Death Valley Encounter 2007

• On the Way Down

• Pre-Day

• Day 1

• Day 2

• Day 3

• Day 4

• On the Way Home

(click on thumbnail photos to see full size pictures)

(click on aerial photo to launch Google Earth track of Day 4.
You'll need Google Earth already installed on your computer)

Being so tired, I tried hard to suffocate myself during the night.

You know how if you sleep with your head under the blankets after a while you start hyper-ventilating because there's no oxygen left under there?

Well, I woke up in the middle of the night hyper-ventilating, but was coherent enough to realise that I'd forgotten to crack the windows in the trailer and had the catalytic heater on - the same heater that uses up oxygen, so you have to open a window to let more in (and now I think about it, I also had my head under the blankets, so that probably didn't help).

Trouble was, I now had to open the windows and the only one I could reach without getting out of bed (and getting cold? non merci.. I'd rather suffocate than get cold) was the one right next to my face, as well as the overhead hatch.

Needless to say, I didn't sleep well anyway, worrying about Roo, and scratching wildly at my legs, and woke up freezing in the morning. It was an inauspicious start. 

First thing, I took Roo up to the vetting area for Kristen to check him over. She had me trot him up and down several times and watched him carefully before pronouncing him fit to go. She said he was tracking up nicely and looked fine this morning. 

I wanted to cry - I'm still not sure if it was from relief about Roo, or from sadness that I was going to have to ride again with the madly itching legs - I think I was starting to feel a little brittle around the edges. <g>

Back to the trailer for tacking up Roo was super-eager, which I was very encouraged by. In fact, he was being a PITB, pawing and wriggling around, wanting to get going. This was obviously going to be another interesting day and I resigned myself to clipping the reins to the bottom slots of his kimberwick for the third day running (I've never had to do this before). 

The start of this day was basically last night's trail in reverse - this time we'd be trotting up the slight incline 7+ miles back to Ballarat. I was late getting tacked up because of needing to vet again and figured if we got left behind we could always ride with Tracy Browne and her husband Logan, who were riding their second 50 of the week. As it turned out, that wasn't on the cards - Roo took off up that road as fast as his little legs would carry him, me cursing quietly as my eyes streamed and I tried to think of some way to persuade him out of his continuous forward-straining that didn't involve a useless tug-of-war. It wasn't that he was out of control, it was that he was so eager it was very hard to dissuade him from his enthusiasm. My legs itched crazily for the first half a mile and then felt fine - I guess they'd subsided into their customary numbness.

As it turned out, we ended up riding along next to Mark Wood from Utah and Roo seemed happy to trot next to Mark's horse, Chaco. Chaco is a pinto, and at home Roo is buddies with Zini (another pinto), so maybe that was the attraction? Either way, he apparently didn't feel the need to overtake Chaco, so we were able to ride together without me struggling, even though the pace was still faster than I was happy with (it took us exactly an hour this time, including a quick two minute water stop). By strange coincidence, it turns out that Mark used to be married to the lady who bred Uno (the horse we bought for Patrick last fall) - and he was there when Uno was born, so he was able to tell me about him. Too cool!

On the way to Ballarat, we passed Pam Stalley going back towards camp. She thought perhaps her horse was tying up, so had turned back. 

At Ballarat, Kristen was there to give us a quick look before we clambered into Pleasant Canyon to the east. This was the start of a long stretch of rocks, so we wouldn't be rushing. The track split shortly after we started climbing and we took the steeper fork, winding up the side of the mountain - 1,000 feet in two miles.

A few minutes after we started up the steep section, there came Pam Stalley again - this time going the right direction. She'd encountered Dave Nicholson on the road on the way back to camp and when he asked her what was up, she explained that she thought the horse was cramping. Dave had her trot out and said "He's got a rock in his foot". Horse miraculously cured. <grin>

At the top of the mountain, we encountered even more rocks, so off we all got and hand-walked the several miles back down to the valley, stumbling along, looking at the expansive views to the west across Panamint Valley.

Burro trails up the side of the mountain.

Rocks, rocks and more rocks...

