Now that I've had time to think and digest, I wanted to write my Tevis story down so I remember everything later!
I hauled Sky up to the Auburn fairgrounds on Wednesday morning where Lora had gotten us a stall right next to Merlin. Merlin and Sky became fast friends and I was able to park my rig right next to Lora's below the horse stalls. It was literally the perfect set-up! Lora and I drove over to Echo Valley Feed to get some last-minute supplies and feed and got lunch in Auburn. I rode Sky down to No Hands Bridge and back that afternoon so we would know the last few miles up to the finish. Judy, Jen, Brian and Kelly showed up that afternoon and after the BBQ we all hung out on the lawn catching up while the horses munched in their stalls.
The next morning, I got Sky's boots glued on by the EasyCare team. Jesse Caswell helped me walk Sky back and I helped him by holding Apollo so he could see how the experts did the gluing. After that, we loaded up and caravaned with Lora, Judy and Brian up to Robie Park! It was pretty spectacular driving up 80, looking out over the Sierras and knowing we would be starting over the far range!
Getting parked at Robie Park was a chore and stressful for all involved. Brian helped me big time in backing the rig, re-backing the rig, getting frustrated and pulling it around. We also had to shuffle the horse corrals a bit because by this time Sky and Merlin were hopelessly bonded! But all ended well; horses ate, we set up our little camp and waited for the rest of Lora's crew to file in throughout the evening.
On Friday, we rode the horses, checked in, vetted in, bought some last-minute stuff at the vendor's and attended the pre-ride meetings. mom, Auntie Lynn, Katherine, Davina, Lu and my Dad showed up at various times throughout the afternoon and evening to get my crew stuff and work out a plan for the next day. I was endlessly stressing out about whether or not the horse was eating enough. She was literally knee high in 8 different types of feed which were of course, coated in a nice layer of Robie Park dust. I did everybody a favor and went to bed early.
I got up at 3:30am and saddled her under her blanket. I got on her early to give her a really good warm-up because I knew the pack would be moving fairly good after the start. We started right on time and it was chaos! Horses were kicking and squirreling all around; the expected product of close quarters and well-fed, well-rested fit endurance horses!
The first few miles down to HW 89 crossing were a blur. We went faster than I would have liked, but it was my attempt to keep her brain together. She was pretty wound up. I took a wrong turn at Squaw Valley and ended up going about a 1/2 mile out of my way; was not paying attention to the obvious trail marking! As we climbed up from Squaw Valley up to High Camp, the horses settled and I was able to appreciate the amazing views! We hit High Camp which is almost 8000 ft and she drank a lot of water. I electrolyted her and we climbed 2500 more ft up to Emigrant Pass which still had snow! I did what Becky Lange suggested and looked behind me out to Lake Tahoe and was not disappointed.
At this point, the trail descends down into the Granite Chief Wilderness. This was an incredibly scenic part of the trail looking out over the granite mountains that we would pass through. The grass was green and there were wildflowers all around! However, I could not believe how technical the trail was. There were huge boulders and chunks of granite for the horses to negotiate coupled with streams and bogs that made everything very slippery. Sky didn't have to slow down for the really really rocky sections so we were able to make up for some time that we had lost by walking up to Emigrant Pass. After Lyon Ridge, the trail become dusty and we were stuck behind long lines of riders. You couldn't see the trail below you and I saw at least two horses trip and go down.
We approached Cougar Rock and I decided that she was paying attention enough to try it! The rock is pretty intimidating as you ride up to it and once you decide to go, you are committed! The guy immediately in front of me almost fell off to the side when his horse refused and squirreled around mid-way up. He somehow managed to get turned around before they had a wreck and go down to the bypass. Sky and I were up! I pointed her up the rock and held on. Up and over we went, no problem! Good pony!!!
The trail had some hard climbs in the sun before hitting a dirt road which was a welcome relief. I rode with Jeff on a beautiful Appy down to Red Star Ridge; our first vet check at 28 miles. Sky came in with a pulse of 80 even though I had hand-walked her the last mile in. She never comes into vet checks this high, so I was worried. Thankfully, as I continued to scoop water on her and use my alcohol mixture on her neck her pulse steadily dropped. She used this time that I was cooling her to really tank up and eat well so it was a blessing in disguise. I vetted her in with Mike Witt and she was down to 56 and got good scores on hydration and gut sounds. We were good to go to Robinson! I was so relieved! One of my big worries was to get pulled before seeing my wonderful crew at Robinson Flat!
