Steph's Big Horn Story - 2006

There are rides, and then there are RIDES. The Big Horn 2006 was a RIDE. It was also a 'wake up' for me. I had the incredible good fortune of riding a really great horse (Paladin) on an Endurance trail that has no equal, in the company of a true horsewoman (Bev Gray) and under the care and guidance of a first class crew (Bill Gray). My job was easy, and I really can't take much personal credit for our completion. All I had to do was make no mistakes. The horse (the years of training and natural ability) did the work. Bev knew how to pace the ride and we got off to a perfect start (she and Paladin took first and BC at this ride several years ago). We had the good fortune of riding the first 50 miles with Kathy Arnold, another great horsewoman as well as AERC HOF. Kathy lives near the Bighorn, has ridden it numerous times, and just knows how to 'get it done' - as well as how to breed and train great horses. Plus she knows the trail! And Bill and Ted were awesome crew. Bill is calm, organized, supportive, and knows the routine. He and Bev and Paladin (and AA Omner, and AA Bravo) have succesfully conquered most of the challenges Endurance riding has presented.

This ride 'lit my fire' again... riding a fast forward horse on a challenging trail, spending 13 hours alone, in the mountains, through the dark hours of the night, tired, worried and focused on the horse's well being, focused on staying on course, on just getting it done. For some this might have been too much, for me - it was just what I needed! Maybe it's been too many years of futzing around with FEI, the stress and politics... but the past couple years I'd sort of lost the spirit, or at least the sizzle. But I think it's back now.

The ride story -. I met Bev and Bill and Ted in Thermopolis, Wyoming. I took the freeway east until Pocatello, and then hit the back roads. Driving my parents' 1984 Oldsmobile Touring Sedan - great old car with leather seats and push button tilt controls. The radio is a little old and crackly, but what a good ride. The drive was spectacular. An early morning departure, the sun coming up along the Snake River, hay and corn fields clinking and sparkling with miles of sprinklers, water from the Snake River turning the desert green. Drove up and around Palisades Reservoir - a huge lake collecting spring runoff from the mountains, feeding the thirsty desert folk. I crossed into Wyoming and headed towards Jackson. I hardly recognized the town - gateway to the Tetons and Yellowstone, ski town, tourist town. Packed, the little streets I remembered from earlier (way earlier) drives across the country was studded with shops, traffic lights, and traffic. But just past Jackson the Teton Range opened up, and wow... how can it be more beautiful. Jagged rocky peaks, pocked with glaciers, set against the sage and timber hills. Sooooo beautiful.

Miles of gorgeous mountain and high desert country, through Dubois (another little town gone big), along the Wind River range. Into the Indian Reservation and up the Wind River canyon to Boysen State park and reservoir. Spectacular canyon, spectacular river. I got to Thermopolis and called Bev - they were at least an hour out, so she said to go to the hotsprings and relax. The hotsprings area is huge. Large mineral cliffs from years of sulpher water draining down into the river. The hotsprings area was given to Wyoming territory by the Indians as part of the treaty - on the condition that the hot springs would remain 'free' and accessible to the tribes people. It's a pretty humble resort, not too touristy really, but wow, really wonderful. I found the main pool area and spent a couple hours in and out of the mineral water, and snoozing on a recliner by the pool. Lovely. Bev and Bill joined me for some more swimming and soaking and then we went to the Holiday Inn restaurant for a Buffalo dinner. A local buffalo ranch is a thriving business, and they had quite a selection of buffalo entres. I had the burger, it was good.

After dinner we went to the Fairgrounds - they had dropped the horses off there before meeting me at the hotsprings. A very nice Fairground, big corrals, easy access. A cowboy and his horse were the only other visitors. Walk the horses, early to bed, up with the sun and off to breakfast in Worland. Toast, hashbrowns, fried eggs and coffee - breakfast in Wyoming :) We finally arrived to base camp early afternoon - it was already pretty full, a big turnout this year, we looked around and eventually found a good spot. Horses out, pens up, made it.