Judy and Star, refreshed from their 
day off, passing an old building 
 on the edge of Ballarat. 

Julia and Maryanne crossing 
back across the dry lake.

We had to cross the valley which took us along a very rough wash - lots of deep sand and large rocks, with a few cacti thrown in for good measure. We mostly walked this section, trotting intermittently when we could. The sun shone brightly and it seemed like it was going to be a good day.

At one point, the trail veered off to the left and we all nearly missed the turn. I had to bring Roo up very sharply to avoid running into Special's butt before turning abruptly and slithering down a sandy bank. It wasn't the most graceful maneuver, but he stayed upright. 

We continued a bit further in the same type of terrain and Roo started to feel a bit funky. The trail was so uneven it was hard to tell for sure - but he felt a bit off on the left-front/right rear. Hmmm. Eventually we turned onto a less-rough road and I asked the others to watch him trot to see if they could see anything in his gait. They couldn't, but he definitely didn't feel right. After another minute or so, I decided to get off. We were only a couple of miles from the lunch vet check and I figured hand-walking him in was a better idea. 

Thinking of Pam Stalley earlier in the day, I checked his feet all around, just in case it was something basic and obvious like a rock in his foot. His Hoof-It Pad in the left front was starting to look a little tired and had split across the middle and I peered under it hoping maybe to find something in there that shouldn't be. Nope, his feet were clean all around. <sigh> 

Julia and I walked the mile or two into the vetcheck together - her telling me about how she'd managed to fall off her mare on day 1 at one of the water troughs - in the process of mounting the mare suddenly stepped towards her and she went right over the top and off the other side. Of course there was an audience of dirt-bikers patiently waiting for the horses to leave, she laughed. I was pleased that it looked like Julia was going to complete all four days - but bummed because I was pretty sure Roo and I wouldn't be going any further.

Sure enough, as soon as we came into the vet check, I showed him to Kristen and he was even more off than he had been when I'd been riding. He was doing a creditable quasimodo impersonation, but we couldn't tell if it was cramping in the back end or what. Kristen couldn't find anything specific, despite going over his left-front very carefully. 

So that was that. Roo got an early ride back to camp.  :-(

And early it was - I barely had time to install him in front of some hay and get his tack off, before they were calling for us. One other person had also pulled for lameness, so the two-horse trailer was ready to go. Roo cheerfully got in the trailer and I grabbed a noodle-soup for the trip. Dave Nicholson's wife Annie was our driver and we had a nice time chatting on the way back. 

Riding point to point is a bit disorientating - for example, I had no idea where Indian Ranch was in relation to the paved road, so it was a bit weird - sort of like coming back to dry land after being at sea for a while.

Back at camp, Roo was finally allowed to roll without his blankie - and there was a perfect soft spot right next to the trailer. He was a little stiff getting down the first time, but once he was down, he went back and forth blissfully. Then he settled down to munch his hay, evidently not metabolically worse for wear, which was a relief.

The temperatures were the hottest they'd been all week and felt really toasty - it turned out it was a whole 62°F (!), but felt delicious. I changed out of my tights into shorts and let my itchy red legs air and went and lay face down on my bed for a bit. I was alternately dismayed that Roo had had a problem, relieved that we were done, and sad that we wouldn't be riding any more. 

I don't mind about being pulled - what scares me is the idea that it might be something chronic and insidious that is going to plague us from now on. I've had my share of that and don't want to play any more. Well, you say, you were stupid to start that last day. But who knows. I could argue it pretty convincingly both ways. Only time will tell. 

Nick showed up back at camp after another hour or so, bringing with him all my tack that I'd abandoned at the vet check. We sat and drank a beer and ate some cheese and admired the local dog population. After a few hours I took Roo for a wander up towards the finish line where riders were starting to come in. Dave Nicholson was checking the horses, so during a lull I asked him to take a look at Roo. I trotted him three times and the first go, Nick said he didn't see anything (Nick had watched our check at lunch, wincingly, so knew how bad Roo'd been). The second go up, Nick said he showed a little something, and by the third trot was definitely looking a little off. Dave N said that since he'd recovered so much in the short time we'd been back, he'd probably be fine within 72 hours. 

