Stories

Dateline May 19, 2007 Trout Lake, WA.

The endurance-drought is over and Phlyrt and I finally made it back to a ride! It's been a long time since our last one in the summer of 2005. And that last ride didn't go so well, with a pull at the first vet check due to a rub on Phlyrt's heel bulb. Since then it's been one thing after another (mostly non-horse related) conspiring to keep the horses and me at home. In fact, the only time in 2006 when I thought I'd actually make it to a ride the truck breaks went out on the way down our very steep road (needless to say I turned right back home after finally stopping the truck at the bottom of the road). It really was starting to feel like it was never going to happen again, but finally the stars all aligned and off we went to Trout Lake and the Mt. Adams Endurance Ride.

For once, the drive was fairly uneventful. It's just a short 25-mile hop down to the 84 in Oregon, then about 60 miles along the scenic Columbia River Gorge to the Dreaded Hood River Bridge. I've heard so much about this bridge I'll admit I was a bit worked up about it, but other than the motorcycle in front of me going 12 MPH (I was sorely tempted to run over him), it wasn't as bad as I was afraid it would be. Now, don't get me wrong, I was whiteknuckling my way across, but I wasn't in a state of panic. After the bridge it was about 25-30 miles back up into Washington to Trout Lake. What a beautiful area! And what a neat treat to see the sign in front of the Trout Lake School proclaiming "Welcome Endurance Riders."

Ride camp was just about a mile out of Trout Lake in a gorgeous pasture with an unparalleled view of Mt Adams. Over from where we live, Mt Adams is too far away to really appreciate, with Mt St Helens & Mt Hood dominating the scene. From this ride camp it's easy to see why this ride is named after the mountain.

So, Phlyrt and I got to the ride camp right around noon on Friday. The plan was to meet up with a couple of my PNER teammates (we're the Muddy Milers), but due to last year's complete failure in the endurance ride department I hadn't met them yet so wasn't sure how I'd find them. Pattie had arrived on Thursday, so I was on the lookout for her rig as it had been described to me, and as I pulled into camp I spotted it right away. Pattie was out on a warm-up ride, but her husband Dave was there to let me know I'd found the right spot so I pulled up right next to their camp.

Phlyrt settled right into the camp routine, chowing down on the abundant grass. Dave and I sat around chatting waiting for Pattie to reappear. I think he was starting to get worried as she'd been gone so long, but she finally made it back to camp. Apparently she'd managed to ride the entire first loop of the ride.

After Pattie got Max untacked, she and I walked over and signed up for the ride. Dr. Mike Foss was the head vet and he was just pulling in as we made our way over to the ride "office." After getting our paperwork in order, we went ahead and took the horses over to vet-in, which was nice and uneventful, other than me tripping and trying to fall down during Phlyrt's trot out. The rest of the afternoon was spent just getting to know Pattie and Dave (and their dogs, Panda and Boo Boo). As the afternoon went on, we were starting to wonder where our teammates, Kara and Billie Jo, were. I had thought Kara said she'd be there around 1pm, but Pattie thought she'd said she was leaving home around 1pm. As it was, they pulled in around 6pm (or was it 7pm?) due to a not-so-fun drive (see Kara's ride story below). Luckily, though the camp was getting quite full there was room for Kara to pull in on the other side of Pattie's camp.

The ride meeting was moved back to 8pm due to so many late arrivals, and right after the meeting we all headed back to our camp sites and I for one went right to bed. Thanks to a lot of work from Jason & me, the sleeping area in my trailer is now insulated and boy-oh-boy did that make a difference in temperature in there. For once I wasn't freezing, and was even warm enough to take my socks off. Unfortunately, though, it was one of those nights for me and I was unable to even think about sleep until after 11pm, then I woke up hourly to check the time and at 2am I couldn't go back to sleep at all until 4am. At 5am the 100s and 75s headed out on trail so many of the horses in camp were making a ruckus and I went ahead and got up. I figured if the 100s can go on no sleep, so I can I.

