Today we rode the rest of the way through Utah, and when we finished Barney vetted us in Utah and we crossed over the state line and are camping in Nevada. Tomorrow we are riding to Fort Schellbourne. It's hard to believe that we have come so far already! We had a really great day, this has been a wonderful week so far. After tomorrow we'll get two days off so we can rest and get ready for crossing the Nevada desert.

I rode Rocky today, it was his 15th day and he's not as fragile as I thought he was! (Grin) I had been getting really worried about him because whenever he'd get a couple of days off he was turning into an idiot (for lack of a better term) and spooking at whatever he decided was scary (everything), and in the process whacking himself. So we solved that process by using 4x4's and vetwrap and guess what.....no more boo-boos or owies and he felt really great all day. (splint boots only rubbed him in this heat) Now he will get three days off and then only has to do four more days total on the ride. I am feeling a lot better now and know he can do it. We just have to be really careful and take it one day at a time.

It's been staying really hot, but it hasn't been so bad because we've been blessed with some afternoon clouds and a bit of a breeze which makes it bearable. Also, Dave has been great with crewing for us and everytime we see him we are dunking our shirts and heads in the water to keep cool, and sponging the horses. We're also stopping and letting them eat too and I think that is really helping. Today Barney said that Rocky had excellent gut sounds. We've been getting places to fill up water each day so at least so far crossing this desert are we've not had any shortages. Howard Kent provided a truck and driver and Jim and Cindy Brown have organized it so that we have at least three water troughs out each day, one before lunch and two afterwards. Because of the late afternoon thundershowers we've also had puddles, which of course my horses are thriving on. :+)

The trail has been really wonderful of late. We're going thru a lot of real trail, singletrack or jeep trail and it's pretty much from pony express station to station or marker to marker which is really kewl. The scenery is gorgeous and the footing has been really nice. The horses are having a lot of fun and we're all having a great time. Kayla rode Buzzy again today. She may ride Gem tomorrow, her #1 horse. Gem is healing from a cut to his back leg, from the horses running around in an arena he got stepped on. I've been careful about how turn my horses out in arenas of late since they are so rambunctious they could easily hurt themselves. The big problem is that they are so itchy and scratchy, I have them tied short on their ties but they still roll and lie down. They also continue to rub themselves on their haybags and buckets. Gosh, it shakes the trailer almost as much as the winds! :+P

We are camped overlooking this beautiful ranch with lush green pastures, a creek and mountains all around. A few people have driven ahead to Fort Schellbourne to stay, like the Dykes and the Shaw's. I think Dorothy Sue may have too or else she went home, because we haven't seen her. (??) Steph and John and their entourage are camped across from us. The teenage girls are all gaga over their son and their friends.

Trilby did not ride today. I think that Clay was not acting right this morning. It looked like most everybody else was out there again today. Dave Rabe rode Cheyenne, the horse that I was supposed to ride as my third horse but haven't needed. They looked really good, glad he is getting used and not just sitting around. I haven't really been paying attention at the ride meeting about how many riders there have been, sorry. I'm just really pleased with myself that I remember to fill out my ride entry card for the next day and get the photos downloaded --- and the GPS tracks from each day. As soon as I get in each day I take care of the horses first, then take a sunshower and then do the computer stuff while watching the horses and then it's usually dinner time. Tonight we had cup of soup for dinner, and ritz crackers. Living high on the hog. Well, we kinda ran out of food for the most part. We won't starve, we just need to re-stock after we get to Ely for our next day off after getting to Schellbourne tomorrow. Our fridge has been having problems, as has most peoples'. I'm barely keeping one ice boot frozen now and if I'm lucky I have cool water to start with each day. Since it's been either 75 or 80 degrees at 5 a.m. when we start, the cool water doesn't stay cool for long. But at least I have it.

My computer has been having difficulty booting up. It won't boot up without errors now and awhile ago it wouldn't shut down or even turn off. Good thing for that reset button. Hope it keeps working for just two more weeks! I've got a lot of photos from the last few days that I haven't done anything with yet. Hope to on my next two days off.

Terry Nance said he learned not to park his trailer sideways in the wind. We all learn something new each day.

