Foothills of the Cascades

*FRIDAY*

The hardest part about endurance rides lately seems to be the act of actually getting to the ride! Friday I took the day off work, I had been cleaning and packing and getting everything ready all week after work so I wouldn't feel so rushed on Thursday night. Friday morning I was running right about on schedule - leave town at 10 am to get to Molalla before dark. Well Matt had been filming all night long and had taken the station-wagon, which refused to start after he made a stop at a gas station on the other end of town. We couldn't just leave it there all weekend, and we didn't have the time to wait around for it to feel like starting so I talked to the guys at Beeline and sent them up on a rescue mission. As it turns out they were able to get the car going without requiring a tow, but in the meantime I already had the camper loaded, hitched up to mom's car, and had taken the dogs to the kennel.

Ruth called me to say she had loaded up my horse and all my tack as well! Wow she is so awesome! Ruth met me at the kennel so I could do a visual inspection to make sure I wasn't missing anything important and off she went. Just a couple minutes later I heard from Matt that he was home. I decided to run down to Milton-Freewater for gas and propane. Had I been using my head I would have picked up Matt first so we could then continue on through Pendleton. But no, I had Hwy 12 stuck in my head so we took the journey south and then north again to get Matt. Well by now the kids are cranky and hungry again because it is almost noon so we had a short pit stop outside of our house to refuel the people and then finally, finally we got on the road about 1 pm.

We drove and drove and my mom said she can usually make it to Portland on one tank of gas. Well, that is without pulling a big camp trailer. We got down to a 1/8 tank so I pulled off for gas at Rufus or Biggs. The price seemed too high so I only put in $20. Back on the road and we still had hardly any gas (1/4 tank). I figured we would stop at the Dalles after that but they were having a lot of construction so we went on through. I was watching the road signs (mileage) and it seemed like we could make it to Troutdale but we got to 11 miles from Troutdale and the car said we had 4 miles until empty. Uh oh. Moment of panic. Then we passed a sign that said the next exit had gas. We took the exit. The next sign said that gas was 1.5 mi up the road. UP being the significant word. The car's computer now said we had 2 miles to empty. There was a 10% grade UP the mountain to get to the gas station! I was white knuckled driving up that STEEP windy road. 1 mile to empty. There was no shoulder and I could just imagine the car puttering out of gas and the trailer dragging us backwards down the mountain until we jack-knifed and flipped over. 0 miles to empty - beep! We barely made it to the little grocery store with one old pump out front. We had to turn around to pull up to the pump. My mom put in $15 - enough to get us to Troutdale to top off. Matt took over the driving from there and got us back down the mountain safely. We stopped again in Troutdale (Stop for gas #4) to fill up and then took the Fairview exit to drop off my mom with her cousins for the weekend.

At that point I texted Ruth to let her know we were leaving Portland, and she replied that it was about an hour + 15 min drive from there down to ride camp. We took 205 south to I-5 and the traffic was horrible. We were doing 10 mph for awhile, and then 40 mph until we got father out of the city. In Molalla we almost missed the little cardboard sign on a stop sign at Molalla Ave ("RIDE" with an arrow to the right). At this point I called Ruth to make sure we were on the right road. She assured us that we were. It was another 15 miles from there to camp. We pulled in at dusk. Sinwaan's corral needed to be set up. The trailer had to be leveled before we could turn on the gas and get the heater going. Brrr it was chilly there in the woods. Ride camp was smaller than some others I've been to but there were probably about 60 combined entries in the LD/50 mi rides. We had just enough time to get Sinwaan vetted in before the ride meeting.

This was the first time I had vetted in in the dark. I started out solo with Sinwaan but he was acting up, spinning around me and hollering for his buddy, so I went back to get Ruth and Otto. Ever since our halter show incident I have a fear of him tripping me and breaking my leg again during the trot out. So I play it safe if I can! He vetted through with all A's - wonderful scores except for his heart rate which was high - 64. I was a little worried about that but it was cold and he was excited and amped up.

Riders meeting was short and sweet. We (25 mi) were going out at 7:15 AM with the Ride-And-Tie people, just ahead of the 50 mile riders at 7:30 AM. Hold was 30 minutes. I had never ridden with Ride-And-Tie people so I was worried about that. And I was worried about the 50s being hot on our tail. We were starting with the 10 mile loop. I worried that my mental capacity would not be as good after the hold with the shorter loop first. Can you tell I worry about everything?! I heard something about a keyhole loop mentioned but wasn't really sure which loop it was for, or if it was even our distance.

We went back to the trailer and Ruth put up my electric corral (what a friend!) while I helped Matt level the trailer. It wasn't high enough in the front corner so I had to go bug Anna for some wood. We were able to get what we needed and finally that was done. We tucked the horses in with blankets, hay and water, and had dinner in the camper (haystacks). At some point in there I had to assemble my saddle, breastcollar, pad, rump rug, saddlebags and make sure all was ready for the morning. We called it a night before 10 am. It was pitch black. The kids went to bed and to sleep right away. That was a first!