Phlyrt had camped really well and we were more than ready to head out by the time our 7am start rolled around for the 50. Since I had foamed Easyboots on Phlyrt on Thursday I didn't need to mess with boots, which was really nice (and, they stayed on without a problem all day). I mounted up a few minutes early and headed over to the starting area. Phlyrt was being her wonderful calm self and just walking on a loose rein. Because she had been so good in just her sidepull at the start of her last ride (the one where we were pulled due to the heel rub) and because she literally hadn't had a bit in her mouth since the start of the 2005 Pacific Crest ride, I opted to let her start in the sidepull. While walking around and warming up it seemed I'd made the right decision.

Now, I need to interject here with some more background. On other rides, Phlyrt has been very forward at the start. But, she's been under control. In looking at my past ride stories, I have talked about her having "race brain" and herd bound issues, but let me make it clear that for the most part no one but me knows she and I are discussing our speed - to the outside world, and compared to a lot of other horses on the trail, she's been very well behaved. So, please understand I had no reason to expect anything different this time.

Also, I was determined to take this ride nice and slow. Phlyrt hasn't been out much this spring - just some work on the logging roads, nothing longer than 11 miles. And even last year she didn't get to do much, just a couple trips over to Kalama Horse Camp. She's mostly been a pasture pony since 2005. So, I was concerned about her condition.

Well, I need not have worried about her condition. She maintained it incredibly well, and apparently stored up a bunch of extra energy with the time off.

So, here we are at the start of the ride. Phlyrt is calm and on a loose rein. Then the "go" is given and horses start down the trail. I put Phlyrt somewhere in the middle of the pack, figuring I'll let the front runners get going but I don't necessarily want to tail end it (although, had that happened, I wouldn't have minded, I just didn't see the need to hang out in camp for everyone to leave since Phlyrt is not new to this sport).

At that point a demon replaced my horse. Even though the horses ahead of us were just walking, this horse I was riding thought she needed to GO. She was pulling and throwing her head around and jigging. Not my horse at all.

Rather than waste too much energy fighting, I let her start trotting, figuring this will get it out of her system. No such luck. I barely remember that first loop. All I did was fight with my horse. I don't think Phlyrt did 10 steps of flat-footed walk the whole loop. Normally, I'd expect her to give me a few nice steps of walk within 20 minutes or so and then nice regular walking not too long after that, but not this time, although I kept asking for it. We spent a lot of time doing one-rein stops and circles. The only time she'd take a break from fighting for more speed was at the water stops, where she'd suck down a good drink each time (at least she was still doing that, even if she was otherwise a whole different animal). We finished that first 13 miles in 1:39. I'm fairly sure that's a record for Phlyrt.

Just as we came into camp for the first vet check, it started dumping rain. At least there was no need to sponge. I dismounted, loosened the girth, threw her rump rug over her butt and got in line for the pulse box. By the time we got in she was down. But, she was still way wound up and having serious issues standing still. Standing in line for the vet she was actually running circles around me rather than eating. Not surprisingly, she got a B for gut sounds, but otherwise was all A's. I was upset to see that her nose had some hair rubbed off by the sidepull, but the vet didn't comment on it.

As soon as we'd gotten through the vet line, our 15-minute hold was done. Since Phlyrt wasn't remotely interested in food, I went ahead and mounted up on my wet saddle (at least the rain had stopped) for our second loop.

I hate to say it, since I'd heard this was a beautiful loop, but I barely saw anything. I think there was a lot of single track, but I couldn't swear to it. I was still riding the demon-possessed animal. This time I decided she was going to walk no matter what she thought of it so I dismounted and led her for a while. With me on the ground, she mostly went in circles around me; she must have added a couple extra miles to her ride just doing circles on these first two loops. And, even with me walking for a while (and all the one-rein stops and circles with me mounted), we still finished this 12-mile loop in 1:48. This brought us in for lunch at around 10:45am.

By this time there was a huge line for the vets, since several different distances were all in for checks. I briefly saw Kara and Pattie, who must have been there for their half-way check on the LD. Luckily, this meant that Dave was over in the vet area and he was my hero by walking along with Phlyrt and me while we were in line and carrying a hay bag for Phlyrt. Phlyrt had no interest in the beet pulp I had prepped for her, but she did at least eat some of the hay Dave was carrying for her and jammed her nose in a couple pans of beet pulp others had left out - I just dumped her uneaten beet pulp out on the ground for any other horse(s) that wanted it. Despite it's length, the line moved relatively fast and Phlyrt vetted through with all A's except an A- on gut sounds. She was so amped during her trot out that she nearly knocked me over. I'm not sure if that should get an A for attitude and impulsion or an F!