Ridecamp was hopping! It was hot and dusty, but a beautiful setting - green hay fields, red rock cliffs, and a very energized group of riders - full of anticipation. Lots of friends there - Tom Noll (and Frank) and his brother, who has been driving over from Colorado to crew for Tom for the past 4 years, Max and Lisa Merlich - Max would be attemping his first 100 on his mighty mule 'Junior', Chis, Laura and Kara Yost from Pocatello - Chris and Kara would ride (Chris's first 100) and Laura would crew. Dave Rabe, always brown, friendly and cheerful. Lots of others - it was fun to be at ridecamp.

It was so hot that we didn't take the horses out for a ride, just hung around camp, sitting in the shade, a cold beer or two, getting crew bags and tack ready. mostly just hanging out. I tried my saddle on Paladin, seemed ok, I had never ridden him, but didn't have any worries - just looking forward to the chance to ride such a horse. Bev and Paladin had represented the US at the 2002 WEC in Jerez (top US rider), the 2004/5 WEC in Dubai - as well as years of success at home. Pal had a pretty bad crash in Dubai (the perils of travel and ultra-management and competition on the edge) and Bev almost lost him. They came through it though, and she brought him back into training this spring. My only concern with Pal was that I took good care of him. I had no doubt that he would take good care of me.

I wandered down to the ride meeting, which was pretty low key. Tom VanGilder was surrounded by an eager crowd, and fielding questions. They decided to make the holds longer, the pulse criteria would be 68, this is where you start, be careful and enjoy. A wonderful 'home cooked' dinner (I ate the pie first) and off to bed. It was still really warm when we finally went to sleep. I had extra blankets in my tent, as the cool breeze came down from the mountains, but it never did get chilly enough for blankets. 2:45 AM came very soon, and it was still warm.

more later-

Part II

The soreness is fading from my body, as are the details of the time in the saddle... so I'd better get it down while I can. Before the ride meeting I quizzed Tom VanGelder about the ride - how did it start, when did it start, etc. I've heard a few different versions, but basically the local club - the Canyon Cavaliers - got the idea of doing a 100 mile ride in 1970 - before AERC was even formed. Tom VanGelder, Dale and Terry Perkins, Dave Nicholson, Ray Cheetum (who is credited with putting together the trail), and a few others were involved in organizing and planning the first Big Horn - which was held in 1971. (if there are real historians out there, please correct me!). Pat Fitzgerald won the ride the first two years. My friend Regina Rose who now lives not too far away in Owyhee County, stopped by after I got home, full of questions about the ride - about the trail - which trail did we use, where was the new trail, mentioning names and landmarks that were too unfamiliar to me to be of much use in answering her questions. But, Regina used to live there (Shell I think) and was a member of the club when it started the ride. She didn't ride it the first couple years, but soon figured out that it would be alot easier to ride, than to crew. Regina has 13 Big Horn buckles, and 5 unsuccessful attempts - that's a lot of Big Horns.

So... up at 2:45 AM. I'm not a morning person, and really have a struggle to wake up, much less climb on a horse, in the wee hours of the morning. I hit the coffee before my eyes were fully open (a can of Starbucks Doubleshot next to my pillow) and let the full moon ease me into wakefullness. sort of. The light was on in the Sundowner, Bev and Bill were stirring, and Bev was putting on a pot of coffe. Around 3:30 we started saddling up. Paladin was calm, the professional. Bev's younger horse Zipcode Bey was pacing, had been pacing much of the night. He was pretty amped, knowing something was up. Fit, fed well, travelled well, too much energy to spend the night in a small pen. We climbed up and headed down to the river with the rest of the group. Headlamps bouncing, horses bouncing, enough moonlight to see the trail and the start. A little milling before they let us go. All of the distances start together on this ride - the 25 milers, 50 milers and 100 milers. Quite the assortment of horses and riders. In the dark, in close quarters.

