My 2008 Death Valley Encounter, Day 1

My 2008 Death Valley Encounter

by Karen Chaton

Day 1

I have had so many terrific rides at DVE over the years and this year was certainly no exception. I was actually already well on my way to becoming ill at the DVE the year before and even though I’m not yet 100% I think that I came through this ride in better shape than I have at any ride in the last year. I was pretty ecstatic with the results and that I was able to ride all four days on Granite Chief and Pro Bono. In a lot of ways this ride marked a turning point in my life and was a great way for me to start 2009 in a positive way.

Getting to camp and riding the first day…

Getting to the ride in Ridgecrest from Northern Nevada was a bit of an adventure in itself due to snowstorms in the Sierras. It didn’t really snow all year where we live until Christmas day. We ended up going around through Hawthorne and coming over Montgomery Pass into Bishop. It made for a longer, but safe trip and we were happy to arrive at the new basecamp in the dark just after 7 p.m. and find a spot to park. Which was easy since there was so much room!

The next day Dave left to go down to SoCal to visit his ailing father while I stayed in camp to take care of the two horses. My dad showed up to help out and hang out for the ride. A few of us went out to a nice Mexican dinner in Ridgecrest the night before the ride so I missed the ride meeting. I figured that would be allright as I had proof-read the map for the next day and knew the trail would be pretty similar to the previous year. When proofing maps the topic of discussion invariably goes to just how smart the riders are. Just how detailed and anal do you really have to get with the maps and instructions anyway?

I was excited to get up the morning before the ride start. I was riding Chief on the first day and was all tacked up and ready to go before the start. Sue Benson and her horse Rocky were camped next to me and they were also ready to go. It was a little cold but not too bad and I had on my winter tights and layered on top so was comfortable. It was nice to have help from Dave (who was now back from visiting his dad) and my dad. We worked great as a team and Chief has probably never been tacked up and booted on all four feet so quickly!

The trail starts out on pretty good footing that winds up and down some mild hills and around towards the town of Johannesburg (Joburg). It is a pretty neat place and we get to ride right through the center of it.

After Joburg we start to do a bit of climbing here and there and on occasion there are a few rocks but mostly the footing is excellent. The trail definitely lends itself to moving out if that is what you want to do. Though you do have to be careful as the desert can deceive – the gradual climbs can take their toll on a horse if you aren’t careful.

Before we knew it we had reached the first vet check (which was also the lunch hour hold vet check) which was a trot by with the Duck and Melissa Ribley.  Everybody was friendly and cheerful and in a good mood.  It was great to see Brian and Ken from Trona – they come every year to help at this ride and are I always enjoy getting to see them.

Sue and I decided to get our crewbags set up and let the horses eat for a few minutes even though there was no hold time. This way when we came back in to this same check for our hour hold after doing the next loop everything would already be set up, plus it sure didn’t hurt the horses to get to refuel a little at this point. We continued out of the check and this is where it paid to really pay attention to the maps and directions – several riders missed an important turn and did the loop in reverse. Fortunately we got turned around right away as we also were headed the wrong way because we were following riders in front (doh!). Soon we were passed up by several riders who were catching back up to us and now going the correct direction.  I didn’t feel so bad about only barely missing the turn when I saw who the other riders were who had missed the turn.  (haha, I won’t name any names)

I was feeling pretty good and glad for all of those Curves workouts to help get my muscle tone back. It was really paying off. So were all of the conditioning rides that I’d been doing on both horses leading up to the ride. Chief was being pretty good too. Still, I stayed on the horse a lot more than normal because I knew I was going to need to conserve my energy in order to make it through the entire four days of the ride.

I really like this loop that takes us up and around Telescope Peak and then by the Apache Mine. We do a good amount of climbing. The weather was beautiful – sunny blue sky and temps in the 50’s and on occasion a slight breeze which made it just perfect for the horses (especially mine and Sue’s who have pretty good winter coats on them). The footing on the downhill side was really nice and before long we made it to the far point of the loop where there was a little bit of technical trail and we dropped down into a rocky canyon that had a creek which was mostly frozen over. It is a beautiful area with the rock formations. I wasn’t sure exactly how frozen the creek was, so I got off and led Chief through it. He did great walking over the ice with his Renegade boots on and I stopped now and then to let him grab a bite of grass before getting back on.

Now we had a lot of easy trotting and kept moving pretty good all the way back to the lunch vetcheck and the neat little canyon that goes past more mining operations and the dry lake bed that was our camp from the year before. Chief ate like a champ and quickly cleaned up all of the grain that I brought for him since I had let him eat some of it the first time though – no problem, he just simply went to work bumming off of others (one benefit of being mid to back of the pack, there are always piles of feed left from earlier riders). I made a note to pack even more Omolene in my crewbag for next time. We vetted through without any issues after the obligatory 30 minute wait that is common on Duck rides. During lunch I took the time to check Chief’s hooves and his Renegade boots and was happy to see how well everything was working. They are open in the back so even if sand and debris get in, it comes back out. I was finding relief in the fact that I could just strap these hoof boots on and not have to worry about them – no rubs and I didn’t have to make any modifications (no duct tape or vetwrap required!). Yay!

The trail back to camp from lunch was really nice. Gradual climbs through sandy and nearly perfect footing in washes through sagebrush and desert fauna. I was having such a good time on Chief that I decided that I wanted to ride him the next day too because I only needed one more day to reach 22,000 lifetime miles. It just felt more right to ride Chief instead of Bo since I’ve been riding Cheefy for so long now. He was having a great ride and even with his winter coat and warm weather his recoveries were better than they have ever been. Plus he was eating and drinking extremely well and had plenty of energy and his usual positive attitude. I think that is why I enjoy riding him so much even when he can be a handful. Actually once I can get him going in a nice pace, riding him is so easy.

Sue and I made it into camp just before it got dark and just ahead of several other riders. Which worked out well as we were the first to get to vet through and then I was done for the day – yay! Well, done riding anyway. Now it was time to go get the horse cleaned up and taken care of, and I could kick back and visit with everyone. Dave didn’t even mind taking Chief’s Renegade boots off and commented about how easy they were. Again, I was happy to see how clean the boots were inside in spite of all of the sand we had gone through. Chief’s boots were holding up well and now had four 50’s on them plus another 250 to 300 miles in training for a total of around 450 to 500 miles.

One thing you can say about an endurance ride camp is that everybody there helps everybody else out. It is so nice to be back rides again and get to observe all of these goings on. Everybody helps everybody else out – fixing this, fixing that, holding horses, getting water, doing whatever it takes to get the job done.

Time to start getting ready for the 2nd day of the ride….I entered my entry card into the box for Chief. I had to admit to being a little giddy of the prospect of riding him the next day which was point to point and hopefully reaching my next mileage milestone.

To be continued…

More on the 2008 DVE ride:

Day 1 Death Valley Encounter Photo Album

Kevin Myers Ride Report

Lucy’s Ride Report

Don & Pam Bown Ride Report

Steve Bradley’s Photos

Endurance.Net info on the 2008 DVE Ride

Sunrise Ranch Rides and 2008 Results (in .pdf)