From Red Star to Robinson was a gravelly dirt road, but it was a welcome mental break after the technical trail through Granite Chief. I rode with Dean Moon and his Rocky mare Cassie for a bit, as well as a nice lady from British Columbia on her Connemara cross. We passed two people who had parted ways from their horses and ran into the horses about 2 miles down the trail.
About a mile from Robinson Flat, I got off Sky and walked in. My crew was waiting for me as we walked up and did a fantastic job of stripping her tack and getting her cooled off as we walked into the vet check. She pulsed down and vetted in fine. Davina and Lu had parked at Sailor Flat the night before and found the perfect spot in the shade. Dionne fed me and gave me a towel to get all the dirt and grime from my face and Sky did nothing but eat. Carol had brought some friends to help crew and it was such a welcome sight to have everything expertly taken care of by everybody!
I left Robinson about 5 minutes after Lora and Merlin and caught up on the downhill Forest Service road to Dusty Corners. Sky and Merlin rode great together and we had fun leapfrogging with Sharon Wimberg and her friend. The weather was still comfortable and the horses hit a good pace. The volunteers at Dusty Corners were awesome and both horses drank pretty well!
We started along the trail that leads to Pucker Point. It was fairly exhilarating along that narrow little trail; Pucker Point was downright scary to me! The trail kind of drops off into nothing down to the river far below. We held our breath and kept going.
At Last Chance at 50 miles, Sky ate and drank well again, pulsed down and vetted through with Dr. Balch. He gave her all A's and said she looked fantastic. I thought we are in as good of shape as we can be heading into the canyons. Lora had ridden off ahead so when we hit the first canyon, I got off to walk. It was fairly technical and slow going. Sky grabbed some wild oats growing along the side. The farther we descended, the hotter it got. I elected not to go down into the river at Swinging Bridge as there was a long line and a creek on the other side. Sky drank well in that little creek and I was able to cool her off.
We found Lora and Merlin a little ways up; they had both taken a nasty tumble in the creek. In retrospect, I should have tailed Sky up, because I didn't truly appreciate how steep and technical that canyon was! There were large boulders the horses had to step up on to and the climbing was relentless. Sky lost a boot at the bottom and did the entire climb barefoot on her right hind. Good thing she had not yet shed her sole in that foot!
Right at the top at Devil's Thumb, there were water troughs. Again, in retrospect, I should have kept her walking the mile into Deadwood so she could have walked out her fatigued muscles before immediately stopping. As it were, she gulped water and I was rummaging around in my pack looking for a spare boot. I started to cool her and noticed a muscle tremor right above her stifle. Not good. I immediately pulled her away from the trough and started walking slowly into Deadwood. I walked right up to Dr. Lydon and asked if he could take a look at her. I hadn't cooled her or anything. He thought I was asking to vet through and to my surprise she had already pulsed down. This reassured me a little bit. I told him about her muscle tremor and he told me to walk her around and then trot her out. He couldn't see anything and said her gut sounds and hydration parameters were good. He passed me on the vet check.
I knew we still had two canyons to Foresthill and it just wasn't worth it to risk having a problem in the next canyon. I told Dr. Lydon that I was going to pull her and unceremoniously ended our Tevis journey. I had to wait for transport and there was a horse colicking, so I elected to give her some fluids so she could be comfortable in the wait and long trailer ride out of Deadwood. It took about 4 hours total to get back to Auburn.
While I was disappointed, it was amazing to hear the next day that Lora had finished along with Abigail on her mule. I just about cried watching 75 year old Jesse Caswell trot into the finish on Apollo. I loved watching the Haggin Cup judging and the award ceremony the next day. It was an emotional year for a number of reasons; stories of loss and hope and triumph abounded. Just being a part of this event was really something I'll never forget.
The most important part was that my horse was happy, healthy and moving out great afterwards in Auburn. When I got her home, she bucked around the pasture and her legs feel cold and tight. I think that's pretty good for 55 miles of really tough trail. Not sure what our next step is; for now Sky gets a long deserved break!
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