Death Valley Encounter, 2000

Nick Warhol

 

            The 2000 version of the Death Valley Encounter multiday ride was a little more special for me this year, due to the fact I got to extend my trip down south to include Christmas at my parents house, with a special bonus of attending my brother’s wedding on Christmas eve. It was also special for Judy as well, since Warpaint had the chance of being the first horse (that Jackie knows of) to complete 1000 miles at the DVE.  As a tribute to him, and since the DVE is one of my two favorite rides, (Tevis, of course!) I created a new ongoing ride award for any horse (not rider) that accumulates 1000 miles at this ride.  It is called the “Nachi Sunshine, 1000 DVE lifetime mile award.”   Every horse that accomplishes this feat will get a blanket with the award name and the horses name on it.  Would Warpaint make it?  Read on.

Judy and I drove all the way down to Palos Verdes and dropped Warpaint off at an incredible stable called the Portuguese Bend Riding Club.   Very nice accommodations for the horses, and what service!  Definitely much more pizzazz than Warpaint is used to seeing.   We only had the Appy along, since I was riding Zayante in the ride again this year, same as last.  I took the spotted wonder out on the trails of the PV peninsula a couple of times before Christmas to keep him limbered up.  There are some spectacular views of Catalina and the Pacific Ocean from that hill.  It was strange riding around in the Portuguese Bend landslide area, where years ago there were many houses and neighborhoods.  The land started moving, and, well, there goes the neighborhood, as they say.  You come across old foundations, streets, sewers and sidewalks in the middle of the hills.  It’s sort of like riding in a ghost town. ( A side note- there was this long, moderately uphill, single track trail that two women, on big arena horses, were waiting to ride down as I started up.  We trotted quickly to the top, where they were absolutely shocked that we had trotted up the trail. “He’s not even breathing hard!” was the comment.  They were impressed by the fitness of the horse, and this little hill was not even enough to get him warmed up.)  

            After being best man and really enjoying my brother’s wedding, (he’s 18 months younger than me, and 3 inches taller.  I’ve still never forgiven him for that), we headed out to Ridgecrest the day after Christmas, on a drive that should have taken 3 hours or so.  8 hours later we rolled into the high desert town, irritated beyond belief at the stupid southern California freeways.  Road construction, closed lanes, closed freeways, holiday traffic: it all led to a terrible trip.   We ended up getting re-routed through Barstow to get to Ridgecrest due to some accident that closed Highway 395.  Judy kept trying to comfort me by saying “Hey, it could be worse.  At least we didn’t break down.”  (Brian and Val dropped a U-joint on Brian’s truck on the way to Las Vegas in November, causing him much damage and $$ due to a flailing drive shaft that took out gas tanks, fuel lines, everything but the rear axle!)   We spent the night at Jackie’s place in the freezing cold desert weather.  The water buckets froze so much the horses could not drink.  Thanks to wonderful, toasty, warm campers we didn’t care.  Ken Cook was sleeping in his trailer without heat.  Sleep?  I doubt it.  We picked up my buddy, Zayante the wonder horse and headed out to the start at Trona.  What a turnout!  There were more rigs than I’ve seen in the seven or whatever times we have been at this ride.  It was packed.  We got settled in a nice spot and started our preparations, had dinner, and went to turn on the hot water heater for a nice, warm shower before bed.  Uh-oh.  The camper’s water heater was sort of falling out of the camper.  The metal mounting tabs were torn off, making the thing flop around like a mackerel stuck on a sand bar.  And it was leaking to boot.  Great.  I was going to replace it anyway, since lighting the stupid thing recently was gambling with your life, or the very least, the loss of all facial hair.  The pilot light assembly had gone to pot, causing a fiery blowtorch or flamethrower scenario when you turned it on.  (I got proficient at lighting it from around the corner of the camper)  I was able to get it lit, but then found the camper’s water pump was refusing to pump water.  It sounded like a big truck’s jake brake, resonating through the camper.  We did get to take showers, but the term “navy shower” was never truer.  You could have filled up a squirt gun with warm water and had the same effect.  Time for some camper maintenance!

