Eastern Mojave @ Coso 2021

Due to the pandemic, the ride typically known as Eastern Mojave and held at Cima Rd and I15, was moved way up the 395 near Olancha, in an area known as Coso Junction. This is where the Death Valley Warmup/ Coso Junction ride is usually held in early December. That ride didn't happen so the location made for a perfect replacement for the usual Mojave location. 

I definitely had a little trouble getting out of the driveway for this ride. When I went to hook up the trailer, I discovered the batteries were completely dead. I had already set up shore power for it, as the solar didn't seem able to do anything for it, and it had taken most of a charge when I put it back on the solar. But when I went to hook up, the solar panel was showing no power and the power panel was completely dead. Putting it back on shore power fixed the issue, only to have it go dead once back on the solar. Dreading an issue with the charging system, and knowing if it wouldn't charge on the solar panel I'd be without power in the living quarters pretty quickly, I fetched Mike and his tools and we proceeded to go over the thing seeking the issue.

After we'd opened the junction box Mike commented the blue wire felt warm. Well I've done enough wrestling with trailer wiring to know the blue wire provides power to the brakes. This seemed really weird. Why would the brakes be drawing power? 

And then I noticed it.

The cable and switch for the breakaway brakes was missing.

Now, this warrants a little explaining. I can't tell you how many years I drove around without a breakaway on my trailer. It wasn't until fairly recently I became aware such a thing even exists. Even more recently that I discovered they are required on 2 axle trailers. So I went a long time without a breakaway, and thus a long time not needing to go through the process of connecting and disconnecting one. Due to this, it wasn't long after I bought this trailer that I forgot to hook up the breakaway to the truck and dragged the end off the cable. So I had half-assed it for a while, until I got what I needed to repair it and hook it properly to the truck.

Which I promptly forgot to disconnect the next time I used the trailer.

The brakes were pulling power because, well, the switch was open. 

The cure was to, for now, cut out the breakaway. 

And we were finally able to hit the road at 1:30pm.

We arrived in camp at 7:30pm, to find everyone buttoned down and the ride trailer shut up. There were perhaps 5 rigs in camp, which, coupled with the ride trailer being closed, caused me to think perhaps I'd gotten the dates wrong. A quick check of the website assured me I was where I wanted to be when I wanted to be there. The wind was so horrendous there was no parking in such a way as to reasonably block it. When I tried to step out of the truck, my hat blew away. I set up camp as quickly as possible and did not bother to unhook the truck, which made the trailer much more stable in the circumstances.

Day 1:

What a great day to Duck* around in the desert.

In the morning, I went and knocked on Dave and Annie's trailer. Annie answered and greeted me with a smile, telling me I could go into the ride trailer to get a packet and put in an entry. She informed me everyone was doing the LD, with a particular look I understood to mean she really, really hoped I'd do the LD, too. Seeing as 50 miles mostly by ourselves didn't sound super fun, I was fine with doing the LD instead. Bonus: ride start was 8am.

After a leisurely morning, we saddled and headed out with the few other brave souls who had elected to brave the desert. A winter storm was predicted for the area, which resulted in many riders begging off. So 6 riders started the first day.

On our way out of camp, I looked down and lo and behold, there was my hat, in a tire rut. I was thus obliged to dismount, recover the hat, and put it in the truck. This did not please Demon, as it meant most of the other horses were already well on the trail by the time I got back on.

We started out along the road up into the desert. Demon was super happy to be out and going. We quickly pulled ahead without much sign of a desire to slow down. He also stopped and had a drink at the first water stop, a skill he's picked up over the miles. These days he rarely passes up an opportunity to drink or eat.

The first half of the ride was mostly a long uphill pull. We settled back to a walk several times, letting Demon catch his breath. Eventually we were caught and passed by Bart Eskander, and we ended up riding together genially for the rest of the morning.

After we turned back downhill, we mostly went faster than we had uphill. We stopped at the vet check for about 20 minutes to let the horses drink and eat before hitting the trail back down to camp.

We did not go as fast as we could have. It was a lovely day and I certainly didn't mind being out longer than otherwise necessary. Demon and I were awarded the first place finish by dint of arriving at Annie first. Bart and his horse did a lot of leading, not because Demon wasn't willing, but because Bart's horse is naturally faster.

Day 2:

Our first 50 mile point ride of the weekend.

Start time was 7am, which I didn't mind particularly. I checked the weather before we left, to decide if I should take my duster or if my jacket would be enough. I decided the jacket was enough. This decision would haunt me later.

We left camp a bit more sedately than the day before, still with the leaders. Much of the trail was the same as the day before, although the other direction. I was keeping a close eye on my GPS and our average speed. My goal was to do about 6.25mph. So when, about halfway through the first loop, Demon wanted to slow, I wasn't unhappy. He'd been going pretty fast. But then, he didn't want to speed back up. He just wanted to poke along. He kept casting about for grass, which is rather sparse in this area. I would make him trot for a while before he would fall back to a trot and want to stop for a bite. I was thinking he needed to pee. In the past, before he got pretty good at peeing under saddle, he'd simply plod along until we got back to the trailer and he would pee there. These days, though, that hasn't really been a problem so I was rather mystified until we had our vet check. He ate a bunch of hay and, when we hit the trail again, was back to his normal, cheerful, and forward self. He was just hungry!

