The Long 25

This weekend I had entered an organized trail ride that was going from Bear Branch Campground to High Knob Campground. It was a coordinated effort between the two Campgrounds. To enter the ride, you needed to camp Friday night at Bear Branch. Riders could start leaving camp between 7am and 8:30 am. Lunch could be purchased at the 1/2 way point at Bethesda/New Hope Church. From here you would have the choice of doing the full 25 mile ride or take a short cut and do 20 miles. Then you would continue on to High Knob. Once at High Knob, you would find a stall for your equine and would then be driven back to Bear Branch to get your vehicle. Saturday night you would camp at High Knob and awards would be Sunday morning.

As the weekend approached, weather forecast was for dry and sunny weather ... and hot.... the hottest day of the year to date hot. It was going to be 90's and humid. I got my trailer cleaned out Friday morning and packed up everything I'd need for Lily and myself. Sally was coming to the ride with me so we had to wait until the farrier came to put shoes on her horse at 4:30 pm. That worked out for me as I had contractors working on the retaining wall and the cement truck managed to hit our outdoor hydrant and break our waterline. I didn't want to leave the house until I was sure that was fixed and working properly. Sally provided 2 bales of hay we threw in the back of my truck as I am out of square bales. Lily found a nice muddy spot to roll in just before we got ready to leave.AND, Saturday was Lily and my 5th anniversary from the first time I saw and rode her. I'd purchased her the previous November of 2014 but was not able to drive down to pick her up until June of 2015. Not knowing yet that I would soon be moving from Maine to Illinois.

Sally and I headed out sometime after 6 pm and got to Bear Branch in good time. Sally followed me in her car as she needed to go home that night. We stopped at Mitchellsville store so she could get something for supper and I needed to buy some drinks. That was when I realized that I'd left my purse at home. AGH! Thankfully Sally bought me what I needed. I'd called Bear Branch earlier in the day and they had let me know I had campsite #8.  When we got to camp, someone was already in site #8. I had been put down for coming in the next night accidentally but I was quickly found another site and got parked. It was a nice level shady spot so I was happy. We got Lily and Cujo unloaded and settled in on the high line with hay bags. Lily was a bit restless. I fly sprayed her but that didn't seem to make much difference. Cujo was quiet and happy to just much his hay. We went down to the office to pay for camping... or rather Sally paid for camping since I had no money with me. Then we entered the ride, and Sally paid for that. Sigh.....

For once the weather forecaster was correct, it was hot already. My trailer with it's redneck living quarters is not insulated and I don't have air or heat. I never really needed that in Maine. My only defense against the heat would be a fan. I got out my power cord and much to my dismay, the receptacle was for a big 30 amp plug. I had a regular extension cord. Waaaaahhhhhh. I went down to the office to see if by any chance they had converters. They did, lots of them... all the wrong direction. Waaaahhhhhh. I moped my way back to camp resigned to a hot night with no electric lights. We offered water to Lily and Cujo. Lily drank but Cujo wouldn't. Sally asked the people next to me who had a big LQ trailer if they had an outside plug on the trailer. They did and said I could run plug in my extension cord there. Wooohooo. I had power! Then a bit later someone from the camp came by with a converter he'd dug up somewhere that I could use for the night. Sally headed out and I stayed up a bit longer. Lily was still a bit restless and trying to scratch her legs. I had already sprayed her but got out my roll on fly spray and rolled that all over her legs. She did settle down after that. I refilled hay bags and offered water again. Lily drank and Cujo still wouldn't. He looked like he wanted to but would get his nose near the water, sniff and refuse. I had a snack before going to bed.

I tossed and turned a bit. Then a bit after midnight, I heard some noise and worried that something was wrong with the mule or horse, I got up to check on them. They were fine and just quietly munching hay. I offered water once again. Lily took a sip and Cujo finally took a small drink. I settled back into the trailer, thankful for my fan as it made sleeping comfortable.

