Ridecamp: [RC] Tevis 2002 -- Not a ride for Snivelers :)

Tevis - Not a ride for Snivelers


I think Wendall Robie coined that phrase and boy was he right.  This year's Tevis was definitely one for the record books.  It was my horse, Harca's, 9th Tevis start and I was sure hoping for his 7th finish.  He's 17 now and I've always figured that as soon as he stopped enjoying himself out there, we'd retire from the Tevis trail. 

The ride start was fairly calm for us.  We tucked ourselves off to the side and tried to stay out of harm's way (sometimes easier said than done!).  Very early on two riders were thrown but their horses were caught fairly quickly and tied to trees awaiting the reunion with their riders.  I was amazed at how calmly those two horses stood tied to trees while the rest of the ride trotted by.  

Soon we were trotting up the ski slope road to Watson's Monument and feeling really good.  I was riding with my friend, Pam Johnson, and her horse Pow Wow (bred and raised by Lawton Johnson) boy can that horse trot!  Both horses are really compatible and things were going smoothly.  We negotiated the bog section safely and headed to Red Star Ridge and a pulse down/trot by.  We arrived there a bit later than we wanted to due to some back ups on the trail earlier but still made it to the one hour hold at Robinson Flat about 45 minutes before cut-off.  It turns out that would be as nice a margin as we'd have all day.  The rest of the day we pushed the clock and worried that we'd be over time.  Nerve wracking!

I'm not sure what the actual temperature in the canyons was (some said 120 degrees with 87% humidity, who knows?) but it felt hot enough to bake cookies on the boulders.  The temp just kept rising as we dropped lower and lower into the first big canyon.  I jogged in front of Harca on the down and rode the up.  He was really panting at the bottom so we cooled off in the river then headed for Devil's Thumb.  When we were almost to the top we encountered a man who was lying on the side of the trail, he looked well, he looked kind of dead.  Very frightening.  When I asked if he was ok, he wiggled his fingers at me.  We gave him water and went for help.  Volunteers were already on the way down and I hear that he's doing just fine.  The next vet check was Deadwood and I was very worried when Harca's pulse didn't immediately recover, my paranoia/worry mode kicked into over-drive.  He did recover well within the 30 minutes, and after careful consultation with the vets there I decided to rid
e to Michigan Bluff.  This is a smaller canyon, but still very hot and strenuous.  When we reached the bottom of that I knew we'd have to trot to make the cut off at Michigan and I decided to call it a day.  Harca just had this look in his eye that told me it was time to quit.  I had a really clear mental image of the California Loop trail and I just couldn't imagine heading down that in the pitch dark on a tiring horse. Pam went on with Pow Wow and they finished the ride in excellent shape .  Harca and I moseyed up the trail to Michigan Bluff and a cushy trailer ride to our crew at Forest Hill.  

I worried that my crew people (Lory Walls and Carrie Garufis) would be disappointed in me for pulling (especially when Harca pranced and danced around after I got him out of the rescue trailer <sigh>) but they were wonderful and supportive as usual.  I told them that I'd crew for THEM next year <g>.

I feel so blessed to be home with Harca safe and sound and my heart goes out to the rider who lost her horse.  The agony of that is unimagineable.  Am I sorry that we went and made the attempt?  No way!  The Tevis, as usual, was an incredible experience and one that I'll never forget.

Sylvia & Harca ( ummmm....retired Tevis horse, right? <g>)