20 mule team 35/65/100 February 04
A whole lot of wild things going on!
The 23rd annual 20 Mule Team 35/65/100 desert ride took place on Valentine’s day in beautiful Ridgecrest, California. Maybe the calendar got confused, and it was really Halloween? That might explain some of the wacky things that happened on my ride! I have done this ride a few times; the 65 once before and the 100 five times, and not in all those rides did I see so much action as I did this time.
The drive down from the Bay Area to the Dez was uneventful and plush, thanks to the new Pony Tug. We only brought Wabi down with us in the trailer, since once again, I got to ride the amazing Zayante. I’ve already got 300 miles on him so far this year- what a guy. And speaking of the trailer, if it’s not one thing, it’s always another. Now that I get my not-enough-truck problem solved with the new Ford, it turns out I am overusing my trailer as well. This is something I never really thought much about, but now I do, and I suggest everyone do some basic weight calculations on your trailers. You might be surprised! My Logan 2 horse has a GVWR of 7000 pounds, meaning that’s the total load you can carry, including horses, stuff, and the weight of the trailer. Seems like enough? Nope! The thing weighs 3800 pounds from the factory. Add in 2000 pounds for horses, and that leaves only 1200 pounds! Cripes! 50 gals of water, my portable corral set, my generator and 2 big bales of hay and I’m at the limit! And I still have another 1000 pounds of stuff in there! How do I know? We weighed the thing. How about the axles are bending! I can’t seem to win.
But I digress- back to the ride. I chose to do the 65 rather than the 100, since Zay is getting up there in age, and that’s better for him. I also got to ride with my wife Judy on Wabi, as well as fellow NorCal’er Laura Fend on Smokey. Laura’s hubby Gary was down to crew for us- what a pal. I still need to figure out a way to even the score and plop Gary into a lake or small body of water somewhere, but that’s another story. Our group was rounded out with Bridgeport locals Gretchen M-O-N-T-G-O-M-E-R-Y (long last name, she just got married and used to be Gretchen Sam) riding Rafique, and Susan Peters on Jackie’s young horse Scud. Our four rider team was called the “Token Chestnut Team”, since Judy, Laura, and I were all on grays, but our fourth, Meri Meilde was on Robert Ribley’s big Chestnut Quigly. We went out on a nice long warm up ride on Friday that was totally uneventful. Friday night was nice and cold, but the camper is nice and warm! Lots of ice in the morning, including the water faucets at the fairgrounds. The 100 miler’s took off at 6 am, we on the 65 got to sleep in a bit and head out at 7, a very fine and downright civilized time to start a ride. We left camp about 5 minutes after the start, wanting to be in the rear and being in absolutely no hurry. Scud was acting up a bit, so we walked for the first mile or so, that took a while. He was heading towards home, and when he made the right turn that heads in that direction, he got stupid. Really stupid. He started bucking, but Susan held her ground and got him calmed down. We put him behind Zayante, since that’s where he spent the last 100 endurance miles he has done. That worked for about 30 seconds. I didn’t see it, but I heard it! Scud launched Susan, who gracefully flew through the air and fell to the earth with a pretty good thud. Okay, she’s all right, but what does Scud do? Yep he’s not named after a missile for nothing! He takes off towards home, riderless, at Mach one, and of course the other four horses start to go nuts. As do the poor horses on the trail ahead that Scud passes at a flat out run! It’s rodeo time! Susan gets up, dusts herself off, and starts walking. Gretchen and I go the mile or so ahead to find the horse, we arrive at Jackie’s and he’s not there! Uh oh, not good. Oh, there he is, out in the back corner, on the outside of the ranch, with his reins all tangled up in the fence. We get him untangled and the reins working, then Gretchen, I think, asks Susan what she is going to do. She mutters something under her breath and in her very cool English accent, she replies that she’s “getting back on the Bastard and going on!” That’s the attitude! We walked a while on foot until we got away from the ranch, Susan mounts up and off we go, again. I look at my GPS- it’s almost 8am, and we have gone 3.1 miles. We’re off to a blazing start.
