Laurel Mountain XP Ride 2021

 The second best thing I've done in my life was getting my left hip replaced on November 16th, 2020.

The best thing was having the right one done in November 2013.

Now that I have a matching pair, I'm feeling a lot better in the saddle, and  put it to the test. February 4-6 I entered Laurel Mountain, a 3 day XP event, planning to ride days 1 and 3 and do the limited distance rides. 

Demon and I arrived in camp about 4pm on Wednesday afternoon. The wind was howling out of the South, putting the kibosh on my plan to park with the tail of the trailer to the South. I wanted to keep Demon and the camper door out of that wind. It was strong enough I almost couldn't open my truck door. I parked the trailer with the driver's side to the South, putting the Hi-Tie and camper door to the North. This way at least Demon wouldn't be battered by the wind and I wouldn't be trapped in the camper by it. As it was, the wind was so strong it found it's way through the cracks in the trailer and nearly kept the stove from running.

By 8pm the wind blessedly died down and we had an otherwise peaceful night in camp.

Settled in for the night

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, sign-in was accomplished by virtue of management having put out packets with entry cards, maps, and detailed information about the ride. There had also been an email a couple of days earlier with GPS tracks. I had successfully loaded those on my Garmin eTrex 20 so I'd have the tracks to follow. I took my day 1 card, filled it out, and entered us as planned for the 25 mile ride.

The ride start for the day 1 25 mile ride was 8:30am. Felt like phoning it in. I was up at 4am to feed a very demanding Demon. He's been doing this endurance thing long enough to have developed the understanding he's meant to have as much hay in front of him as he can possibly consume, and is to be provided food upon demand. He'd been pestering me for a while and I'd been ignoring him as best I could, but I finally tended to his desires. 

While waiting for start time, I wandered around camp a bit to see who was there and chatted with a few people before heading back for coffee and cereal for breakfast. I saddled up and we headed over to trot by before hitting the trail.

Demon was eager and super happy to be heading out. My only concern was how long it had been since he'd done much work. After Grand Canyon, we got home, I put him in his pen, I didn't ride him again until January 1st. He hadn't worked until then for 4 months, and the longest ride we'd done between then and Laurel Mountain was 7.5 miles. Not only was I concerned for his fitness, I was concerned for mine. Since the hip replacement in November, my left knee has been giving me fits, really making my life unnecessarily difficult. And I am definitely not yet to the point of mounting from the ground.

The first leg of the 25 is a fairly straight shot up the canyon toward the Laurel Mountain Golfball. I am not sure what, exactly, this structure really is. While it certainly *looks* like a golf ball on a tee, it is far too large for Earthly golf courses. My best guess, based on location and what's around it, is it's a radio tower of some kind.

We were trotting along on the gradual climb toward the mountain, and Demon was absolutely, 100% positive we were meant to be somewhere off to our left. He was trotting along looking ever so slightly left, and at any opportunity, he'd try to turn left. He even sort of stealthily drifted left, trying to head off into the desert in search of the trail he was absolutely certain his stupid human had missed.  But we finally made it up and around and climbed to the Golfball.

I hopped off when we reached the vet check and Demon, having not seen water in some 10 miles, promptly dragged me to the water tanks. Typically I can decently hold him back. That was not the case this day. It was all I could do to keep up well enough not to get literally dragged. At least my knee had not collapsed beneath me when I dismounted, as I had greatly feared it might.

The trot out after our hold must have been a sight to behold. I could just barely go fast enough for Demon to trot, and I limped the whole way. But we were cleared. I then realized I hadn't thought far enough ahead to getting back on after the hold. Fortunately Annie found a spare bucket and turned it over for me to get on with. I may have walked a long way before finding something of sufficient height to get me back on.

We walked the steep hill back down to the flats, then set up trotting again. I kept thinking he'd want a break, but he really didn't. He just kept right on trotting along. He even asked to canter, a request I happily obliged each time. He only stopped for water and when I pulled him down for some of the more technical downhill sections and some rocky stuff.

