Contrasts: Bryce 2008

Far and Redford were not very well prepared for Bryce, so I was not very motivated to make the trip. I'm glad I went.

The drive up through Flagstaff is always nice because the temperature drops so quickly. I stopped for gas before heading north into the wilderness south of Page, then west to Kanab and north past the Mt. Carmel base camp. I got to the Bryce base camp at 8,000 ft in just over eight hours.

Jim and Clydea had saved a spot to the north of camp, and I set up the two horses as the sun set. The pump had broken on the XP water truck, so it was a fair walk down a sand hill to get water - two buckets at a time.

I had originally planned to let the horses rest on Day 1, but the weather forecast was not looking good for the last three days of the ride so I opted to ride Red on Day 1. I rode all day with Julia Lynn-Elias which is always such a pleasure. This day would be no exception. We walked and trotted and walked along the road out of camp. It was softer than the previous times I have been there because it had rained earlier in the week and then the road had been ploughed. Red was gentle and supple and smooth. He was such a pleasure to ride - like fresh warm butter, smooth and silky.

We climbed up and circled around, passing the future lunch stop site, then circled back around and began the big climbs up towards lunch. The atmosphere at the back of the pack is always so relaxed: there is nothing frantic about it. Lunch was at the end of a big climb back up the mountain. Our horses pulsed in easily, and I began the search for my crew bags. The search was fruitless for the first 30 minutes. I had packed in the dark the night before, and had forgotten that the bag was blue instead of red! Michael Elias did not ride and was generously helping people crew. He looked for the red crew bag with my name on it and could not find it. While Michael and Julia shared their horse supplies with Red, I walked around the site looking lost enough that many donated grain and hay.

We vetted through and left for the long trip down home when the one hour mark arrived. This was my third time to ride Day 1 at Bryce, and I have never really enjoyed the road that winds its way back down to camp: it seems endless. The road was as hard as ever, and we mostly walked rather than risk sore feet by trotting. We finished at about 6:00 PM after having started at 7:30. What a beautiful day it was. Red finished strong and happy.

I rode Far on Day 2. He was definitely wired, and he had to be held for me to mount. As we headed out of camp, his back stiffened and he gave me a couple of really good bucks. Yikes. I hooked up with fellow Canadian Shari MacFarlane. She was riding Rebecca Jancovich's Al Marah mare. We had a good ride together: Far was challenging to rate, but we took it easy and enjoyed the incredible trail up and along the red rocks that make Bryce so memorable. We continued on to the infamous Blue Fly trail that cuts along the side of the mountain and adds risk to the day. This was the site of the famous bee stings four years ago when some horses got loose and went missing. The footing throughout the morning was perfect - sandy at its softest points and firm to excellent at the worst.

Lunch was in a grassy field and was a welcome shady break from the mid-80s temperatures. Far ate his way through the lunch stop; we enjoyed XP sandwiches and iced tea. Stories flowed, horses came and went and the time to depart came much too soon. The ride back down the mountain to camp was mostly road; mostly hard footing and so mostly very slow for us. We got in at about 5:00 PM with horses that were as fresh as when they started. Far had been challening to rate, and his trot was as lofty as ever. But he is always forward with a positive outlook and so amazingly willing. He is the kind of horse that you really have to ride every springy step. And he is a rewarding horse to ride because his energy and attitide just never let up. He is probably the most athletic horse I've ever been on.

Annie and Dave are so generous and so funny. The dinner and ride meetings are a good chance to catch up with friends and enjoy the contrasts in humor between our ride managers. There was a fire burning in the park that forced Dave to change the route for Day 3. The management team was quick to redesign the route, and what a route it was. Much of it, apparently, was Day 5 trail. There was an abundance of climbing and dropping down into stunning canyons, then back up and around the rim and back down and up again. Such views to cherish and memorize for later. I rode alone and Far's energy and attitude flattened the elevation changes.

Far ate his way through lunch again - as gentle as a lamb and as hungry as a horse. He likes chestnuts and grays, so I set up a lunch spot under a tree near Kevin Waters' chestnut gelding who had arrived at lunch a few minutes before us. I laughed with Elfta, ate and drank, refilled my water bottles and set off onto the rocky road that would lead us down into the grassy valley towards camp.

Poor Far lost his mind on the way home - too eager to get back to camp and not focused enough on the job at hand. We had a rough and challenging ride home, finishing at about 4 PM. He would much rather have galloped all the way, and it was all I could do to hold him in, using the back of his neck to hold the reins and hence the bit in some semblance of control.

He could have gone on for another week - his recoveries are exceptional; his legs held up nicely and he ate and drank like a champ. I think he is a freak of nature. But duty called in the way of work obligations, and besides, a nasty front was moving in and was supposed to hang there for two days. We headed back down to the warmth od the Phoenix area valley to rest and get ready for the next ride.

Thank goodness for the XP rides. Next stop: Grand Canyon. Long live the XP! Can you say XP 2011...?