Yes, we're exhausted! Shadow (Tara's
horse) got a slight fetlock injury going through the boulders in the Granite
Chief Wilderness. Tara had to walk her for 7 miles to a location that a trailer
could pick her up and take her down to Foresthill. Then, Storm (my horse) &
I got pulled for "overtime" at Michigan Bluff, mile 63, when we arrived at 7PM.
The timers had called it 7PM less than 2 minutes earlier. My watch was set 3
minutes fast according to the timers back at Robinson Flat (36 miles), so I
thought we had made the cut-off, but there's no arguing when the officials make
a call. I had spent an extra 15 minutes at the vet-check proir to Michigan
Bluff, because Storm was eating so well and I didn't want to disturb him. NEXT
TIME (:>) I'll have my watch set 10 minutes fast!
Anyway, both the horses are strong
& healthy, Shadow is already sound. Wish I could say the same about the
riders.....Tara is finally returning to the world. I'm up and about, trying not
to get too stiff. I got up on ride morning hardly able to walk, due to back
issues (slept on hard, uneven ground), and at each vet check I'd get off 1/4
mile before & walk or run in which is not normally a problem, but with
severe sciatic pain it was not fun, then I had to "tail-up" the steepest canyon
as I was a bit concerned about Storm. He was mostly lonely without Shadow and
kept turning around to find company. He ate well at Deadwood and recovered
emotionally as well, it seemed.
I don't think anyone I know completed
the ride. If I did my math right, the completion rate was down to about 44%.
It was an incredible ride though.
Awesome vistas. Oh, one funny thing is that I was riding alone for quite awhile,
no one in sight, and we completely missed Cougar Rock! I decided it was because
Storm always assesses the footing and chooses the best way to go, so he probably
automatically chose the way around it, and I was distracted just looking at the
views, that I didn't realize he'd made a choice for us.
Thanks to you all for your prayers, good thoughts,
and advice.
Time to rest for a few days now, then
go out & do some easy riding......
