A Very Good Day: Flagstaff, May 12, 2007

Flagstaff May2007

Click on the link "Flagstaff May 2007" above, then on "Slideshow" to access photos from Rusty's Album

Far & I had another good day of building trust today atop the San Francisco Peaks. Redford got to stay home with Jack. A bigger trailer is in order... Rocky got to enjoy his first camping trip and aced it. He is an incredible horse.

I picked up Jim Hastie from the Phoenix airport on Friday at 4 PM and the temperature gauge said 109. When we pulled into the horse camp five miles north of Flagstaff three hours later, Clydea and Rusty already had jackets on. The night chilled to a very appealing 42!

We enjoyed some food around the campfire before getting an early night. How nice to gain (or lose?) a 25 degree difference in temperature in just three short hours.

On Saturday, we rode a total of 14.7 miles in 4:35 - all of it at a walk, and probably 5+ miles at a hand walk. When I first got on him, he got bug-eyed and nervous. My heart rate went way up, so I hopped off and hand-walked him for the first mile or so until his eye began to soften and and his head began to drop. He still felt like a coiled spring when I got on him, but much less so, and considerably less after the second mile. There were lots of things on the trail to occupy his mind.

We climbed from 7100ft to 8770ft over the first five miles along a mixture of sandy and rocky trails, with some hikers, some mountain bikers and an iron man runner with two dogs.

We then climbed back down at least 600 feet the same way we came, and turned north at a trailhead that took us back up past 8700 feet to the top of Mount Eldon with glorious views and more mountain bikers and hikers and dogs. He stopped along the way and ate the rich mountain grass.

When we started the five mile descent back to base camp, we wound our way along the side of a steep mountain along switchbacks and trails that Clydea said were not dissimilar to those on Tevis. I stayed on him for part of the way, but felt the need to give him a break (read just a little nervous:)) and probably hand walked a good three miles through the high, thin air along the high thin trails.

He was always forward, mostly in the lead, thanks to three very accommodating friends, and very sure-footed across rocky trails, over downed trees, between boulders and past mountain bikes. He ate all day and drank when he had his fiirst opportunity (which was back at base camp).

Clydea and I got up early and rode Czar and Seb on Sunday morning. We repeated some of the first part of Day 1, but trotting out whenever we could. We carried on past the point we had turned around the previous day and tried to get up to the summit. Unfortunately, a downed tree across the trail put a stop to our antics at 9,330 ft - three short miles from the top. The views were absolutely splendid.

We rode almost 13 miles and the horses had as much fun as we did! We'll definitely be back to the horse camp whenever we feel the need to escape the heat of the oven!