First leg out of Ibapah

Hello, I wanted to send a report from the trail.

Here is a link to the Team 2 Utah photos I took, and you are welcome to use them.

We received the mail at 12:15am, and I was the first rider out, on Hawk, my big appaloosa. My husband, Larry, came along this year, as he enjoys the desert section of the Pony Express trail, so we stocked up on snacks, made up a bed in the back of the Sequoia, brought along Pippin our labrador pup, and two awesome horses (Tesla, a 21 year old half draft, black as night, and Hawk, a 14year old black appy, tall and leggy), and headed from SLC to Wendover. We gassed up there, and made it to Ibapah in time for a nice potluck with friends.  This is the 13th year I’ve run the Pony. Both Hawk and Tesla have run all of the Utah legs, and know what a mochilla means. They love to run. The horses were happy with vittles at the trailer, Pippin enjoyed the kids, and we thought we might catch a few zzzs before picking up the mail at 2am. Well, maybe not. The map app showed the rider an hour early, then an hour and a half early, and in it came, not much after 12am. Nevada did a great job.

It was cool and dark (very dark! no moon this year). We exchanged the mail, and as soon as I swung up on Hawk, he was very anxious to go, knowing he was getting a run. The rest of the Utah Team 2 was scrambling to get ready, we were all a little surprised at the speed it came in so we left in a bit of a scramble. I’m afraid Hawk and I may have contributed, by being a little too ready to go =)

Our first run was on the road out of Ibapah, towards the Pony Express trail. The pavement was really rough, with lots of dips and potholes, so the shadows cast by the truck behind us were pretty exciting. Hawk handled it great, though we did jump a few shadow caverns. We wore boots on this ride for the padding mostly. Traction wasn’t bad. Hawk was moving, it was a good ride. We passed the Mochilla to my friend, Kate Grygiel, rider #2, and her grey mare, Dancer, and off they went.

When we got into Callao, one of the delightful folks there had made cinnamon rolls and milk! What a wonderful treat in the middle of the night!  Our next ride was out of Callao, still on Hawk, because this ride was going to be a little more than 2 miles, and it was a fast ride on good dirt road footing.

Our next ride was a bit after Black Rock, as the sun was newly up, on Tesla, up a steep hill and down a steeper one. The footing was rocky, the down was a rougher ride.

Last ride, back on Hawk, was just before Simpson Springs, about 2.5 miles, so I didn’t ride him with the rest of the team into the station, but we joined in the group picture afterwards.

Thanks Patsy Lange for the arrangements, and our fellow riders for many a good exchange.

Cindy Furse, on Tesla and Hawk. 6-11-2023 Ibapah to Simpson Springs