It's almost time for the ride meeting. Then 5:00 a.m. comes awfully quick. Wouldn't be bad to start earlier if it stays hot.

Happy XP Trails,

Karen
at the NV/UT stateline
...only 9 days left!

We had a really great day and are now driving to Ely to do laundry, shower and eat. Then we can have more time to rest and relax at Fort Schellbourne on our two days off. The ride today was a really nice one. Each day has been getting better and better, and I think that this was probably the best one so far. Great country we are riding thru.

We started at 5:00 a.m. It was cooler this morning, finally!! It's pretty dark then too so I've been using a flashlight so I can see the arrows on the GPS. We started out walking slowly, I had three juniors with me -- Kayla who ride the 50 and Troy and Calina who did the first 25 miles to lunch. It was just starting to get light but still pretty dark when Troy's horse Quest jumped and spooked and ended up jumping over a barbed wire fence. So he was stuck on the other side! Luckily a little farther down the wire was down so he was able to get out. Gem was a handful for Kayla today too because he's had a week and a half off and really feeling good. I rode Weaver, this made his 15th day or 750th mile on the ride. He's really doing well, feels great and has a hearty appetite. Shawn Bowling even called him a lard butt today (well, he worded it differently, grin), guess that's not a bad compliment after doing that many miles in the last six weeks.

We rode from Deep Creek on the pony express trail thru Schellbourne pass and into Fort Schellbourne. The trail was really nice, we saw lots of Pony Express trail markers and went over the highest point on the entire pony trail -- 7550 feet I think it was. It was fun coming over the mountain and recognizing the familiar trail from the Schellbourne ride. The horse sure did remember it! It's so beautiful here with lots of green grass and really great to be riding in trees, mountains and rocks!

After lunch it was just Kayla and I. She still has ridden every single mile of the ride and is the only one that has. Her horse Gem has healed from his cut leg so everything is going well for her. I am pretty sure my guys are both okay and each will now only have 4 more days to do. Piece of cake, right? :+D

So after we finished we were in camp and I was just about to wash my hair. I had the shampoo in one hand and the towel in the other......and I heard some commotion so looked outside and saw something that I never want to see again......a trailer with a 425 gallon water tank (it was full) on a trailer headed straight for me. Straight meaning directly right at me.....I jumped out of the trailer door and we all got out of the way. It hit the trailer and just slammed into it, knocking it off of the block and moving it over a foot. Rocky must have spooked and broke his tie when he pulled back and was roaming around grazing. Ann came driving around the parking lot, she had not realized that the trailer had come unhitched from the truck. The trailer was lined up parallel with our truck, less then two feet from it -- it was too close for comfort, that is for sure! (see photos later) The trailer came loose up in the front of the parking lot, two telephone poles away and headed straight for us. We were sure lucky the dogs or the horses weren't tied on that side of the trailer, or that one of us wasn't napping right there. Been an exciting week. :>)

Trilby rode today, with Phyllis. John P. rode, and the other two who have been going almost every day -- Carol and Sunny...I think she has 26 days now and Kathy and Zane who are only a few days behind, and has about a dozen BC's. Lots of others are riding nearly every day but I probably can't remember them all -- Roxanne Greene, Pat Verhuel, Shawn Bowling, Sandy Skinner, Phyllis, John, Kathy, Bonnie, Tinker, Dave Rabe --- he rode Cheyenne again today and rode with Sands. Sands driver passed out parking the rig in camp and ran into somebody elses trailer and tore the door off of her trailer. Hope nothing was too serious. John and Steph rode, I saw them at the lunch check and their kids were out crewing.

I better go get to work on the photos for this week.

Happy XP Trails,

Karen

......at Fort Schellbourne, Nevada
only 8 ride days left!

Greetings from Ruby Valley! We just finished up day 33 of the ride, it was another really terrific day! I rode Rocky, making this his 16th day or 800th XP mile and leaving him now with only 3 days left to do. Kayla and Calina both rode with me today. We left Fort Schellbourne at 5 a.m. this morning. It was not really hot today so we didn't have to start any earlier -- when I finished today it was only 87 degrees, a lot cooler and it felt really nice. There is a slight breeze blowing. We rode up thru Egan canyon which a lot of riders from years ago would probably remember from other rides. The entire trail was great, good footing thru the mountains and on Pony Express trail. I don't recollect seeing any pavement anywhere.