*RIDE DAY*

Ruth's alarm, and mine, went off at 5:30 AM. We quietly got up and got ready. Threw some hay to the horses, had breakfast (I went with an egg/cheese/avocado on an english muffin, and split a banana with Levi when he got up) and started tacking up in the dark. I finally got to use my helmet light (3 green LEDs) - I had to, in order to see what I was doing. I was thrilled when I could easily cinch Sinwaan up to his old hole on the girth and I was happy when I saw my HRM was working and his HR was 40. I thought about wearing gloves - my hands were really cold - but in the end I left them at the trailer.

We were ready to mount up about 7 AM as planned and started riding around, we rode over through the first gate and down through the pasture and to the second gate where we called out our numbers. That 2nd gate was the start so we could not go through until start time. We milled around and found a gal, Laura, that Ruth had ridden with at Elbe. Ruth knew her mare was fit and steady and wanted to try riding with her and her friend to set a good pace. Ruth had also told me that had she not held Laura back at Elbe, she probably could have top tenned there. So that is what we did. The trail opened and off we went, behind other riders and runners.



I think there must have been at least 10 people ahead of us at the start but one by one we passed most of them. We were moving out at a brisk trot and the horses were feeling good. New trails, cold air, the excitement was contagious. We passed by a lake and there was fog lifting off of it and it was so magical and beautiful, I really wanted a photo but at that point I could not take my hands off both reins to get the camera out. Later Sally told me it was called Dragon Lake.

We rode on double track trail for awhile and then cut into the woods, We went under a canopy that was really neat and then into dense forest. The trail turned into single-track and it was twisty, windy, watch-your-knees-on-the-trees kind of a trail. Sinwaan was trotting through it really well and keeping up with the other horses. It was fun! A couple of times I snagged my leg on a sharp branch as we passed too close but I don't think I tore my pants.



We did a lot of climbing up and down and there was a variety of things to see out there in the woods. We crested a hill and set a moderate pace and I was finally able to get the camera out for some photos of our little group, as the sun was coming up over the hills and we were riding through an area of reforestation.



At the first water stop the horses were not all that interested in drinking, and I was in awe of the steam rising up off of them. In this photo (above) most of the fog is probably on the camera from the heat coming off of Sinwaan. It was enough to fog up my glasses every time we slowed to a walk. This is Laura (left) and her friend Jennifer (right) on their horses.

Laura and Jennifer's horses were obviously used to really moving, and we seemed to follow a "canter when you can, trot when you have to" motto for that first 10 miles because it just flew by in a blur! I was a little worried about using up my horse too early in the ride.

We came into ride camp at 8:24 AM - an hour and six minutes for 10 miles. I could not believe it. The other crazy thing I noticed was that I did not see more than one person ahead of us. How was that possible? Matt asked me in the camper, "Now how are you going to catch that other guy so you can win?" I laughed at him. It's not possible for me and my fat old horse to win a mountain ride. But it sure is beautiful out there!

Sinwaan took a minute or two to pulse down, which I expected after that fast loop. Our out time was 9:05. Way too early for lunch, which simplified things. We vetted the horses through, Sinwaan again scored ALL A's, yeah! We gave them a chance to eat and use the restroom and pick up a snack for the saddlebags, then it was back out on the trail. As we headed out we saw two people ahead of us. We eventually caught them. The one guy fell back for some reason. Laura and Jennifer fell behind at the vet check, I think they were having some trouble pulsing down, but Ruth called out that she was sure they would catch us quickly.



We got back into our groove and continued with the fast pace. Another gal caught up with us on her gray gelding, so it was us four ladies for a lot of the 15 mi loop. The gray was a QH and the black-bay mare was a STB/Arab X. More single track twisty mountain trails - good footing but watch out for stumps and holes! Sinwaan had both front feet go down in one but recovered quickly. We did barely any walking on this loop, and when we did it was perfectly timed with when Sinwaan needed it to recover.



There was one monster hill, very steep and very long, it reminded me of the mile climb at the VA Highlands Ride. Actually lots of things about this ride reminded me of that one. There were a lot of rocks here too.



The one disadvantage to going so fast was that there was not a lot of time to see everything or take photos! The scenery was constantly changing and I tried to capture some of that.

At one water stop we saw a mounted Ride-And-Tie guy coming from the other direction, he had lost his runner and was confused about the trail. There was a sign that said "OUT" and our ribbons on the right going one direction, and ribbons on the right going another direction so we had a moment of confusion about which way to go. We finally decided on a direction and after coming around and back in we realized that was the keyhole loop that had been mentioned at the riders meeting. There were a couple of other times we almost missed a turn (thankfully the people ahead of us saved us some time) but overall I felt that the ride was well marked and offered a great variety in terrain (technical levels) and views.



There were some awesome trails about 3/4 of the way through that we just galloped on. I kept thinking 'this horse of mine is going to quit, he can't possibly be fit enough to keep this up' but he would prove me wrong and ask for more speed. Ruth would ask me "Who is this horse?" I think he loves to run and the cold weather helped with that.



