Last year I was fortunate enough to get a trip to CA to attend a seminar (we are permitted to attend a continuing education opportunity every year or so). It just so happened it started the Tues after Tevis (I know, I know . . . can you believe it?? WHAT a coincidence!) so I was able to take vacation prior to the seminar and check out Tevis. That's another whole long story that most have already heard/read but it was a fantastic experience--I was part of Pam and Don Bowen's crew and got to see both collect their buckles. So, this year, the Tevis bug was gnawing at me and I decided to go back out on my own dime to do more "recon" for a possible Tevis attempt of my own in the next few years. Since I live in FL and it's a 3000 mile trip across country, I wanted to fully get an idea of what it was all about before investing the time and money into such a trip.
Last year I had met up with Chip Jack from MN. She also was part of the Bowen's crew--we actually had decided to meet and hang out before getting roped in to working as crew. She "just so happened" to have arranged a vacation to visit a cousin around Tevis time. Hmmm, another interesting coincidence! I'm not sure what the Bowen's thought at first because we are both, er, a bit irrevalent, finding humor in just about everything. Hey, life is serious enough so I try to laugh whenever I can to not sit down and cry! We had planned to once again meet and hang out for the weekend. Initially we didn't have any set plans but soon found ourselves hooked up to help out 2 riders from east of the Rockies--Paul Sidio from Missouri and Ron Chapman from Tennessee. Little did we know the celebrity status of our 2 riders! So my plan was to fly into Sacramento on Weds, pick up a rental car, drive to Auburn for the BBQ and meet up with Paul and Ron (they were basing out of Reno at Dovie Pickering's place; she filled out our crew of 3). I was just going to car camp Weds and Thurs night and wait for Chip to arrive Fri morning before driving up to Robie Park. I thought I'd hike some trails on Thurs and do some more scouting around the area to get a better feel for the place.
The end part of my flight took us over Lake Tahoe and then over the mountains and ridge that the Tevis trail took. It was quite awesome to look down and think that in a few days, close to 200 horses would be challenging that terrain. During my flight I once again read the book "The Tevis Cup" by Maryne Langer. It was the third time that I've read it and it helped remind my why this ride has a mystical quality to it.
When I finally got to Auburn, I stopped by the Auburn Running Company. I wanted a pair of trail running shoes and what better place to get a pair than Auburn, the endurance capital of the world? There I ran into Laura Hayes who I've run into on the FL trails in the past. I turned and looked and there was Gary Hall who was escorting Laura around that day. I'd stayed at the Halls last year after Tevis so it was great seeing him there. He said Don Bowen was on his way up from Malibu and would be at the BBQ that evening. I knew Don was supposed to be working at the ride this year and had hoped to find him but this was going to make it a lot easier. It's funny how you can run into people you know in some of the most unexpected places. I emerged from the store with a pair of shoes and a few other items. Dan, the owner of the store, was great and I strongly recommend going to his store if you are in Auburn and are a runner or even a rider as he carries some items that even a rider would want.
I got to the fairgrounds and found Paul quite easily thanks to photos of him on the Old Dominion website from his 100 mile ride there in June. Ron was also there so we all got acquainted and made some preliminary plans. Don finally made it--we won't discuss how fast he must have driven to make it to Auburn in time for the BBQ from Malibu after leaving there around noon! Judy Hall was also there and once she found out my plans to car camp, insisted I come up to their place in Michigan Bluff. Ah, twist my arm!! I love their place--it's very quiet and relaxing there and I had no problems sleeping on their couch last year, listening to the birds outside.
On Thurs, after breakfast at a Foresthill restaurant, Don had a mission to do. We drove up to Robinson Flat and then took Soda Springs Road to the Red Star Ridge vet check and then 1 mile beyond that. "Road" is a term I'd use loosely here--yeah, there was a road of sorts but it's not one you'd want to take a car down (Don had Pam's Jeep). It was very rough with lots of rocks on it. I was glad I saw it because now I know to add concussion conditioning to my schedule. While on paper it looks like you could make up time from Red Star to Robinson Flat, it's not a road I'd want to fly down.
After a break sitting on the porch at the Hall's in Michigan Bluff, watching the world go by (considering it's a dead end road on a bluff with few homes down it, not much happened!), we went for a "stroll" down El Dorado Canyon. At first, it was easy. About 1 mile from the top is a creek--Poor Man's Creek. It had water in it which was pretty good because it was very dry this year in that area. Silly me wanted to go all the way to the bottom so I could get a better understanding of the evil canyons. Down, down, down we hiked. It got steeper the closer we got to the bottom along with hotter and stuffier. Finally we reached the bottom. The small bridge there is high over the creek--the walls of the canyon are too high to get to the creek from the trail. But, as Don showed me, after you cross the river during the ride, there's a trail that cuts to the right and about 50-75 feet along that trail is another little feeder creek that you can get into and cool your horses. That was worth knowing and I wouldn't have learned that secret had I not hiked to the bottom. But, what goes down into a canyon must come up. I thought it got steeper as we got closer to the bottom and on the climb out, I KNEW it did. Wow! It was quite the workout. My legs and gluts were screaming along with my lungs as I huffed and puffed up towards Michigan Bluff. Where were those relatively flat/level sections I had commented on during the hike down?? Who moved them?!?! And to make things worse, there was Don, easily striding along as I struggled behind him. He decided to get behind me and prod me along to keep me moving. He should have carried a cattle prod to make it easier! I started contemplating what I could do about the struggles I was having. The thought of just going back to the creek and camping there until Saturday crossed my mind. I could then tail out when the horses came through!! Genius!! But I kept moving on, wondering whose brilliant idea it was to go all the way to the bottom. We had to stop several times in the first mile or so from the bottom. I claimed I was enjoying the view but Don wasn't buying it. As we neared Dead Man's Creek (I decided to rename it on the climb up out of the canyon!), it did get easier as the trail was less steep with a gentler grade. Finally we made it to the top. I felt it for days afterwards but it was worth the pain (so I repeated time and time again whenever I felt the tightness in my hips).
Judy cooked a great dinner complete with fresh vegetables from her garden. It was a great end to a fun day. Needless to say, I slept well that night!
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