A few more people rode today, I think close to 40 riders. We all felt great after having two days off in a row, well rested and looking forward to another week of riding. The horses also were ready to go. Early in the morning some goats jumped over a fence and came bounding towards Rocky. That was interesting, as if he needs something to get him excited after getting 3 days off in a row! What felt really weird was getting back on a horse after having two whole days off -- boy it felt like an eternity! :^D

The kids both had a great day, Kayla rode Gem again and Calina rode Boomer, Libby Bass' horse. All three of our horses did well together and we had a great day, finishing at one of our earlier times -- 2:05 p.m., so just over 9 hours total time. We rode a little faster because it was cooler, probably not much over 90 degrees and we had plenty of water which was nice. Plus the horses were strong.

I've been downloading my GPS tracks each day still, and it's neat to see how they match up with all the waypoints, just like they are supposed to! It is really neat to look back at each weeks worth of trail and see how far we've come....it's just amazing at how much trail we've been over and how everything has worked out so perfectly well. Most one day rides I've been to have more problems than this entire event has, this whole thing is just incredible. All the detail and planning is unbelievable, what an amazing thing for this to have gone off so fantastically well.

The hour vet check wasn't really accessible for crews so we brought everything with us for the day when we started. Rocky bummed some hay off of Phyllis and ate the bag of complete advantage that I brought along. I just mostly ate Gu and granola bars and peanuts. After lunch the horses grabbed bites of grass as we went, and of course we're careful to look for snakes now! I just put a regular splint boot on him this time, and that worked fine. I'll have to keep watching for any rub marks.

Dave stopped in Ely this morning and bought more stuff, including ice cream. So after I took my sun-shower I got to pig out on ice cream. Oh boy! Ain't nothing as good as that, being clean and eating ice cream after a nice 50 mile ride :+). Dave was on top of the trailer watching us come in, and when I got here he said that as soon as my other horse knew it was us out there he started bucking in place -- he's ready to go tomorrow looks like. ha

Happy XP Trails,

Karen,
near Ruby Valley, NV
....only 7 days left!

We have a really nice campsite tonight in the trees (the bigger rigs couldn't fit in so they got a sucky campsite, awwww). Todays trail was also one of the best so far, with beautiful scenery, challenging climbs and beautiful weather. We left camp at Ruby Valley and got right back on the pony trail and started going thru valley and over mountain for the next 50 miles, finishing at Garden Summit....along the way we stopped where the Diamond Springs Pony Express station was for the lunch vet check. What is buried there (that's a statement not a ?). This is what was on the historical marker:

"In September of 1860 Pony Express rider George "Boston" Scovell was attacked by concealed Indians after crossing "Chockop's Pass" and riding down Telegraph canyon. His ride was from Ruby Station when the attack occurred approximately three miles east of this site.

He and his horse were both hit with arrows. The horse's name was "What". He got that name due to his question mark type blaze. "What" carried "Boston" safely to the station. This brave horse died due to his wounds from the arrows that day and was buried near the station."

Dave was there to crew for us and had already crewed for Troy earlier in the day and Tinker was in before us but pulled so he gave her a ride to the finish. So then we kept him occupied crewing for the three of us -- I sponsored Kayla and Calina again today. We finished with a whole hour to spare today, in about 11 hours. It took Dave three hours of driving time to get to the lunch check today, four hours if you count the time it took him to stop to fill up water and diesel.

Trilby didn't ride today -- it's her birthday today and we all signed a card and will have a party tonight at the ride meeting. I hope she enjoyed her day of rest and relaxation. There are still a lot of people and rigs here. Each night they print up 125 maps and directions and run out -- and are only having 30 or 40 riders ride.

The horses are both doing great :+). Each night is another disaster opportunity you never know what could go wrong.....keeping fingers crossed, only 3 more days each to go!

Happy XP Trails,

Karen
...in Nevada

Hello from Dry Creek, Nevada. We're probably outside of Austin about 50 miles or so, camped on the pony trail, at the sight of Bezetal's grave. We had a really nice ride today, the weather has been gorgeous and the trail itself is really nice. I rode Rocky today and Kayla rode Khemo Cairo and he got his 4,000 miles today. We even stopped in the exact spot on the trail and took his picture :+).