We got back to the road back toward camp and had to pass the gun range. This wasn't a big deal last year, but this year, some dude was firing off some heavy rifle and that was enough to spook Demon. I was able to keep him calm, but he definitely thought getting by there quickly was ideal. I obliged and we set off at a smart trot to leave that particular nonsense behind.

Before arriving at camp, we had to turn left back out into the desert for another 3 miles. Most horses, upon hitting this turn, the wind goes out of their sails and they really don't want to move out. Not Demon. He'd been gradually slowing as we approached camp. When I asked him for that left turn, he surged forward and headed back out into the desert at a smart trot. However, when we made the turn back toward camp on the trail we'd headed out on in the morning, he slowed to a walk. It took some prodding to get some trotting for at least another mile or so.

It's really funny having a horse who's disappointed to have the day over with.

Once back at camp, we unsaddled and settled in for a nice post ride rest.

Friday we had the day off and stayed quietly in camp as the other horses went out and back all day.

That afternoon, I went over the map for Saturday. I was contemplating the distance of the LD, and thinking about how I wasn't any worse off after 25 miles than I'd been at 12.5 miles, so if I was going to ride 35 miles on Saturday, I may as well ride 50.

I entered us in the 50.

Saturday's ride start was at 7am. I was again up by 4am to feed and water, and got my coffee going so I could lay down for a bit longer. We were saddled and ready to hit the trail after a quick trot by at 7am.

This was a pretty long, technical 35 mile loop to start the day. There's still plenty of jeep road with decent footing to make time on. There's also quite a bit of history in that part of the country. Old buildings from mining days gone by still stand, or at least partially stand, as nature slowly takes them back. These days it seems some of those old mining claims are being re-explored, as several old encampments along the Bonanza Trail are active once again. Much of those 35 miles are very scenic and interesting. 

Bonanza Gulch Post Office

Then there's Red Rock/Inyokern road. Miles and miles of almost entirely straight, virtually flat dirt road. That was a bit tough. Demon really likes single track, so trotting along on such an unvariegated stretch of road, having allowed the other horses to get away from us, was a little disheartening for him. We took several walk breaks, although they were not long, as Demon would seem to get his resolve back and we'd head off at a trot again. Eventually we turned right onto a smaller, more interesting jeep trail where he was able to have a drink and we had our mojo back.

Red Rock/Inyokern Road

I was running the track on my handheld, so I knew how far we were from camp. I kept sneaking peeks at it, and peering off into the distance, thinking surely I should be able to see camp by now? We got to within 2 miles of camp and still no visual sign. I was beginning to wonder if there was some glitch in the track, or if this was some sort of elaborate practical joke, when we crested a hill and camp came into view. I breathed a bit of a sigh of relief and we rode in for our 1 hour hold.

After our hold time, I got back on and we rode over to Dave, where we did our trot out before heading out for the second loop. This loop is a bit more boring and there's considerably less going on. It's also the loop we had a nasty fall on last year. So neither of us was feeling particularly brave about ramming through those miles to get it over with.

Not long after we headed out, another horse and rider caught us up. We exchanged greetings as they passed and continued on. After a bit, the other rider paused her horse, unsure where to expect the next turn. As I was using the GPS, I was able to assure her it was a bit further ahead. Ultimately, we ended up riding those last miles together and I wish I had written her name down, because I am *terrible* with names. We mostly trotted, with a little walking here and there.  We managed to miss a turn somewhere, but were able to find our way back to the trail with little issue.

Then we had to pass the shooting range again.

This time, an extra heavy rifle was being fired. With two horses reinforcing the idea that going that way was stupid, it was much more difficult to get them to go. I managed to get Demon onto the road and then off into the desert a bit and pick up the trot so we could get the heck out of there. All the while never quite sure when the next shot was going off. Both horses were unhappy, but at least they weren't bucking or rearing or bolting. Some sideways spooking and a powerful desire to bug out were the worst of it.

Once again we had to turn off to the left away from camp. Demon, having done this before, was well pleased and knew what to the expect. So we led the way at a cheerful trot until the turn back to camp. Even though those last two miles were mostly walking, we made good time.

Back at camp, we trotted our horses by Dave to vet out. Headed back to the trailer and enjoyed the rest of the day and evening.