Since we had an hour hold and had almost 30 minutes left once we were done with the vet, I took Phlyrt back over to my trailer. I was determined that she needed to just stand still and relax. In fact, I needed to, too. Even though it was so early, I managed to choke down a sandwich and a bottle of water, and even got a pee break (my only one during the whole ride).

Phlyrt had also, by this time, rubbed a serious raw spot on her nose from the sidepull. Sidepulls are not designed to be used when fighting for control. In retrospect, I guess I should just be glad she didn't run right through it. So, for the first time in almost two years, I put a bit in her mouth before heading back out for the second half of the ride since I didn't want to put any more pressure on her nose.

As we headed back out on to the trail, another rider came running up behind us. It was one of the many riders we'd been leapfrogging all morning. She asked if she could tag along with us, as she hoped her horse would calm down with a partner. Of course I agreed! So, Phlyrt and I completed the second half of the ride with Maddy and her mount, Jesse. While the two horses did get a bit racy with each other, for the most part the rest of the ride was closer to normal. And once the two bonded a bit, they were even reasonably well behaved when others would pass us.

I should mention that nearly everyone was reporting hyper horses, with many being way-out-of-character like Phlyrt. Maddy and I discussed it and the best conclusion we could reach was that the abundant grass in camp might have had a really high sugar content and all the horses were buzzing on a sugar high.

This third loop was another lovely one, and I finally got a bit of time to look around. Like the rest of the ride, we were riding through the woods on a mixture of single track, wide trails, and roads. Even the logging roads were no problem; as rocky as they were, they were not as rocky or as hard as the logging roads we ride at home. The trails went up and down and winding around. Phlyrt and Jesse were pretty well matched, and Maddy and I both wanted to slow down from our morning's roller coaster ride. Poor Maddy had had so much trouble she'd even fallen off on the first loop. Now that we had the two horses together, we managed to finish this 12 miles in 1:59. It's only a few minutes different, but it was a world of difference in how it was ridden: walk, trot, canter (sometimes even on a loose rein) instead of speed-demon trot and fighting and head flinging and spinning in circles.

At the third vet check, Phlyrt again pulsed down as soon as we got into the pulse box. She was still antsy about standing still, but not anywhere near as bad as the first two holds. Like the first check, this was only a 15-minute hold and while the line was very long (lots of LDs finishing), we were able to skip ahead since we were going on. Even so, by the time we got through the vet (all A's), it was time to go.

Maddy and I were both mounted up and ready to go at the same time and headed out on the last loop. This was a repeat of the first loop. Originally I hadn't been thrilled with the idea of a repeat loop, but since it was a complete blur the first time it didn't make a bit of difference that we were doing it again. In fact, Maddy and I both kept repeating, "I don't remember seeing that before" all through this loop as we wound around on more single track, wide trails, and roads up and down and through the forest. By this time the two horses were finally settled down to normalcy and we mostly let Phlyrt pick the pace. We finished the 13 miles in 2:02, crossing the finish line at 4:15pm.

After the finish, I opted to head to my trailer to pull tack and throw a cooler on Phlyrt before going over the vet. As my teammates had all ridden the LD and been done for a while, Kara volunteered to come over with me and keep me company in the line (which wasn't too bad by this time) and hold Phlyrt's cooler during our vetting. Phlyrt got all A's except for that nasty rub on her nose (which was swollen by this time) and some heat bumps in her girth area (I guess she doesn't like neoprene anymore, after all these years of using it), bringing her overall impression grade to an A-.

Back at the trailer, Phlyrt buried her nose in her food and then took a little nap. All us humans headed over for dinner (BBQ chicken, which I normally don't care all that much for, but it was very yummy, baked potato and even a cupcake - thanks to the Trout Lake School for supplying the food). After dinner I took Phlyrt for a walk, but I didn't last much longer than that, passing right out until morning.