The trail was really nice today, it was singletrack and two track trail or jeep road type stuff and we did a lot of winding around and going up and down. Dave crewed for us at the lunch check today. It was a lot easier for him to get to, and didn't take us as long to get in (no big mountain climb like the day before). In fact, we zipped along pretty good today, averaging over 7 mph. That might seem slow but it's not when you are in the hot desert going over mountain passes and thru sand and soft deep dirt. Our first water was a ways out, and the horses were pretty thirsty. Then Terry Wooley and Miranda were out with water about three miles before the lunch check at 25 miles. We felt like we were going along pretty good into lunch, at about 6.6 mph up till then, and then about a half an hour after we got there Trilby came in. So I guess we aren't going as fast as we think we are (Grin). John and Steph were even behind Trilby (they must have nerves of steel) Kayla and I came in 6th and 7th place. We didn't leave lunch in the top ten but both of our horses were really strong. It's not that we are fast, just consistent.

Most all the same people rode that have been riding every day. We saw Clark in the morning, he opened a gate for us. :^) Then we caught up to Jeff and Debby and Jim Baldwin. I don't think we saw anybody else until we got into lunch and there were quite a few people in. Pat Verhuel and Sandy Skinner, and Dorothy Sue and Phyllis. Jim Mitchell was way up in front but then slowed down after lunch, riding Smoke. Saw Dave Rabe and Shawn Bowling (who sponsored Calina), Bonnie and Trilby also starting out this morning. Carol and Sunny, John and Skoldjur and Kathy and Zane also rode today, so the three horses that have done the most days are all still going. Dorothy Sue had to leave last weekend to go get her trailer breaks fixed, and somebody said the Waltenspiels had to go to Fallon to get a tire or something.

This morning we passed by a BLM holding pen where they are going to have an adoption. They had several large pens full of horses, and a helicopter took off to go out and round up some more. They were interested in what we were doing and asked us where we were going. "TO VIRGINIA CITY", of course! :+D Well, when did you start?.........it's a long story....it was a long time go in a place far, far away.......

Finishing early does have it's advantages though. We have a couple extra hours to do things like clean up, really get the horses clean, and the tack -- and to sit and do nothing. Something we don't usually get to do much of! Yesterday we took 11 hours so were pressed for time just to get the basics done. Today it's only 2:30 and the horse is already spic and span and fed, my tack is clean or soaking and I've got my GPS tracks on the computer. Dave took my camera on a hike to the mine so I haven't got the photos downloaded yet, but that is next. We're still starting at 5:00 a.m.

I've been going thru desitin like mad -- almost a tube every day. I've got to keep the sun off of Rocky or else he'll get scratches (sun sensitivity). A lot of horses in camp are getting scratches and are getting them really really bad. I don't think I will, heck we've only got five days left and both horses are clean and we're now riding them in their home turf. (knocking on wood)

I have been learning a lot of new stuff about my horses. You can never know all there is to know, no matter how many miles or hours you spend on a horse. I think that mine are both becoming more human, either that or I am becoming more like them. Which is worse? (grin)

I think that Kayla is going to make every day. They just brought Cairo out for her, and he's really awesome. She also still has Gem and Buzzy. They sent Buddy back home when Cairo came out. Only five days left and she could probably do it on any one horse if she had to. I sure hope she makes it! We sure have a lot of fun riding together, I think our good moods are rubbing off on the horses too, they are feeling pretty good. At lunch they had to change bits on Cairo, he was so strong. Rocky and he are so much alike it's uncanny. They both ran away with us a couple of times today, well not really we were laughing so hard they just thought it was all fun. Then they both spook at the same things. Yesterday I couldn't let Weaver run with me because I was sure he would try bucking. I don't think they have ever felt this good before. I sure don't feel like I'm riding tired or worn out horses, they are moving down the trail with as much enthusiasm and energy as any horse starting any one day ride. It's a great feeling. We sure don't want this to end, and have to wake up and go back to the real world.

My camera is back, I better get these photos downloaded now so I can do nothing!

Happy XP Trails,

Karen
...in Dry Creek, Nevada
only 5 days left!!!