XP - Nevada - one more week

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

We're on another 2-day break. Camped at the roping
arena outside of Austin, NV - charming old mining
town. The story goes that an XP rider's horse turned
over a rock that had silver ore in it - back in 1860.
That was the beginning of the mining boom in the area.
It's a great camp - plenty of room, so everybody is
parked together. The weather has been perfect! High's
in the 70's and 80's - nice breeze. We're up at 6500
ft, so cool nights - great scenery. Barney and Linda
are leaving after the weekend, so we're having a
potluck dinner for them tomorrow eve. They have been
wonderful.

We rode for the last 4 days from Ft. Schellbourne and
finished yesterday at Smith Lake (dry salt-lake
bed)west of Austin. All 4 days were wonderful...
crossing valley floors, over mountain passes - high
country - juniper, pinyon pine. We're back in familiar
territory for Dave - the same trail he has used in the
past for his XP point-to-point rides. Easy navigation,
no surprises, good trail for the most part. And a lot
of history in this area. Every night at the ride
meetings Dave gets lost in stories and history of the
area. And he usually has some stories about the local
ranchers that he's know since he started doing the XP
rides in the 70 's. Many of them are no longer alive,
but still colorful characters, and he still has a
fondness for them, and for the 'old days'. 

The days and camps have really begun to blur
together... it's hard to remember anything beyond a
day ago! The miles are rather brain-numbing... I tend
to get lost in the scenery and the rhythm of the
horse. Nothing seems urgent any more, just ride...

The horses are doing great. I've done 350 miles each
on Jaziret and Santini. John has ridden Bunchuk 350
miles and Sukaro 250 miles. They just seem to get
stronger and stronger. Shiny coats, still holding
their weight well - and still pulling to go faster.
Yesterday was a real tough morning. We rode out of Dry
Creek Station (also Bezetal's gravesite) up and over a
high mountain pass. Tough going - a lot of climb and a
lot of rock on the descent. We followed the old
telegraph trail on the way down - a straight line down
the mountain rather than the nice trail contours we've
been following. The wire was down much of the way,
very dicey stepping over it and under it. MJ's horse
actually got hung up in it and cut the inside of his
hock. We found her walking her horse after the
mountain - pretty discouraged. He was sore, but
probably no serious damage.

We walked and/or led the horses most of the morning.
After the pass, we rode through Simpson Creek - an old
telegraph station and XP station. It was gorgeous!!!
Willows and cottonwoods along the creek - tall grass,
birds chirping (I had forgotten how much I missed the
chirping of birds!) - shady and cool. The creek was
flanked by hills with great granite boulders ... like
something out of an old Western movie. The telegraph
station was built of stone - still standing. Somebody
had done some fine masonry work at one time.  John and
I rode with Trilby who kept us entertained with
stories from the 'old days'. She's pretty amazing. We
finally got to lunch after 25 miles - in 6 1/2 hours!
It was just too rough to go any faster. The 1 hour
break went way too fast - but from lunch to the finish
was good footing so we were able to move out, hoping
to finish before cutoff time. About 5 miles out
Santini and I had had enough of going slow ... just
had to go! I left John and Trilby and zipped in for
the next 20 miles. Felt soooo good to go faster! We
finished on the far side of Smith Lake - a dry
salt-late bed. It was so cool crossing it! From a
distance it shimmered and actually looked like it had
water in it. When we stepped out onto it it was snowy
white and the footing was firm. The hills and hummocks
of vegetation made oasis (oasises?) - looked surreal.
I slowed down and we walked across it - a couple miles
- to the finish, just getting lost in the starkness.
It was very awesome. 

This ride just keeps getting better ... we have 4
riding days left. Although it will be good to get back
home, I'm going to miss the simplicity of focus. Just
one goal, day after day - ride. There is a lot of work
involved - and the crews are incredible. The work and
intensity and miles - there just isn't room for
thinking or worrying about anything else. Just ride.

Steph



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