We hit the desert and started trotting; our little herd of five horses wound our way up the little valley past the college. The trail was changed this year, and it was a little easier to get over the first little set of hills. Down the other side was really neat- a virgin trail through the desert that took us down towards Highway 395. I was leading the group while we trotted along the superb trail; way down in the distance I could see the cars heading south on the highway, but what’s that? Yes, it’s a grey horse, with a saddle, and no rider, and it is running south on Highway 395! Oh man, this is REALLY not good. We shouted and whistled, but were way too far away for the horse to hear or notice us. We watched helplessly as the horse cantered down the highway to the south, not slowing for anything. The good news was there were cars in front of the horse blocking for it with their lights flashing, warning the northbound cars about the upcoming danger. Thank goodness it was daylight! I saw a pickup with a vet pack trying several times to get ahead of the horse and cut it off, and try to push it into the desert, but to no avail. We debated a while about what to do; should we follow it, go on, split up, what? By now the horse was 2-3 miles down the road. There were cars following it, and it was heading for the LD vet check down the highway. We went on, wondering what in the heck had happened. We came across the great horse catcher Tony Benedetti, with his wife Terry, coming the other way looking for the lost horse. They were expecting the worst. We crossed the highway, carefully, and headed down to the water stop at what would be vet check 3 in the afternoon. Judy was leading our group on Wabi when she discovered what happened to the runaway horse the hard way! Wabi was trotting along nicely, and a hundred feet from the check, suddenly he sees the demon- the full size car battery sitting at the base of a bush right around a turn. Wabi saw it and just stopped hard- he planted his feet, causing Judy to loose her balance and topple off the side. She hit the ground with a very soft thud, since it was nice soft sand, and they were not moving. Wabi wasn’t scared, until he saw Judy flop down onto the ground next to him, but not on her feet! He ran three steps, then stopped, and came right back to her. What a good boy! Judy dusts herself off as we walk into the check, and there’s Sharon Westergard- she was the one who lost the horse we saw running. The EXACT same thing happened to her as to Judy- the horse saw the battery and spooked, but after Sharon came off, her horse took off for parts South! I picked up the stupid battery and carried it to the check and away from the trail. We told Sharon what we knew, she hopped in a waiting truck to go after the horse. The good news is they did catch the horse, it ran to where the vet check was, probably 5 miles down the highway, and some campers caught it. Sharon elected to pull after all that; no one can blame her.
What a morning! We have only gone 8 miles, and we have two riders from our group on the ground, a runaway horse stuck in a fence, a runaway horse who was running away towards Los Angeles, and it’s nine am already! We better get moving.
The trail heads through the desert to a water stop at an old trestle, then it’s a rocky couple of miles and more desert to the first vet check. Whew! We made it there without incident, and everyone pulsed down right away. After a fifteen minute hold we were on our way again, heading up around the beautiful Black Mountain wilderness area. The trail is nice in spots, it’s rocky in others, but not bad. It’s slow going around the mountain, until we get to some nicer roads. We saw a few dirt bikes coming down the road before we got to it, so we were on our guard. We had to climb a small hill, and just as we start up, down comes a bike and a quad. Uh oh! They were cool, though, and stopped for us after braking hard on the downhill. A couple of miles later we get to the water stop where the horses drink big time. As we headed out, we could see many dirt bikes, quads, dune buggies, and trucks all over the place. It was a big weekend in the desert for off roading with the President’s day holiday. We worked our way around the old mines and sand washes for a couple of miles before making it to the big long, sandy, flat road that leads to the lunch check at 35 miles. Down the road we go, but here comes the motorcycles. Good grief! It was like the Baja 500 was heading up the road at us, except most of these guys were rank beginners. Most would slow down for the horses, but a couple of real jerks always spoil it for everyone. These 2 squids, who absolutely don’t know how to ride a dirt bike in the sand, come wallowing up the road towards us, but have no clue what they are doing. Rather than stop for the horses, or even slow down, these guys are dragging both their feet on the ground, through the sand, trying to stabilize themselves. All that does is make the bike less stable, and break their ankles when they kick a rock, but these dopes don’t have a clue. They come up the road, wallowing back and forth across the two lanes, just about falling off, with their feet kicking up dust and sand, scaring the horses. They need to get their feet back on the pegs, get the weight off the front wheel, get on the power, and let the front wheel float through the sand. Oops- sorry, wrong sport.