Sally and I planned to ride out as soon as the trail opened to go at 7am. I was up around 5am. I checked hay bags and offered water. Lily drank and Cujo didn't. He acted like he wanted to so I can only figure there was something about the smell of the water he didn't like. I fed Lily using a feed bag. I  Sponged as much of the dirt off Lily as I could and gave her a good grooming. I had a quick breakfast of cereal. I was just getting Lily saddled up when Sally arrived. Lily was acting a bit jazzed but did stand well to be saddled. She was a bit bargy and pushy when I untied her so I did a few ground work exercises to get her attention. I mounted up and did a bit more work to settle her down a bit. We headed out at about 7:30 am. Sally and I had thought to ride the 25 miles pretty quick though we knew we'd likely have to change that plan with the heat.

Lily was in one of her fire breathing dragon moods and was excited and really wanted to move out. So, we took the lead and I let her go. Not as fast as she wanted to go but we moved out at a good trot. After a bit, Tali and Barb caught up to us. They rode with us for a while but as we started to slow down a little bit, Barb rode on ahead of us. She is an endurance rider so she and her horse are in good shape and used to moving fast even in heat. We got to the lunch stop in good time and it was right at 25 miles as expected. The ride was selling brats and hot dogs with chips and drinks. I had made a sandwich so ate that but did buy a beer and had a water. I had brought just two waters for the trail as I knew I could get one at the lunch stop. High Knobs owner stopped by and had her two granddaughters with her. Her granddaughters are my next door neighbors and are 3 and 4? (I think) years old. Lily's pasture is right next to their house and they like to visit her and give her treats. However, they hardly ever see me so didn't recognize who I was. I pointed Lily out to them and they got all excited.

 It was at this point in the ride that you could choose the long trail for the full 25 miles or the shorter 20 mile route.  Sally, Tali and I wanted to do the full ride. By the time we got to Benham Hill Trailhead, I was starting to think this ride had to be more than 25 miles but didn't get too worried about it. We rode on to One Horse Gap and since Tali had never been there we rode up through the Gap. Once up there we met with some other riders that had also gone through the Gap and tried to find a trail down. Not seeing one they had turned around and come back. Sally told them to head back on the trail they just came from and just keep going along the top of the bluff until it dropped off the end of the bluff back on the River to River trail. So, we were in a larger group riding along the top of the bluff. It's a beautiful ride but the trail is very tough and muddy. I was getting very sure at this point that the ride was going to be quite a bit more than 25 miles. We were at 22 miles by my GPS when we reached Herod Bluff. Now I was a little worried. Lily was fine and she is in very good condition as I'd been riding her a lot this year. Sally has been riding too but she has multiple horses she rides so Cujo was not in quite as good condition as Lily. We had been keeping to an easy walk since the lunch stop and even a bit before that. We had a section of Raum Rd. we had to ride going out to Rt. 34. It was part gravel and some pavement. I was really worried about this section as the type of tar used here is very slippery with horse shoes. But, it was so hot out that the tar was actually a little bit soft and that gave Lily just enough traction to be fine. But it was like riding in an oven out on that pavement in the sun. Tali had gone on ahead of Sally and I with some riders moving a bit faster. We were now sure the ride was going to be much longer than 25 miles and Sally was worried about Cujo making it ok. So, we were taking it easy and stopping to let them graze where we found a bit of grass. Thankfully there was water in the creeks so they both had been drinking pretty well. At the end of Raum Rd. the ride had a horse trailer there loading up with horses and riders that needed to stop riding due to the heat. Sally really wanted to get a trailer ride back to camp from there but they were already full. We kept going. We met quite a bit of traffic at the end of Raum Rd as well as a tractor, several trucks with trailer and Lily did great with it all. There was a flagger at Rt. 34 helping us to cross the bridge and then the road to Gape Hollow Rd. Again, Lily did great with the traffic and commotion. Then it was a 1/2 mile steep climb up the paved Gape Hollow Rd. to the Garden of the God wilderness. We were so happy to get off the pavement and into the cooler forest. We had ridden 27 miles at this point and being familiar with this area, knew we had about 10 more miles to go. We were now just hoping to get back to camp before dark. Despite that worry, we stopped and took a break at the overlook and let Lily and Cujo eat what they could find there for a while. We stretched our own legs then mounted up and headed back down the trail. Sally and I were both hot and tired as was Cujo. Lily didn't seem much bothered and was moving down the trail well.

