Hallowed Weenies 2010

I've kept it pretty quiet since (very quickly) being talked into the whole idea, but now that it's over and done with, I can come out and say it. Jasper and I did our first 75 this last weekend at the Hallowed Weenies ride in the Owyhee mountains of Idaho.

Since I'm still recovering from the ride, I'm not sure yet if I'll do an entire recap. I'm tired and the season's over and I've got about a billion things to do that have been sitting on the backburner since the season began. It's been a wonderful, fabulous, momentous season, and I'm a little sad to see it gone. At the same time, the weekends have suddenly opened up and I can now focus on tackling some projects around the house in time for the holidays. Whew!

The ride was long but fabulously fun. Once again, I rode with my bestest friend and favorite riding buddy, Amanda. Our horses seem well matched despite the fact Jasper makes nasty faces at her the entire time. I would have thought at the end of a 75 mile ride he'd have given it all up (especially since they'd ridden together 150 miles at Canyonlands), but no, he never quit.

The weather cooperated mostly--it was chilly for the morning but then calmed into a nice, balmy and cloudy 55 degrees for the remainder of the day. The trails were very well marked, and we traveled some beautiful country--windcaves, canyons, beautiful leaves and fall colors.

Coming in after the third loop. Jasper is a dalmation and I am a firefighter.

The most interesting part of the ride came on the last loop. Amanda and I set out at a canter, racing the quickly setting sun for the final 12 (ha!) miles of the day. Our horses felt great, I switched Jasper into the hackamore and we were able to make really good time. The trail wound around and crossed the freeway before meeting up with a gravel road. We didn't realize it at first, but we were to stay on the road until we met up with the freeway again. We'd been sure we'd have to cut back at some point, and the quickly wavering light made us more than a little anxious. That mile and a half of riding in near darkness from ribbon to ribbon on that road was a little hairy, but we eventually realized we stayed on the road until we crossed the freeway. At the other side, we found water tanks, but the trail was unmarked with glowsticks. I brought out my headlamp and we reviewed the map over and over, unsure of which direction to go. It was completely pitch black, and after a false start in the wrong direction, we fought back panic and returned to the water tanks. Within seconds, we heard the two-stroke engine of a four-wheeler, and a ghostly greenish glowing cube approached. I called out, and heard a reply. The four-wheeler was John Teeter--no headlight on the vehicle and the white box of cracked glowsticks loomed eerily above the ground. He acted as fearless leader and showed us the trail, dropping glowsticks as he drove ahead. If we had realized how close we actually were at that time, I doubt we would have been so panicked.

His cute dalmation ears were squished under the fly mask. Boo.

At the finish, we did our final vetting in a lit indoor arena while a sizeable crowd enjoyed dinner and listened to the ride meeting for the next day's trail. It was a wonderful feeling trotting Jasper out in front of a cheering crowd, and he seemed to feed off the energy. Walking back to the trailer in the dark, I got a little misty thinking of all we'd been through this season. What a perfect finish to a wonderful year.