            Day one started out nice and cold, although not as cold as it was in Ridgecrest.  Zayante and I left about 10 minutes after the start, not in any hurry at all.  Judy and Warpaint started out even later, since it is so much easier for her to either start first, or last.  Zay was his normal self- in a hurry and happy to be out there.  We trucked along with a few different people, but for the most part rode by ourselves for the few miles.  It was really dusty from all the horses and the super dry desert.  In no time people were shedding layers of clothes like so many lizards.  I caught up to Robert and Melissa Ribley and rode with them for a while, getting to watch a mule pitch its rider off in a fit of Muleism.  The rider got up, dusted himself off, climbed back on, and started out again.   Jackie took us off the old chewed up cross country trail and had us go down a nice soft road- much better!   We trotted into lunch at a good clip, maybe a little too quickly.  Zayante had tripped on his rear feet a few times too many for my taste, something I had not felt him do before.  We got in and passed P&R immediately, (700 miles on this horse and I have NEVER waited for a P&R. He’s the best!)  but the vet did not like what he saw in the rear.  Zay does have some arthritis and stuff going on in the back, but he was looking like his normal self.  We got pulled- I was disappointed, but we would see how he looked later on.   Back to the truck and bummed out, I helped our friend Carolyn Stark with her horse Echo when they came in.  Carolyn and Joe had come all the way from Texas to do the ride, it was to be their first multi-day ever.  Echo looked fine, and passed the vet okay, but he kept trying to pee, and would only pee a little squirt.  This was concerning to Carolyn, so she waited a couple of hours, and eventually pulled him.  She wanted to ride day 2, so she would watch the horse.   Here comes Judy and Warpaint, but Judy is not smiling.  Warpaint lost a shoe not far from the start and has an easy boot on, but it has a lot of sand in it.  He is tender on the foot, but not too bad.  She waits his hour, trots him again- ouch!  He is done for the day.   Great.  Zero for three, between Carolyn, Judy, and me.   Oh well- at least we didn’t need a driver.  The good news was that Zayante looked fine, even after only an hour or so.  He must have just tweaked something.  That was encouraging- we would see how he looked on the next morning.

            The next morning- he looked fine.  The vet said “yep, he looks fine.  Go ahead and start.”  We did, as did Carolyn.  Warpaint was still off, so Judy hung in camp.  Carolyn and I set out on day two, the big climb.  We would get to go to the top of Death Valley, up and over Rogers Pass, at 8000 feet or something.  It is an amazing ride- you go up for about 12 miles to the top of the world, down across a short meadow, (that is stunning- you HAVE to see this meadow), then down 12 miles the way you came up.  It is slow going in the rocks- you have to just be patient and take it easy.  Up on top I stopped to help a lady remove a rock from her horse’s foot.  She said it was really stuck in there.  She wasn’t kidding!  It took me a couple of minutes to extract it, even with hoof picks.  I ended up pounding it out with other rocks.  Sparrow was up there on the top of the mountain with water again this year, after missing last year’s ride.  He had a new truck- it is still hard to believe that he just drives that thing up there.  I led Zay all the way back down on foot from the bath tub water stop, about 7 miles or so.  The canyon is incredible- old mines are everywhere, but the mess that man can make is depressing sometimes.  This crazy canyon turns into a river for a while at the bottom, which is really weird, since this is the deepest desert.  Okay, for Judy’s sake, I’ll explain again.  I grew up in the desert, where “river” has a different connotation.   In the desert, moist ground is considered a creek, standing water is a stream, and if there is water flowing, at all, it is a river.   The Mississippi, it ain’t, but it made my shoes soaked, qualifying it as a river.   I was paranoid the whole way back down, making sure the white horse I was on was doing okay.  He felt fine to me, like he always did, but I was none the less worried about the vet check.  No problem- Zay was his normal self, much to the relief of his mom, Jackie, and me.   Yippiee!  Echo was fine as well, so after a much happier lunch, Carolyn and I set out on the 7 mile flat jaunt to Indian Ranch, where we had some water, and then returned to the finish.  Zay was fine- I was quite happy, since that meant I could go on the next day.  Carolyn and Echo finished fine as well.  We retired to the wonderful camper, had a nice dinner, took another dribbling but warm shower,  got ready for the next day, and went to the riders meeting where we collected out DVE beer glasses.  Jackie has a real theme going with the dishes stuff.  Becky Hackworth rode her new horse on this day, but pulled him at lunch since he was off.  Her daughter, Heather, was riding Mark, the horse Becky rode all four days last year.   She asked me if I would take Heather along tomorrow as a junior sponsor, I said sure.  Zay and Mark rode together a couple of the days last year and went along great together.

