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[Ms steph teeter <stephteeter@yahoo.com>]

July 3 - 9.

We're camped at Fort Bridger State Park about 60 miles
east of the Utah 
border. On the west side of the continental divide,
the Uinta mountain 
range is in sight - headed that way this week.

We arrived at camp outside of Casper, Wyoming last
Saturday - June 30. 
Nice camp, along a sandy shaded creek. Spirits were a
little low throughout camp - everybody was TIRED from
the previous month. Too 
much heat and not enough sleep. Quite a few folks had
lost pets along the 
way to random traffic accidents. Many riders had
packed up and left 
before we arrived - problems with horses, problems
with crews, or just not 
having any fun. Some of the crews stayed on though and
took up with new 
riders. And the day before we arrived the roads took a
large toll on vehicles. 
Rough road and steep grade proved too much for some of
the trucks and 
motorhomes. 

But - most of the folks we talked to were very
positive about the whole 
experience. Yes they were tired, too many hot humid
days, random 
problems, but still having a great time. And
determined to see it through. 
Many of them started doing half day rides instead of
trying to do the 
whole 50 miles each day. Some took more days off, just
riding when they 
wanted to, and doing more exploring on their own. The
folks with a 
positive, flexible approach seem to be thriving. 

John and I rode every day last week, alternating
horses and taking it 
as slowly as possible, averaging 10 hr days. The days
have been plenty 
challenging - rolling terrain, mixed footing -
generally good, but a 
fair amount of sand and rock too, and the afternoons
get very hot. We 
crossed the continental divide two days ago, and have
been riding at around 
6000 ft elevation. Mornings have been wonderful, but
by 10am it gets 
hot. We start at 5am so at least the ride is half over
by the time it 
gets really hot, but the afternoons have been
grueling. The starts and 
early hours have been great. It's barely light at the
5 AM starts, we 
saddle up in the dark and usually hand walk the horses
for the first mile 
or so. We get to watch the sun come up and there have
been some 
spectacular sunrises. The last few days we've actually
had a bright moon for 
the first hour or so before sunrise. 

We actually rode the 'real' trail for the past five
days - the 
Oregon/Mormon/California/PonyExpress trail. This has
been a surprisingly 
poignant experience for me (and for several others
that I've talked to). 
There are markers all along the way, and also
monuments at special 
landmarks - with short descriptions and explanations.
In many places you could 
see the deep ruts from the wagons. John and I both
have 
great-grandparents that came across the trail in wagon
trains. Mine to Utah and 
California, John's settled in the Snake River basin in
Idaho. Riding along 
this trail one can almost imagine what it must have
been like. Rocks, 
sand, alkali flats, mud, river crossings, dust, hot
sun, wind, bugs - not 
to mention loss of family members to cholera,
dehydration, 
malnutrition. My mother told me about her grandmother
who came across with the 
Mormon migration - she was so terrified of the river
crossings they had to 
actually tie her to the wagons before they crossed. My
father's mother came across as a child and settled in
California - she developed a 
strong love of the land and a desire to become a
naturalist. 

We stopped at one monument, the 'Parting of the Ways',
which was a 
point in the trail where some travelers went south -
and some headed north. 
The descriptiong mentioned the sorrow of parting after
having travelled 
together for 1000 miles, probably never to see each
other again. There 
must have been some lingering spirit there - I was
overwhelmed by 
emotion - and afterwards discovered that others had
felt the same thing. 
This awe and respect for the Oregon trail - and the
travellers - has been 
somewhat of a surprise to me. I'm not much of a
history buff (too much 
excitement in the 'here and now') and didn't
anticipate how much it 
would affect me. The riding, the scenery, the XP2001
adventure - all of 
this has been wonderul, but the sense of history has
been the most 
overwhelming.

The XP2001 adventure ... well, I am totally impressed
by what Dave 
Nicholson (the Duck) has accomplished. The use of the
GPS and waypoint 
navigation is brilliant. He collected waypoints
(latitude/longitude 
coordinates) for the entire 2000 miles last season.
Some sections have changed 
and he's had to go out and collect new ones on the
fly, but we have 
always had a navigable course to follow. He loads
waypoints for the week 
onto everybody's GPS and every morning the riders
activate the 
appropriate route. There have been very few problems
following the course - and 
the only problems have been caused by riders failing
to follow the 
waypoints for one reason or another. He also provides
a printed page with 
the waypoints and landmark description itemized (e.g.
WP 8904 Cattle 
guard w gate, follow main trail West) and also a topo
map with the 
waypoints marked. And these are definitely 50 mile
courses - every mile, or 
half-mile has at least one geographic coordinate
waypoint. The nightly!
 ride meetings are  always an event. Ann Nicholson
(who as usual is 
holding things together in her kind and gentle way)
gives a rundown of the 
day - finishers, placement, a few stories and
highlights, and then Dave 
takes over. Description of the trail, things to watch
out for, 
historical aspect of the trail, and always a story or
rambling which has 
everybody at the meeting laughing (or groaning). Dave
seems to be in fine 
form. I can't imagine anybody else who could pull off
something of this 
magnitude. 

There have been a few glitches with the camps (wrong
spot, irate land 
owners) but mostly that has gone well too. Barny
Fleming is doing a 
tremendous job as veterinarian. He and Linda seem to
be always cheerful and 
supportive. Even the day that they had two flat tires
within 5 miles 
trying to get from the lunch vetcheck to the finish in
time to meet the 
front riders.  The pink tutu Barney wore on day 24 was
a big hit. The 
little things that keep spirits high... 

We took today off - the day's ride looked awfully
tedious and we want to save the horses for the nicest
days. We spent the day running the lunch vetcheck -
giving Ann a day off. Pleasant day - nice to see all
the riders come in and spend time chatting with Barney
and others. 

My hour at the Mountain View library is just about up
- will send this off and try to spend some more time
later writing. It's an amazing adventure. I'm not sure
how many days we'll try to ride - these are tough days
- but I suspect we'll enjoy ourselves no matter what
we choose to do.

Tomorrow - the mountains.

Steph



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