 |
[RC] Narrow trails/ recommended reading. - rides2farI know I've recommended Isabella Bird's "A Lady's life in the Rocky Mountains" but now I'll recommend her less known book: "Letters to Henrietta". Here's an exerpt of her decription of riding in Hawaii where she was one of the few white women to make the trip up the cliffs on horseback to see the people who lived on the other side. This is her trip up the pali. On the trip down she totally lost it. That's another good description. She was born in 1831. This was maybe 1870s? snip< The guide went first and it was most unpleasant to see his horse straining and stumbling. I dared not look at anything but his horse's feet for everyone had told me to be sure not to look down and there seemed such an irresistible fascination about looking down. My horse went up nobly and wisely but slipping scrambling and jumping and sending stones down. Once hanging by his forefeet and for a moment I execrated my merciful spurs which could not hurt him. The higher we went the narrower and worse it grew. Sometimes I had to take my left foot and hold it alongside the horses neck to prevent it being crushed while my right hung over a precipice 1000 feet deep. Then we came to a place where the path had been caried away leaving only a declivity of loose gravel. You can hardly realise how dificult it was to get off where there was nothing to get off on. I somehow got down under the horse and then taking hold of his hind legs screwed myself carefully behind him. Then Hananui drove the animals on. It was hideous to see the legs of the surefooted creatures going quite down in the gravel as though they would slide quite down the pali hideous to cross these places myself which I culd only do by the guide getting his foot firmly planted and giving me a hand when for 3 steps I put my foot against his both feet sliding. =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|