At the end it was Ruth leading us in, and me following her, with the gray and black-bay horses right behind us. I told Ruth at the gate I was getting off to walk in, she continued riding to the check-in gate. I flew off, loosened his girth and took out his bit as we walked to try and give him every advantage to pulse down. I knew now it would be a race to meet criteria. Sinwaan hung in the 80s for a minute and then the 70s and then 66... I had a pulser come over but he was not ready. I gave it another minute and the seconds seemed like hours. We were so close to a win I could taste it. I loosened his girth more but I was using my HRM to determine if he was down, so I didn't want to take all his tack off yet. I was also using the rump rug to prevent cramping. Nope, still not there. Otto was also hanging. Then I heard that the black-bay mare had won it. Sinwaan was close - I had a pulser come over again. She told me he was down but didn't call it out, she was looking for her pen, when she did call it out the lady with the clipboard said the gray was down also so we would be third. Aagh! Well I was happy, third is a great way to end the season and we were only a minute off the first place horse.

Now that I could stop stressing about that, I turned my thoughts to Ruth, how was Otto? He was still not down, and at this point they said to keep an eye on him for the vet, now they were concerned that something could be wrong. Ruth went over to see the vet and discovered that he had lost a front shoe, and was also lame on his left rear. Oh noooooo. What a bummer! No completion for them today. Hard lesson learned. He was not shod in the rear and the terrain was just too rocky for barefeet on this ride. He never once let her know that he was in pain, he just kept going, and strong!

I almost cried. Out of happiness for myself, and sadness for Ruth, the combination of all those emotions just welled up within me. I could never have made this ride without her. She packed all my gear, hauled my horse, and then on Sunday hauled him back home and put all my stuff away! She is the closest thing I have to crew at these rides, always helping to look after Sinwaan.I wanted to see her do well, she sure deserved it.

I went ahead and showed for BC since we finished in the Top Ten. Sinwaan got A's on everything except for his back, which was a C; he had some swelling on his right side behind the saddle. The vet told me that anything that looks like pain really docks you the most points in the BC judging. I will have to try and figure that out now. Always something! His CRI was 12/13.

The veterinary score sheet gave us a 10 on recovery, a 5 on hydration, a 0 on lesions. Movement was 5 on soundness (B- on completion) and a 10 on Qual. Mvmt. Subtotal 30 and total score 300.

Ride management score sheet was ride time (us) 3:37. Ride time of the winner was 3:36. We scored 199 there.

Weight factor. The heaviest rider was 228. My weight (with tack) was 173. I was 166 at the Idaho ride so I guess I need to lose some weight!! My total weight score was 72.5

Total score of A+B+C=571.5 (higher than my Idaho score). The winner for BC was the first place finisher. Her score was in the 700s. Wow! Well earned!

I went back to the trailer and my whole family was asleep. I should have taken a nap but I was too wound up. I took a sponge bath and started some lunch because I was famished. One by one everyone woke up and we hung out for the afternoon. I took the kids for a walk around camp. Levi found a horseshoe. I talked to Bob Westergard and Dean Hoalst (also from Walla Walla) and they had placed 2nd (Dean) and 3rd (Bob). Dean and the winning rider had come in just an hour later than we did. Twice the distance!

There was a potluck at 6 pm and awards at 8 pm. I made some brownie bites in the camper oven but I haven't really used it much before so I kind of burned the cookies. There wasn't much on the tables for the potluck that I could eat (vegetarian) so I got some hot rice and some zucchini/tomatoes that were really good and went back to the camper. We had soup for dinner. It was getting cold so anything warm was really good.

Ruth and Ellie and I went to the awards at 8 pm. They were pretty quick. There were a lot of trail riders including a 3 1/2 yr old girl on her pony. There were 29 LD riders and 30 fifty mile riders and 4 Ride-And-Tie teams. The lady that won the 50 also won BC and it was said that she and Dean did this ride an hour faster than the rider that won last year. I'm thinking that was probably because of the beautiful weather this year. Usually I guess it rains. I think Laura finished in the Top Ten also, although the people 4th-10th were quite a ways behind us. The completion award was a pretty blue glass with the ride logo on one side and the ride name on the other side. It is really nice, but I also was hoping for a t-shirt. The Top Ten awards were horseshoe hook hangers.

I really enjoyed this ride - I would come back to do it again! Ruth and I can't wait for next year. Now we know there is no reason not to try for Top Ten. Heather will be on board with us then too so we will be a force to reckon with! :D Ha ha. Maybe I'll try a fifty at the end of the season. We'll see. I feel ready now, although I do wonder how Sinwaan will take it. I think he is getting the hang of the 25s now.

*SUNDAY*


Frosty morning! We got up at 8 and packed up camp. Ruth took the horses home and put my gear away. THANK YOU RUTH!! We stayed in Portland for a couple of hours to visit with my mom and brother.