the itchy spots caused by the burrs he kept picking up by rolling.

We took a short break somewhere along Skycrest. We don't normally take actual "breaks" where we sit/lay down without packs on (Conker did not have a pack on this hike) but today we did.

Conker on one of the trailside benches with GP in the background. This one is on Hogback, which Conker still insisted we take, so we did. He really likes Hogback and will attempt to convince me to take it every time we pass a crossroads for it.

It's supposed to be nice for a long time. I hope to get out and hike at least twice a week, preferably three times. We'll see what happens.