 When we got out the the backpackers parking lot at Garden of the Gods, there were ride workers and the trailer hauling more horses and riders that couldn't keep going. Sally and I had both run out of water so we got more water there much to our relief. Again Sally had hoped to get hauled back to camp but there were horses that needed to get back to camp worse then ours. Just as we were riding one horse started to go down with obvious signs of colic. (the horse did recover and was fine the next morning) Sally got off and Cujo for a while leading him up a few steep hills. Though it was obvious he was tired he was still eating and drinking. Sally was taking good care of him under the circumstances. When we got to Buzzards Roost we were at 35 miles. Now, I have been working with Lily for about a month to stop her from snacking along the trail when riding. And today, she had been doing great. She gave me a good 20 miles with barely any corrections. But after 20 miles, when she got truly and justifiably hungry, she let me know that she thought I was now being unreasonable. So, I stopped to let her munch greenery as often as I could. They both really needed food in their bellies anyway. But, we also didn't want to still be in the forest after dark. We rode into High Knob at 8pm. We sure were happy to be there. And JoJo was doing all she could to take care of everyone. She had us strip the tack off Lily and Cujo and gave us quarters to use the coin operated wash stall. Because of the heat, she was letting everyone use the horse wash for free. Lily was a bit hesitant to walk into the wash stall but with a little encouragement she finally went in. Lily was still feeling quite full of herself even after 37 miles in the heat. She was hungry and after washing her she was dragging me around to get to the grass. And I was now kicking myself for not having the forethought to make a drop of things I was wishing I had at this point like water buckets and some hay. I dragged Lily off the grass and we put her and Cujo in stalls so we could quickly get something to eat while waiting for our ride back to Bear Branch to get my rig and Sally's car. JoJo gave us a couple water buckets so we did water both. Lily drank a lot and was extremely disgusted with me when I walked away having offered her no food. I was feeling quite guilty about this as I was eating the taco's we bought. The first available ride back to Bear Branch was a very tight squeeze of 6 people in a truck with an extended cab. Not a crew cab, just extended. It was a pretty uncomfortable ride but I didn't care. I just wanted to get my rig and get back to High Knob so I could feed Lily.

I was so glad I'd packed everything up and gotten the trailer ready to go in the morning. So, once we Got to Bear Branch, we were ready to head right out. It's about a 45 min. drive between the camps. Sally and I both had decided we were not going to spend the night at High Knob. We just wanted to get Lily and Cujo home. JoJo understood and we were happy to pay the camping fee anyway as JoJo had provided everything we needed and as promised by the ride. Sally and I quickly loaded up our gear then went and got Lily and Cujo. As I approached Lily's stall, I can see she is eating some hay. I was beyond grateful for whoever had given both of them some hay. But, Lily knew it wasn't me who gave her good when she was so hungry and was still letting me know she was NOT impressed with me at the moment. When I went to put her halter on, she turned and walked away from me. She never does that. Point taken Lily. Then she didn't want to load in my trailer! She hasn't balked at trailer loading in a long time. Wow, she didn't even want to live with me anymore..... So, we loaded Cujo first and then she was happy to go in. We got to my house at 11pm. I just pulled into my driveway and Sally led Cujo home from there leaving her thing in the trailer to get tomorrow. I fed Lily some oats and timothy/alfalfa pellets hoping to gain some brownie points with her to get back in her favor. Then it was a shower and bed for me. I had quite the heat rash on my legs. It doesn't bother me at all but sure kept me from wanting to wear short.

I got up at 7am and fed Lily. She looked great and seems to have forgiven me for the perceived abuses of the previous day. I then drive over to High Knob for breakfast and awards. 14 equines had completed the long ride. I'm not sure how many started out or how many total riders there were. Sally and I were entries 29 and 30 and thee were others that entered after us. Lily did get special mention at the awards as the only equine that came into camp after the long ride looking like she could have turned around and done it again. I'll admit, she did handle the distance and heat extremely well. It was a fun time. I hope they are able to hold this ride again with a few adjustments. I didn't mind the extra mileage other than not being prepared for it. And it was the heat that made it hard to do the extra miles and that part is no one's fault. Both camps worked really hard to put on a nice ride and they did a good job of it.