Week 3

We left Salt Lake Sunday afternoon, to head up to the staret point
for week three. The camp was near Robertson WY, which is south of
Ft. Bridger. Arriving after the ride meeting, but before dark, we
got the horses settled in. A few new rigs have arrived, and we
notice a few have left the ride. Very common it seems on the XP
rides for riders to come and go a little. The next day, Vickie and I
are mounted up on our flea bitten grey horses. She on Wizard, me on
Rockhe. The first 10 miles were though local farm land, which had
many running rivers, green fields, Aspen and pine trees, ands nice
dirt roads tro ride on. We passed cattle and sheep ranches, and
stopped to talk to a few locals as they asked what we were doing out
there. People are very fascinated with our adventure. We reached Ft.
Bridger, and crossed the highway, and it seemed the trail went from
lush green, to sage brush. Wyoming has such a varied selection of
terrain. Yellowstone and the Tetons, and prairie as far as you can
see. Lush green pastures, and brown, sandy sage. The main thing is
so much open space, and solitude. We rode along and found sections
of the original pony express trail, that is well marked with cement
markers. This is a section that was also the Oregon, Mormon, and
Californian trail. The land has little rise and fall, and the views
go on forever. We saw a few Antelope running lickity split. A few
say they saw Prairie dogs. The prairie dogs dig some big holes out
there, which we have to watch foe, to avoid the horses stepping in
them. Even though the trail is fairly flat, the first horse to camp,
took almost 10 hours. (they had an hour lunch). The riders are being
careful with their mounts, as many have had some lameness issues,
and are down to fewer, or even only one horse to ride. Helen, who
came out from NY, is heading home, as her three each have some small
lameness issues, and she would rather stop now, that to try to sueek
another day out of them, and maybe make them more lame. Better to be
conservative, and have a horse that can go again in the future, than
to maybe do more injury by pushing them. Helen and her husband Gary
will be missed. This was their first XP, and I think they are
hooked! (Gary was the one who met us one day on the trail to give us
snacks and drinks)

We finally arrived in camp ourselves, which was near the town of
Granger. I have finished another 50 on Rockhe, and he is perky, and
feeling good at the end. I think he could make it through Tevis if
something happened and Gambler could not go. I am pleased how quick
he has caught on, takes care of himself eating and drinking on the
trail, and is becoming more pleasant to ride. The ride camp is right
next to train tracks, and most rigs had to park fairly close to
them. By morning, all horses seemed to not really care about the
trains. (on the 2001 XP, I remember many camps were near the RR
tracks)

The next morning, riders had to ride, or be trailered about a mile,
across the train tracks, to the ride start. Sara, who has been
helping us, took my horse Gambler, and Vickie did not ride. I went
to town to get a new battery for my camper, and to try to find some
hay. Rock Springs is one of the larger cities in WY, and my first
stop as I came into town was breakfast at McDonalds. Amazing how
yummy that can be, when you have not had it awhile, and are getting
tired of a piece of fruit, or maybe a yogurt for breakfast. Searched
all over town for hay, and could not find any. I was told most was
grown out where that nights camp was going to be, so I got my new
camper battery, got fuel and propane, and headed to Farson. Stopped
at a few ranches, and no luck on hay. We were too early for the
first cutting of the year. Finally found a farmer with some that had
been rained on. Took a chance on 4 bales, at $2 a bale, and took it
to camp. (which was the local rodeo arena). Opened the bales, and
only one was good enough to feed. Oh well……

The riders were heading in, and we went to meet them, as they came
into town. They all had to cross a highway bridge, so we slowed
traffic for them to do so. Well, attempted to do so. One jerk
pulling a horse trailer, did not slow down to me waving for him to
do so, actually went into on coming traffic, on the bridge, with
some riders, heading towards a 18-wheeler, and somehow everyone
managed to not get into one ugly wreck. The rules of these rural
highway roads out here seem a tad different to the locals, than the
rest of us.

When Sara arrived on Gambler, we got her a ice cream at the "famous'
ice cream store, as she headed on into camp. It was cute to see she
and her friend Calina riding along, with cups of ice cream and a
sppon, as the horses walked along.

Wed. July 7th.