Either way, he gets a couple of months off just to be safe. Even if he acts sound, there could be something underlying. And not riding him means that I have to ride youngster, Hopi, which is good - he needs it.

Overall, I was so proud of him - he did so good and handled it all really well. He never looked pooped and was always hungry. If he'd shown any signs of tiredness, I never would have ridden him the last day - but he felt so fresh.

A few more hours, and Judy and Brenda came in. Judy rode three days on a horse she'd never ridden before in a saddle that didn't fit her anatomy, and Brenda and Special rode all four days! - he is indeed special.

Dave Nicholson said next year they think they are going to be able to start the ride actually in Death Valley again, and will ride south finishing up in Johannesburg (he discovered a community hall there with a big parking lot next to it that isn't used New Year's Eve - yay!).

Conclusions on Pacing

I wrote this a few days after getting back - my observations on my pacing - or lack of it:

Pacing-wise, I think Day 2 was the easiest - lots of gradual ups and downs and only the end part was continuous and flat (although I see now it was a very gradual downhill). I think that was the easiest day on the horses - and it was also the fastest.

On Day 3 you couldn't exactly keep up a continuous 6 mph trot - you were either climbing in the mountains very slowly, or trotting on continuously flat stuff, with the pone straining to see the horse ahead.

Day 4 was similar.

Overall, I would have been happier travelling in a group that went a couple of mph slower when travelling on the flat stuff. But that said, when we did put Judy in front to keep our pace slower, Roo was a PITB, pulling and tailgaiting and wanting to go faster-faster-faster which was miserable for me (gaining scowls from the other riders at regular intervals). 

So I guess the choices are:

1. Ride alone (and make the horse wear short-sighted glasses, so he can't see any horses ahead).
2. Insist that the group you're riding with ride at exactly the pace you want (always goes over well... making friends in all directions)
3. Ride with a horse like Sinatra or Shrimp that doesn't make Roo crazy and settles him into a nice pace.

Poulticing and Wrapping

For Roo's wraps, I used Ice Tight poultice, then paper towel, then poofy quilts and standing wraps. 

One day I used my ice boots first (could have done that more, but wasn't together enough) and another day I put Sore No More on under the poultice - which, as Tracy Browne pointed out to me, meant that I probably sucked all the arnica from that out with the poultice. <sigh>

On the last day, when he only did 20 miles ("only"), he just got Sore No More.

I wanted to use the Sore No More on me, but realised then I'd be grubby and it was hard to get clean.

After lugging my laptop into wireless range (except for that first evening, we'd not camped anywhere near Dave N's internet dish) and carefully consulting sources at home via email and weather web pages to make sure it was clear, I opted to come home on hw-395.

It took a couple of hours longer - 11 hours total - but it was totally worth it. That drive is so pretty. Instead of being bored to tears on I-5 or hw-99, going up hw-395 was like watching an I-Max film - 9 hours of amazing scenery. This also had the side effect that I never got sleepy.

After 150 miles I stopped for 45 minutes in Bishop and I raided Erik Schat's Bakkerij (best bread in the country), and then another 5 minute break to get gas in Gardnerville. 

Normally I would have stopped for longer for Roo, but I figured it'd be better to get him over Donner Summit as soon as I could, rather than stopping earlier to let him stretch his legs and then having to spend two extra hours sitting in traffic (there were still loads of cars in the parking lot at Boreal, so I figure I got off lightly). I got to the top around 4:45 and the traffic slowed to a crawl for an hour or so, but wasn't horrendous given that it was the end of a  four-day holiday weekend (New Year's Day). 

We finally reached home around 7:15 - Roo was a little stiff getting out of the trailer but loosened up after he ran around for a bit and rolled a few times.  

I took this video ten days after we got home - what you don't see are the enormous bucks every time he disappears behind the trees:

Video

In total, I used 72 gallons of diesel, which equates to ~$250 (I paid about $3.50 a gallon). My truck went 996 miles, with an average economy of 13.7 mpg.