            Day three- up early in the cold again, Judy does not like the way Warpaint looks, so once again, she sits it out.  Carolyn elects to pass on day 3 as well, since she really wants to ride day 4.   Heather and I set out down the long road to Indian Ranch at a nice, slow, consistent trot.   We only stopped once at the water tank for a drink- it was great to just bop along at a slow trot.  Heather was jazzed- I don’t think she had ever trotted that far at one time before.  Mark is so cool- he is not affected by anything, it seems.  He just goes forward happily, at any pace, and what a walk!  Zay is a jigging machine when among other horses, but Mark just strides out.  Very nice.    For some reason Heather was wearing shorts, making her legs a fashionable purple color from the cold.  She’s a tough kid.  We headed up into the desert, through the rocks, riding off and on again with Tinker Hart and Ruthie Waltenspiel.   We caught up to Beth and Scott Wachenheim, who are in their preparations for the 2000 mile ride this summer.  Good luck, guys.   I want to be retired!  If I did that ride, I’d be in the hole for vacation time at work for four years.   We headed up into the hills, knowing where the turn was to head north.  I’ve ridden this trail for the past few years, and Heather marked it last year!  We knew where we were going.   We came across the leaders of the ride, coming back down the trail, not knowing where the turn was.  We took them to the trail- hey! We were leading!  For about a minute, anyway.   The herd flew down the trail, with Zayante sure he should be going with them.  What a guy.   We hooked up with Beth and Scott and rode down to the water stop at the highway crossing.  From here it was only a mile or so to the rocky road- this road is about 4 miles long, but it is just nasty rocky.  Not gravel, but a road made of rocks.  I hopped off and walked Zay all the way down.  Last year we went down a wash instead- I still prefer the road to walk down.   Mike Tracy on Moon came by again- we had been going back and forth with him all day.   We got to the highway water crossing where Alex had the magic candy jar- yumm!   We were getting ready to go, and here come two horses trotting up along side the highway.  Huh?  Where in the heck were they coming from?  They reported that there were horses lost everywhere out there, and that they had all just headed for the highway.  Wow.  They got their miles in, and some extra.  Up the nice desert at a trot, then we walked up the last couple of miles in the sand wash to the vet check.  Rebecca Jankovich passed on her monster-strong horse Moose in the wash- he looked great.  She reminded me that it was his first day, since one of Rebecca’s horses had been lost the night before the first day.  It was now 3 days later and still no horse.  She had spent the last 2 days looking, and was now going to ride.  (The good news is the horse was found after almost a week, in good health.)  It was hot going up this wash in the sun, Hetaher’s shorts were the right decision at this point. We got through the vet check just fine, Zay was doing great.  Judy was there with lunch and goodies- it was a nice treat to have the crew help there.  Heather and I were doing pretty well, by the very fact that we were one of the few who didn’t get lost.  We left the check with about 20 miles to go.  This part of day three is the best, by far.  The 3-mile or so downhill sandwash is a real blast!  It’s like someone designed it perfectly.  Trot in great footing for a few minutes, then stop and walk through the rocky sections, spaced just right.  Trot again, walk, more trotting- it is a neat trip down to the highway again.  More water, then the Death Valley trot-a-thon.  From this point it is about 7 miles of absolutely flat, straight, soft road to the last highway, then 4 miles from there to the finish.   I told Heather that I like to trot a long ways, so let me know if she wanted to stop.  NOT!   We started trotting at a nice, decent pace. Not fast, but moving along well.   I looked at my watch- we had trotted for 10 minutes and had passed 3 or 4 riders who had stopped on occasion.  20 minutes of trotting- we passed a few more.  We were making great time, just because we were not stopping.   Now it became a game.  How long could we trot?  Would Heather’s legs give out?  No chance.  She matched me post for post without effort.  25 minutes and going, then 30, and still going.  Now we could see the highway.  We were making bets on how many minutes it would be until we got there.  At 30 minutes I guessed it would be 40 when we got there.  It turns out we got there at 39 minutes and 30 seconds.   That was a lot of fun- Heather was pretty jazzed as well.  A water stop, and more trotting!  We crossed the highway and took it easy up the long climb to the finish.  I knew Zay was fine, but wondered about Mark.  No worries there.  We got to the finish, passing Dom Freeman and one of her Brazilian riders about 15 feet from the finish.   Mark was down to 48 when we got to the vet.  Hmmmm.  This is a good horse.  He’s nice and big, too, and can carry a middleweight, even a big middleweight, like me.  Hmmmmm.    Heather was quite pleased- she got first Junior at 12^th overall, I think.  Zay was great- I was looking forward to day 4, the prettiest day of the ride.