After two or three miles of real “multi-use” trail activity, we made it to the vet check and lunch. We were at, how shall we say, the back of the pack? The check was pretty much cleaned out when we got there at 1:20 in the afternoon. Brian Reeves was there and efficiently got us all pulsed down at the same minute, treating us as if we were in the top ten. Gary was there, asleep in the camper, dreaming of exotic tropical vacations with palm trees, coconuts, hula girls….. Er, not really. He actually helped out Jackie by towing the port-a-potty out to the check, and working as the out timer all day. (Ask him about the return trip with the very full and “Leaky” port-a-potty! Oh dear me, the poor car behind him!) He served us all lunch while waiting for us to leave, so he could time us out. We headed out from lunch at 2:30, and started out down the 6.5 mile flat road to the East. Judy and Laura were playing around with Wabi and Smokey; they took off and cantered down the road for a bit, then waited, then did it some more. They were whooping and hollering, they were having so much fun. Those two horses were really willing to boogie! Good stuff. Wait, here comes a truck, up the road, at a hundred miles an hour! Just Kidding. It was the infamous John Teeter, who was working the ride as a self proclaimed “water boy.” He was wallowing up the sandy road in his water laden Ford. We waved, he looked like he was having fun, but my instincts tell me he probably would rather have been riding. He sure takes some nice photos on the trail, doesn’t he? While Judy and Laura played the Lone Ranger and Tonto, the rest of us just slowly trotted down the road to the next water, where we took a break and let the horses eat a while. We caught up to Meri, the “Token Chestnut” team was all together again! The trail winds around through the desert on some roads and washes, then through a few rocks, then after a few miles ends back up at what was the first check for a water and food break. The Sun was beginning to get low in the sky as we headed on, now going cross country once again back towards the trestle and more water. (Lots of water on this ride, and the tanks were always full. Thanks John!) We all put our jackets back on, it was here this morning where we all took them off. Our little herd trotted slowly across the desert, heading for the 3rd vet check near the highway crossing, the site of much excitement earlier in the day. We all pulsed down fine, but Scud was a little lame in the front, and darn it, Rafique is a little off in the back end. Super vet Charlie looks at the two horses for a while, and suggests Susan and Gretchen walk in and see how they look at the finish. Charlie makes a cool observation- he tells me Zayante looks really good, he can’t believe this horse. I agree! Judy, Laura, and I leave our two buddies behind as we trot out of the check, back over to the highway crossing. The sun is going down now; the desert is absolutely gorgeous as the darkness rolls down across the valley. We head back up the nice trail, climbing slightly, looking for the glow bars. Where are the glow bars? I knew exactly where we were, but there could have been a few more out here, especially at turns. There was zero moon, making it a little hard on some people throughout the night. We crested the little summit and headed down towards town; the lights of Ridgecrest in front of you make it really impossible to see anything. The horses know where they are going, and the single road is pretty easy to follow. We mostly walked down the valley, trotting here and there. As we reached the college, we hear two horses come up from behind us. It’s Joyce Souza and Nicole Weir, leading the 100 and about to finish, just flying down the trail in the dark, but very careful as they passed us. As they came up on us in the dark, I think I heard Joyce say:” Are those horses up there? I can’t see a thing!” It was pretty dark. We made it to the outskirts of town, then trotted down the dirt streets the last 3 miles to the finish, making it in at 7:30, for a ride time of 11 hours. Major bummer for Joyce- her horse was off at the finish, as a result she didn’t get a completion. Susan and Gretchen eventually made it in, and the walk did the horses a lot of good; they both looked much better at the finish and both got completions.
And what of “Team Token Chestnut?” We all finished at the same time, but shouldn’t we get a prize for last team? Very cool news for Jamie Kerr- he finished his first 100, on his third attempt, and got the BC award! He rode one of Crockett Dumas’s horses and had a ball. Wendy Lumpert won the 65 and got BC as well. Karen Chaton finished the 100 on her newish horse Chief, it was his first 100; she was all smiles! We heard she had some adventures trying to make it to the finish line early in the morning, and actually did the 20 Mule Team 110. The AERC won’t recognize those extra miles, but we all know he did it!
And what of Zayante? The old coot just keeps doing his thing. He finished looking great, as always, and didn’t spook much during the ride. That gives me 365 miles on him so far this year already, and it puts his career total at 11,715. Here’s another one- he has finished his last 42 rides in a row. There’s not much to say about this horse except wow! Wabi looked great after the ride, as did Smokey. This ride started out being an adventure, but heck, that’s what the sport is all about, right?
Nick Warhol
Hayward, Ca.