I think Rusty has found yet another talent in life. He appears to be a natural born ride manager: well-prepared, well-supported, calm and always in control. He had moved in to the base camp area on Thursday, and with the invaluable trail-marking skills of Jim and Clydea Hastie and Pat Murray, they spent all day Thursday marking more than 50 miles of trail throughout the McDowell Mountain Preserve. One of the Hastie’s quads needed to be rescued by the other from a particularly rocky and steep part of the trail, and the rescuing quad gave up later that evening with a broken fan belt.
Various photos of base camp, above. Note the Superstition Mountains to the southeast, picking up the setting sun.
Friday saw some checking of trail marking and the demise of the second quad, thanks to a front brake that was not disengaged while it was driven through the hot desert. End result: the seals are toast! Rusty says he spent most of the day confirming last-minute details with the park officials; making sure that the ranch owner at the 158th Street watering stop was prepared, and various other projects that kept him out of camp all day while it filled.
Various photos of ridecamp, above. Rusty, right, pointing to the mountains to the west.I found myself pulling into camp with my horse at 6 PM sharp in a borrowed rig. As we turned into the base camp, I got an overwhelming sense of the sheer number of people that had turned up to ride this first-year ride. It looked like a small town! I made my way to the registration table, and vetted the horse through without any wait at all. Rick Poteste was head vet with two colleagues, and his vetting skills would be brilliant all throughout ride day. Registration seemed very well organized, thanks to Jenny Powers and her trusty team of volunteers. Exact numbers and results will be posted soon, but there were more than 50 in the 55 mile ride and almost 75 in the 25 mile ride. Temperatures were to reach the very high 80s.
The ride meeting started moments later – I put Redford into the stall that had been magically set up and started taking some photos of the ride meeting and preparing for the two vet checks that would be out of camp. It was to be Redford’s first 55, so I knew we would be taking our time and be out in the heat all day. The ride meeting looked like any other – full of information no one would remember, and full of questions that revealed the riders’ nerves. Then off to the Hastie trailer for Chicken Alfredo and salad. Yum! The camp got quiet very quickly, interrupted only by people bringing their out check bags to the out check trailer.
Ride meeting, 6:30 PM Friday. Note the Ocotillo in leaf and bloom.I fell asleep quickly, feeling no stress and wondering how the mild-mannered Redford would be feeling 24 hours hence. 4:30 AM came around quickly, which is always a sign I have slept. I got up and replenished the hay bag in Red’s stall, exchanged a few sleepy words with Clydea, who was kind enough to give me some beet pulp and grain to replace my own that had gone back home with my borrowed ride. I stocked the out check box with hay and human water and a small cooler with sandwiches, protein bars, carrots and a four-pack of chilled Starbucks espresso double-shots.
Wyatt, left, 26 years old and more than 3,000 miles (and counting!). Redford, right, in the first few miles and always eager.6:00 AM was upon us quickly, and the nervous horses and riders had left and the less nervous horses and riders were beginning to saunter out. We were almost the last to leave, and walked the first two miles through the sand wash out to the road. Red was eager and felt like he wanted to do something daring – like bolt or rear – but he never quite got around to it. He has a great mind, and settled in very quickly as we crossed the road and started the long gradual climb up into the rocks and cholla of the first loop.
Some of the front runners coming at us on the first loop.As we began the gradual climb up into the McDowell foothills, the frontrunners came cantering down the hill towards us. We made room for them by getting off trail for all except Lancette and her two friends. I was right in the middle of a single-track trail with evil jumping cholla on both sides – nowhere to go! Stop! Before I knew it, they had all three trotted past me, but Lancette’s horse, Windy, got cholla’ed and needed to be de-clawed! We set up off into the only real climb of the ride and enjoyed views as the sun rose and the morning lengthened. There was water at the top of the mountain and questions about those things on the horse’s ankles before we set back off down towards the vet check at 21 miles. Red was moving out well and seemed completely happy to ride alone. The trail was mostly rocky and fairly slow for me on a young horse without pads.
Hedgehog Cactus beginning to open in the morning sun; Saguaro Cactus enjoying the west-facing mountain side.We sauntered into the vet check four hours after we had left base camp, and he pulsed down at 56. He ate hay and slurp and I ate half a sandwich, a power bar and a coffee before chugging down 3 bottles of water. Vet check seemed full – the 125 horses were obviously all coming and going through camp, but I did not have to wait. I enjoyed bananas and watermelon from the communal coolers and I watched the world go by. The 45 minutes passed quickly and Red did not stop eating.