We finally started out, and Zip was way too excited. Bev had her hands full with a bucking bay horse, too excited. Pal just put his head down and moved out. Strong, pulling, but manageable. A great feeling horse, all business. We were looking for Kathy Arnold - she and Bev had arranged to ride together, since Kathy knew the trail. Always a good idea, and Kathy doesn't dally. The first 25 miles of this ride were out in the desert, it looked a lot like our Owyhee country. Enough moonlight to see the road, and ease us into dawn. It was really beautiful. Fairly warm too. A shirt and vest was enough. We cruised through the desert and into the juniper scrub, a gradual climb, nice riding, nice company, lots of conversation. Into the first vetcheck at 25 miles, met by Bill and Ted. We had been cruising at a pretty good clip, 2 1/2 hrs to do the 25 miles (make time while you can on this course). Did I mention that I'm not very fit? I haven't been riding much at all, too much travelling, sitting, eating.... when I climbed down off of Paladin my legs almost collapsed. Total jelly. I handed Pal to Ted and waited until my legs started working again, not sure if I could even trot him out. I managed to recover enough to wobble along with Pal for the vets, but I was thinking 'uh oh' ... this is not a good sign. How am I ever going to get through another 75 miles??? We had a nice 45 minute hold, the horses were ravenous, and Ted and Bill took care of everything. so nice! We climbed back on - oh dear - and off we went. Soon the rhythm of the work took over again, and we trotted on.

About 5 miles we came to a spot and Kathy had stopped, looking up, looking down, looking at the road where the ribbons were tied. We joined her and she said 'this is wrong'. uh oh again. We got the map out, again, this can't be right. But what to do... the ride had never gone that way before, it can't go that way, but what to do - take down the ribbons, re-tie them up the road that she thought it should be. still hadn't quite decided what to do, Bev and I decided to ride up the 'should be' road for a ways and see if we picked up ribbons again. About that time the front runners came flying up from the 'wrong' road, it had dead-ended farther down. Somebody had deliberately moved ribbons and remarked the trail going the wrong way. Bummer.

From that point the climbing began, up up and up and up, gorgeous views of the valley, beautiful trail into the timber. And then down and down to a creek crossing, then back up and up - and so the hours went. Spectacular single track trail - through woods and boulders and creeks, up across alpine meadows. Still morning fresh, the horses were still strong, still full of optimism. This was a wonderful section of trail. We climbed up and up and onto a dirt road, followed it for a while as it followed the contours of the grassy meadows. The biting flies were bad up there though, they particularly liked Bev and Zip - a little cloud followed them along. Left behind a bit when we trotted, to catch back up when we slowed to a walk. I was getting bit a little, but not bad. We finally crossed the ridge and down into the vetcheck. A merciful breeze was blowing there, no flies! I was hurting pretty bad by now, the stirrup leathers were bruising my legs, hard to get comfortable at a trot. But - I had brought 2 different saddles, figuring I might need a change. Bill and Ted were there, Pal stopped when he saw them and drank 2 5-gallon buckets of water before moving again. This horse knows how to take care of himself. Another 45 minute hold, merciful rest, the horses tanked up, and off we went again. Another 14 miles to the half-way point.

We arrived just as the 50 milers were finishing, a bit of a line backing up and we waited at least 20 minutes before a vet was free to check the horses. Bev and Zip trotted out, ok, and then turned and trotted back, uh oh. He was off. Poking and prodding and stretching and testing and head scratching and the vet couldn't find anything obviously wrong. Bring him back before you go, maybe it was a muscle cramp and he'll work out of it. Pal was fine, but now we have an hour to fret and worry about Zip. Bev did everything she could think of, ice, massage, walking, and he seemed much better. The vet passed him so she decided to head back out and see how it went.

wow- this story is turning out just like the ride - going on and on and on... I've run out of steam for now, I'll finish for sure tomorrow - (only 50 miles to go)

Part III

Well, I just read Tom Noll's story, after I wiped the tears from my eyes I decided that there was very little more that I could add. What wonderful guys Tom and Frank are!