During the night and early morning it rained a bit, thank goodness our fixes to the trailer sleeping area seem to have been successful and I stayed dry. And I'd put Phlyrt's rain sheet on over her cooler before going to bed, so she was dry and comfortable, too. I got up bright and early and took Phlyrt for several walks around camp, or I should say she dragged me around camp. Silly horse didn't act like she'd even been anywhere.

The awards were at 7am. The last 100 milers had finished at 4:45am, taking almost their entire 24 hours; the front running 100s had finished in only 9+ hours. Phlyrt and I had finished in 26th place on the 50, out of 60-something starters. All our team members who attended finished.

After the awards, I packed up in minutes and headed out. This time I decided to skip the Dreaded Hood River Bridge, and headed west for about 20 miles on the 14 (the Washington side of the Columbia River, but a narrower, twistier road than the 84 on the Oregon side) to the Bridge of the Gods. From there it was 40-some miles to the 205 and back up into Washington again and home. Once home I turned Phlyrt out in the pasture with the others and she hunted around for a mostly-dry spot (it had been raining) and had a good roll. Every time I checked on her for the rest of the day she was either eating, sleeping, or romping - just like a normal day and as if she hadn't gone anywhere. Even her swollen nose from fighting the sidepull had mostly gone down.

A huge Thank You to the ride management, vets, volunteers, and everyone who made this ride possible! It was wonderful to finally meet some of my teammates, and I had a great time hanging out and chatting. It was great meeting Maddy and letting our horses buddy up. Overall, despite my demon-possessed horse, it was just awesome to finally be back out on a ride.

And, I know I'm totally deranged because even before I'd recovered I was thinking about the next ride.

May 18th, 2007 dawned sunny and beautiful in the Pacific Northwest. It was a calm, peaceful morning as Billie Jo and I loaded Center up around 10am from Inavale Farm, then picked up her mount, Charlie, from the other side of town. My trusty ole pickup FAID ("Found At Inavale Dead" - another story) soon had us cruising on up I-5 toward Portland. Billie Jo and I had recalled it was the 27th anniversary of Mt. St. Helens blowing her top.......... but this year.........

May 18th, 2007, 12:11 PM. MOUNT SAINT FAID BLOWS HER TIRE.

We were in 'no man's land' between Brooks and Woodburn when the right rear blew. BOOOOOOMMMMM! The noise alone nearly made me wet my pants. Then the lurch. Then the screaching of metal on asphalt. Scared the dickens out of me!!!!! Billie Jo said later the only chant out of my mouth as I guided FAID over to the shoulder (across two lanes) was "Please everyone get out of my way, please everyone get out of my way....". I believe her, but I thought what came out of my mouth was more like a string of obsenities that would make a Tourets patient blush. Well whatever I said worked as it was like the parting of the Red Sea and we safely got the crippled truck over to the (too narrow) shoulder.

The tire was SHREDDED and took out most of my tirewall too. Roadside assistance was to us quickly but I am in panic thinking of horror stories how roadside assistance won't touch a vehicle attached to a horsetrailer. With Semi trucks shooting by us at 70+ mph, unhitching is not appealing and unloading is unthinkable. I mention to Billie Jo - ever the consumate exhibitionist - that it may not be a bad idea to show a little clevage when the tow truck guys show up (bad Kara), and she was more than happy to oblige (bad Billie Jo). Our knights in shining pickup truck arrive and can't take their eyes off Billie Jo's glistening chest - uh, I mean smile - and go right to work with only minimal suggestion of unhitching the trailer. We did make 'em work for their peep show, my spare tire under the truck had been there since the Dark Ages based on the effort it took for them to undo the bolts. Then of course, it's nearly flat! So our heros (anxious to help the poor damsels in distress) follow with hazards flashing as we limp six miles to the next offramp. God Bless them! We found the Les Scwab Tires in Woodburn and spent another two hours getting the tire replaced & spare reaffixed. It was a really busy day and a lot of people in front of us, so Billie Jo had to risk skin cancern some more to get us out of there as quickly as we did. ;)

By the time we're roadworthy again (sidewall patched together with baling twine and cable ties) it is almost 4pm. I am wondering if we should just head home: the boys are doing fine but if we press on to Trout Lake, Center will have been in the trailer 8 hours. We decide to go for it, and finally get to camp by 7pm. Pattie has been holding us a spot in Prime Real Estate this whole time amongst a very crowded ridecamp, along with help from Nicole who had parked alongside. Bless them! Forget "To Finish Is to Win" - we were just happy to GET THERE!