            Day four in Paniment Springs was warmer than the previous days.  I don’t know why, but it sure helped those poor souls without heat.  Judy decided to be sure about Warpaint, and after talking to Dave the Duck, who said Warpaint looked okay to start, she elected to not start once again.  She wants this guy to be sound, and given that I get to ride Tevis on him again this year, I applaud her decision!  I was taking Heather along again as well, plus Carolyn was riding again today.   The three of us rolled out of camp a few minutes after the big pack and started the long trot up the Darwin road.   We were going along at a nice pace, mostly riding with other people, passing some.   The climb up to the pass was moderately slow and quite cold due to the wind.   We hopped off at the top and per usual practice, I ran all the way to the bottom of the hill along side Zay.   Funny- I hate running by myself, but I don’t mind doing it with a horse.  Go figure.   The bottom of the hill dumps us into the neatest wash in the ride- a long, flat, really wide (like 100-300 feet) beauty that you can just sail down.  We trucked along, looking for the hidden water that’s here.  I know it is here, because I stopped there once, but try as I might, I couldn’t find it.  If only I had Gary Fend along, I would have been certain to find it.  If he were there, I’d have probably fallen into it and drowned.   The neat wash ends too quickly and puts you along side the paved road for a while, then its up and over the pass to Darwin.   We got to the top of the hill and started down, but someone had put the trail down a little shortcut that went down a step little trail a hundred feet or so.  I hopped off Zay and led him down it, got back on, and discovered to my horror that he was suddenly lame.   Not in the back, but in the front.  He was off, grade 3.  NUTS!  I limped the quarter mile or so to the water stop and had Dave look at him.  I didn’t need to do that, since it was so obvious.  That was it for my ride.  I passed Heather to Carolyn and sent them on their way while I looked for a ride back to camp.  A nice guy from Arizona (sorry- I forgot your name) who was crewing for his wife gave me a ride back to camp in their brand new Dodge truck.  It was deluxe.    I grabbed my rig and went back out to Darwin to fetch my injured champion.  Alex stayed there with him until I got back.  Back in camp, a shower, and some ice and bute for the horse made me feel better.  Judy got back from the vet check and reported that Carolyn had elected to pull again.  She was just not satisfied with how Echo was feeling.   We had a nice lunch in the restaurant and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon.  We went to the always-fun awards dinner and about fell over when we saw the food.  They were serving ribs.  Not ribs, but RIBS!  Remember on the Flintstones, when the ribs knock the car over at the drive through?  Yep- these would have done it.  It was kind of overkill, but it was fun watching people try and eat them.  You needed a band saw to get them apart.  We had all together too much champagne and wine at dinner and staggered off to bed.  New years?  We were asleep.

            We drove out early to drop my buddy off in Ridgecrest.  Zayante looked normal- I was pleased, since it looked like a minor tweak.  We headed for home and began yet another driving ordeal that included two minor incidents- the first was spending a few hours trying to get past the scene of a fatal car accident.  It was weird- the cars and everything were all cleaned up and gone by the time we got there.  All that remained was 2 cop cars and the body, sprawled out on the road, covered by a tarp.  I could see a shoe on a leg sticking out from under the tarp as we drove by.  Yuck.   Then to make it a complete trip, the automatic transmission in my truck gave up the ghost, as in burned up.  I lost third gear, then second as we got nearer home.  We were actually able to limp all the way to the house, but then it was off to the shop for a $2,200 rebuild.   Ouch!  Oh well- we were able to make it home without being stuck out there on highway 5.   All in all an interesting trip, but the ride was worth it for me, at least.  Judy will be back there next year.

 

Nick Warhol

Hayward, Ca.