Various images of the vet check, including Annie, the Palomino Foxtrotter who went on to win BC on the 25; Ballet Arizona Board Chairman, Carol Schilling as vet scribe; and the infamous Clydea Hastie with Czar.Off we went, with the approval of the in-timers who seemed very much on top of the whole situation. A heartfelt thanks goes to Barb Debi, Zondra Innes, Sherry Novkov, Pam Schembs and others. We set off for a couple of miles at a trot along a windy trail that would take us up and over a small hill on the Scenic Trail. The footing up there was hard and rocky and we walked most of it as the heat of the noon sun began to build. As we came down the north side of the hill, the trail flattened out and the rocks disappeared and we got into a working trot that would be broken only by the ride photographer and a road crossing. The caliche was dry and hard and I could feel the absence of any give in the footing. We wound our way along the gentle incline all the way up to the 158th Street water stop that was being managed by three cheerful ladies and a cowboy on a quarter horse. I was handed two ice-cold bottles of water while I hosed down the horse. He stuck his head and nose deep into the water trough and drank and drank and drank and drank. He drank so long that I even considered pulling his head away. But it obviously did him good – I got back on, we hopped over the step-over back into the park boundaries and we were off west along the Pemberton Trail.
More Big Sky Foxtrotters.We stopped every once in a while to let some very determined and not very cheery bike riders pass. We circled up around the western perimeter of the park and then south down the long wash to another water hose and cheerful number taker who was enjoying the shade of a large cactus near the maintenance yard. Red was still full and hydrated from the previous water stop, so we continued east again. We trotted up through stunning desert filled with blooming hedgehog cactus and budding staghorn cholla in amongst the boulders that looked like they belonged in a western movie. Within the hour, we were up on a high bluff heading east towards the vet check – we could see it growing for the last five miles into the check. Pretty cool stuff! We pulled in to the out check exactly four hours after we had left for the 24-mile loop. Red felt even and strong and happy and he pulsed in again at 56. We vetted through, got mostly A’s and a 48/48 CRI.
The vet check was almost completely deserted: Rusty, Bill The Champ and Jim Hastie were cleaning every strand of hay from the check and the vets and volunteers were waiting patiently for the last rider to come in behind me. I sat and watched the horse eat and eat while I enjoyed cold water and shade. The ride was beginning to feel long and the heat of the day was really upon us. I saw a few riders come through the check on their ten-mile loop – with only two miles left before the finish line. They looked hot and ready to be finished.
I knew the last ten-mile loop well. We trotted off along the windy trail down the wash we had been in earlier, then down to the southern limit of the park before heading east to circle the hill that lay between us and home. The trail was rocky – and was more so now that 125 horses had ridden through it. Red’s walk had slowed down ever so slightly, which made the miles seem longer. We got to the wash and trotted and walked and played leapfrog with the mother and daughter Johnson team who were enjoying the yellow flowers of the Palo Verde trees. We rode through the out check before we knew it – and took a few minutes to hose the horses down before walking the two miles to the finish line. The Johnsons wanted to race me for the turtle award, but their horses picked up and got perky, and they trotted in to the finish while Redford and I walked in, enjoying the cooling of 6 PM and knowing that there were no horses behind us. I had seen the award before the ride and knew I had to have it!
We vetted through at 6:15 – he with straight A’s and a pulse of 56, and me with a sore tush from 12+ hours of being mostly in the saddle and mostly at a walk. Everyone seemed happy – Red had completed his first 55 with flying colors, Rusty had finished his first stint as ride manager with flying colors. We enjoyed a catered meal from l’Amore Restaurant in Phoenix before the awards.
Redford and me finishing the 55 at 6:10 PM.One of the highlights of the day was when Dayna Weary got High Vet Score and Best Condition on the 55! Prizes were wonderful, thanks to Endurance Net, CYA Rump Rugs, Horses Dacor, Farnam Horse Products and Bridle and Bit. I won the turtle award - beautiful sandstone coasters sponsored by Steve and Jenny Powers. They have been added to a growing collection!
The next day, Rusty and Bill The Champ spent hours cleaning up base camp until it looked spotless. You would never have known there had been a small village there for two days. Steve and Jenny Powers helped clean up and empty garbage and made the place look wonderful. Liz and her boyfriend helped un-mark trail on foot while Rusty and Bill The Champ went out on the park six-wheeler at warp speed to un-mark all but seven miles of trail. We were all home by 4:00 PM Sunday, with two trailers stuffed to the gills with water tanks and miscellaneous equipment. The cold beers sure tasted good!!!
I have a whole new understanding of what ride managers go through to put on a ride (
even though Rusty did all the work :)) and a great sense of respect for the young horse who did not falter all day. Redford will do it again. And rumor has it that Rusty will, too!
Kevin Myers