I got on Center ride morning without benefit of a warmup ride or time to really get his mind focused like we did at Grizzly. Pattie and Billie Jo and I started out together all three of our boys were lit. I'd forgotten about the canal crossing close to the start: Center leapfrogged over the top of Max. Well, Pattie had just commented she was a getting a little warm, Center was just trying to cool us off. Billie Jo thought I was going to need some water wings! Shortly thereafter we met up with Emily leading a half-wild Dozer. We encouraged her to get back on and stick with us. Oh yeah, brilliant.... ride a wired horse with the barely-5yo greenie (Center) and a race-brained competitor (Max)!! Amazingly, Dozer did seem to settle being with us, and Emily, Pattie and I rode on somewhat like the three stooges as our hyper mounts barreled around into each other ;). Billie Jo had gone on ahead at this point. Center was the quiet one of us three but the ride was so crowded. Riders coming up on us fast and often, and one goosed him good. It was hard to get your horse to relax so we did that loop much faster than I wanted. 13 miles in a little over 2hrs.

They were short on vets and the line back at camp for the vetcheck was ~20 horses long! Not a good situation for a young horse, and Center didn't want to eat, drink, or stand still: I was worried. Although Dr. Foss declared him good, I was considering pulling for "Ain't doin' right", but knew it might just be the chaos of the vetcheck. Emily and I lost Pattie in that madness, but once out onto the 2nd loop (15 minutes past our out time) Center got mad at me and wanted to GO. Ducking his head and tossing it, threatening to blow.... unlike him vs. Grizzly but not horribly unlike him in an arena at home. I was still worried something was bothering him. He hadn't touched a drop of water yet. We had 3 hrs to do a 13 mile loop so I knew we could go slow - bless Emily, she stuck with me as I whined to slow down, walk more. Finally at about 20 miles Center took a long drink, started to relax and his HR dropped. About that time we came up on a couple of gals walking along on the fun ride, so I drafted Center behind to let Emily go on since I'd been holding her back so long. Center gave me a nice calm walk for the last few miles in and we finished with a ride time of about 5 hours.

Another 30 minute wait for the vet, then I found out why he'd been acting weird. His back was REALLY sore! We knew my Wintec Pro Dressage didn't fit perfectly but it'd been fine at Grizzly. Maybe he tweaked himself in the trailer when the tire blew, or the up/down nature of the Mt. Adams trail made him very sore. Everything else checked out fine on the exam, Dr. Jen said it hadn't affected him seriously as he trotted sound and got an A on attitude and impulsion.... so she gave a C on the back and let us have our completion. So yeah, we 'finished' but I hardly felt good about it. Thankfully he seems fine now, running around the pasture like his normal young self. :) He'll get a few weeks off, a different saddle, and hopefully be back for the 30 at Bandit Springs.

I had a great time sitting around camp with Nicole, Pattie & husband Dave recapping our adventures and soaking in the view of the mountain. Stayed up late & took care of Pete for Paul about mile 75 when the hallucinations were starting to kick in ;), and went to bed after the first 100's finished (Tiffany Leonard & Glenda who trotted out like she hadn't gone a single mile, what an amazing mare)!

But.... to get there is to win, right? We still had to get home, and Mt. St. FAID wasn't done singing yet: we're heading home along I84 when my engine stalled!!!!! As I'm guiding truck & trailer over to the shoulder again and I'm thinking I am completely cursed and how much more cleavage will Billie Jo have to show to get us out of THIS mess if it's engine trouble!! Plus it was a REALLY bad spot to have to stop, no shoulder!!! Thankfully this was operator error, not the curse of the Ford demons: my fuel tank switch had gotten knocked askew: the guage was reading from the full tank but it was apparently drawing from the empty one. Thankfully once she had fuel back in the line, FAID started back up and we proceeded home without further drama other than several more gray hairs ;). But we made it there, we completed, and we made it home. To get there is to win, and hopefully next up is "getting there" for Klickitat!