(but maybe just a little more ... :)

After Bev decided to turn back with Zip (about 5 miles out of the 50 mile check) I was on my own. My choices were to ride alone, catch the folks in front of me, or wait for the folks in back. So we just rode on thinking about the options. Trotting when we could, even a little canter here and there. We caught the folks in front of us, and after we reached the top of the passes they backed off and we were alone again. Alone and alone for the entire 7 hours into Jack Creek vetcheck. There was only one rider in front of us, so I couldn't rely on following tracks. The trail markings were sufficient, but sparse enough to cause a little worry now and then (did we miss a turn?). The opportunities to trot were very minimal, mostly walking, jogging for a few feet, then walking again. I think we saw/heard a bear/mountain lion/tiger/dinosaur just as it was getting dark. Both Pal and I got a shot of adrenaline, good for a few more miles. Once again, spectacular scenerey - granite nolls and outcrops, timbered passes, alpine lakes... Rocky Mountain High. And as Pal was starting to get tired and depressed, on and on and on, I broke through the 'I'm not fit' mental barrier. I got off and walked a lot, jogged a little, basically felt whole and alive again. Yes, we can rally! We finally made it out of the woods (lions/tigers/bears) just about the time the light gave out. A guy was parked on the road as we emerged, he looked surprised/delighted to see a rider, said "you just did about 30 miles, 2 1/2 miles down the road to camp, then another 18 miles back to camp". whatever :)

We started down the road towards Jack Creek, about 1/2 mile down I heard a rucus from above, 6 more riders just popped out of the woods, and were booking down the road toward Jack Creek. We reached the vetcheck, some very relieved crews and staff that at least a few more riders had made it. I was pretty shakey at that point, Ted and Bill met us with a bucket of water, Pal scarfed it down, another bucket. They took Pal and said, go sit down, we'll take care of him. I could barely stand after I got off, shakey and a little dizzy. It was getting cold, so after it became obvious that I was of very little help, I sat in the front of the truck, put all my extra clothes on, drank 2 cans of Starbucks Doubleshot, 2 cans of chocolate Ensure, ate 2 granola bars, and drank the last of the water/gatorade mix. I watched out the window as Paladin did a comparable job with his buckets of stuff. 45 minutes and we were ready to go!

Two riders left before me, Pal and I left alone, glowsticks and a headlamp, and headed into the dark. The road was a little rough and rocky, and I figured I had enough time to just walk in (he has an incredibely fast power walk) - no risk, let's just finish. He wasn't eager to trot, so we'd just focus on a finish. 2 riders passed us (Dorothy Sue Philips and Emily Mathews) a few miles out, but I let them trot on in spite of Pal's desire to catch them. At the vetcheck I had heard that there was only 14 miles to go. We left at 10:00 so no problem finishing in time. Well.... that was just a nasty rumor. We went on and on and on. The battery powered red blinking light things were cheerful as they beckoned from afar, but just when I thought we must be close, there in the far horizon were a few more blinking lights... The wonderful deliriums of late night riding kept us company, voices, moving lights, cattle wandering here and there (that part might have been real). Gates to open and close, canyons to wind through, ridges to climb to.

By 1:00 am I realized that the 14 mile loop story was just a myth. But the moon had risen, so I turned off the headlamp and let the night take me. I caught site of a bouncing blue light back behind me, maybe a mile back. The next riders. But they never caught up with us, just appeared every once in a while on the back trail. By 2:00 am I was wondering if I was in a time warp. By 3:00 am I was definitely in another world. Scrambling down the slick rock, seeing green white and red lights dancing on every horizon. Good old Pal, just kept trucking. 3:30 and we were finished. whatever :) too tired and worried about Pal to feel exhilarated. Too many hills and his hind quarters were tired, but we made it. He trotted strong for the vet, pulse was 48, gutsounds great, hydration good. what an awesome awesome horse. and all Bev's work all spring and summer to train and condition him paid off.

Bev met me back a the trailer, she had been waiting up. It was now 4am. She said go take a shower and crash, I'll take care of everything. Zombie me just nodded, mumbled some praises for a great horse, some mutterings about mileage, some ditherings about the scenery... and not much more to tell.

I'll be back,

Steph