I was going to ride Rockhe again today, but discovered a saddle sore
starting on him. His saddles have always rolled to the right, due to
his way of going, and conformation, and it put too much pressure on
the left side, and he has a sore spot. Dave Rabe took Hank again for
me, to do another 50 mile ride. He gets along well with him, and
Hank likes him. Dave rode with Vickie, and I headed to the lunch
spot to crew. They were some of the first to arrive, and Hank has
this game figured out. He eats and drinks well, and acts like he has
been doing this sport awhile. Vickie was not feeling her best, but
still rode on through the second half with Dave. They ended up
getting in at 4:30, and were the first two horses to arrive. Dave
had them put Vickie as first place, as she has been a back of the
pack rider for years and years. (used to race, get BC etc. but now
takes it slower) Hank looked great, and even though it was only his
2nd 50 mile ride, I had no issue with him coming in in front with
Dave. (not like the 4:30 finish time was very speedy) At the awards,
I was excited to find out Hank got BC. I think this horse is going
to be very talented in endurance…now if I can just keep up with him.
Dave did get to experience one of Hanks many talents. Dave's T-shirt
that was on the saddle blew off in the high wind as they were
trotting down the trail, and landed in FRONT of Hank. Hank went from
a forward moving trot, to trotting backwards as fast as he could in
one easy movement. Did not unseat Dave, but sure caught him by
surprise.

The wind has howled all day, and now as I type this, it is gusting
again. The camper is rocking and jerking around, and I have visions
of the wizard of Oz, and Dorothy looking to see how high off the
ground she was. Hopefully this storm will blow through, and it will
be a nice day to ride tomorrow

Thursday, July 8th

What a rough night. I woke up at about 4AM to wind and rain, and
went to check the horses. Gambler was really shivering, so I loaded
all the boys in the horse trailer, to get them out of the weather.
At about 6AM, I went to check on them, and the wind had died down
some, and they had warmed up. Put them back outside, and fed and
watered them. All the horses in camp looked very tired. I think the
weather kept them all awake, and cold, and just plain wore them out
physically, and mentally. Only 3 riders went out on today's trail.
Two did the whole 50 miles. Dave Rabe, and John Parke. We skipped
riding, and headed into the town of Lander. We ate, did a little
shopping, looked for hay, and went to the library, to try to get the
photos and journal downloaded. The library has brand new wireless,
but it is not connecting well with my computer. I'll try again
tomorrow. When we got back to camp, the sun was out, and the wind
finally died down to a clear, calm night. It got down to about 39
degrees.

Friday, July 9th

We have appointments in town to get the oil changed on our trucks,
so I skipped the group ride today. I drove over to the wilderness
area, where the riders were headed. I investigated some, and drove
back to a beautiful lake called Lake Louis. I think maybe tomorrow,
I'll try to get a few riders to trailer over with me, to go for a
ride further in the mountains. I was told we should be able to see
some wildlife, including Moose. In town, I got some Topo maps, and
then headed back to the library. The wireless will still not
connect, so I have one more way I think I can get this on line. I
hope to copy the information to a CD from my laptop, then use a
library computer to read it, and go on line to post it. If you are
reading this, it worked!! The information highway moves a tad slow
in Lander WY, but it does move.

Monday we will do the same trail the 3 riders did on Thursday. They
were lucky enough to see a herd of about 25 elk that day. Should be
more interesting that just all the sage we have been riding through.

Rockhe still has a sore area on the left side of his back, so I'll
keep resting him, and then will try the shim to prevent the saddle
from rolling to the right on him. (it happens with all saddles, all
riders) Gambler looks really good, and is holding his weight well,
and seems fit and cheerful. He should be ready for Tevis unless
something happens between now and then. I'll take it easy with him,
and just do the easy rides. Hank is still chubby, and seems happy to
be out on this adventure. I'm going to try the borrowed Big Horn
saddle on him. Until he stops his often quick maneuvers, I best not
ride the English saddle, as it has my legs places more dressage
like, which I am not as used to, and he is So round, he is hard to
really grip and sit deep when he gets goofy.

Hope to update again next week, but next weekend is out in
Esterbrook WY, which is VERY remote. Might not be able to connect,
but will try.

Until then……..Jonni