Of course, halfway through that first loop, the clouds rolled in and the snow started. And all I had was that jacket.

After we left the vet check, we got motoring and, since we're pretty danged good at downhill, took advantage of it to make some time. Except it's tough to make time when you can't really see where you're going. Fortunately most of the time Demon was very confident and was able to keep us on trail while I squinted and basically stared at his neck. The snow frequently blew straight into my face. It was only when the wind was sideways to him Demon was reluctant to go forward with much speed. It made for a slow ride back to camp. Making it tougher was the small loop we had to do which took us away from camp about a mile and a half out. At first Demon was really annoyed, but when he realized it was good, fast trail, he picked it up and we got it done relatively quickly, even if the sleet did start blowing right in our faces when we turned up the road.

Back at camp, we trotted out quickly (4th place, as well as last place) and went to the trailer to untack. I got his blanket on and threw food in front of him before taking myself into the living quarters to dry off and warm up. Bizarrely, my arms were soaking wet. I thought my jacket must have leaked through, but how odd for my arms to be almost solely what was affected. I didn't have much energy to think on it. I got the water heater going and bundled under the blankets until I had hot water for a quick shower, after which I dressed in the next day's ride clothes and my fleece pajamas.

Day 3:

The snow was still with us in the morning, despite ride start having been delayed until 8am to give the horses a chance to warm up before the start. I elected to put my duster on over my vest, in an effort to stay as dry as possible. This presented the problem of storing my phone and GPS in places where I'd be able to access them readily. The duster unfortunately lacks pass throughs so I can keep those items where I normally would on my belt. Fortunately, it does have rather large pockets and I was able to drop my phone and GPS as well as gloves, spare batteries, and my map into them.

There were more riders this day, as more people had rolled in the prior day, and so we were riding along with several fresh horses. Demon was feeling really good and drinking and eating well, so I allowed him to largely keep up with the front runners. He was doing so well, in fact, that I could allow him to drink while other horses were also drinking at the same station. 

The vet check was back in camp, and after almost 5 miles of flat or downhill two track roads, we had an average speed of 7.5mph. We slowed as we approached camp and came in well recovered for our hour hold.

During the hold, I checked the weather forecast and determined it was safe enough to switch back to my jacket. I hung the duster and we left camp with the jacket.

We started back out on the flat portion of the trail, and Demon was charging along nicely until the trail started heading uphill, at which point he decided he found this annoying and he didn't want to trot uphill. So we went fairly slowly, allowing the leaders to leave us behind, and made our own dogged way around the second loop. Once we were back to flatter and downhill territory, Demon picked it up again and we finished with an overall average of 7.25mph, the fastest Demon has ever done a ride.

Day 4:

Once again we had an 8am start. This day was very clear and the sun rising in the east lent its warmth to the morning quickly, even if I did need my jacket for the start.

Again we were with the front runners, but this being the day after doing his fastest ride, and his 4th day in a row, my goal was to finish, and speed was irrelevant. So when he decided he didn't really want to go quite so fast as the fastest horses, I was more than happy to allow him to drop back.

We happily kept our own counsel through the now-familiar trails. By this time I was pretty spent, but Demon was starting to get stronger. This is a common phenomenon in multi-day rides. As the days go by, the horses get stronger while the humans start needing naps. It's not unusual to have riders pull in to compete the last day, thinking they can do well against a bunch of spent horses, only to get their doors blown off, much to their dismay. 

But today, despite feeling pretty danged good on average, it was a good day to go at a more relaxed pace.

We turned down the mostly flat portion of trail to head back to camp, and took up a steady trot which caught us up with a couple of riders. One of the horses, a dark bay mare, took a shine to Demon. I could see her glancing back at him and watched the rider correct her several times. That mare wasn't even observably in heat, and she wanted nothing more than to canoodle with Demon. Once there was enough space to give a wide berth, Demon and I went off into the desert and passed by at a smart trot.

The vet check at camp was shorted to 30 minutes due to a cold breeze that had taken hold. So I got Demon fed and made myself some lunch as quickly as I could, and we headed back out on trail.

For the second loop we had to head off to the north toward the LA aqueduct and several mining operations. Much of this is fairly flat, but it does have some interesting points. Demon headed out smartly enough, then saw the two mares we'd passed earlier hit the trail and slowed down until they caught up and passed us. 

The biggest reason Demon is not a winning horse is he wants to see every other horse on trail in front of him at some point before he wants to lead. It's not that he minds leading. He just wants to know who's behind him.

Once the mares were ahead, we picked up the trot to keep up. When they slowed, Demon did not, and we continued on for a bit. I quipped to the other riders, "See you in a bit!"

Sure enough, Demon slowed down again and the mares caught us again. The dark bay was still being quite the flirt. Demon was very professional about it and ignored her studiously. 

After we hit the high point and started back down, we rode along the aqueduct, which is covered in concrete. Water had pooled on top. Demon was pretty thirsty and he could smell that water. He made a move to jump up onto the concrete top (about 3 feet) to get a drink, and did manage to sip some water off when the pooling was lower. Not having any idea how well such a structure would hold up to 900 pounds of horse plus rider, nor feeling especially good about traction once on top, I did not allow him to indulge his desire to get up there.

Fortunately once we turned truly back toward camp there was a water bucket and Demon was able to get a good drink. After which we were able to get in some good trotting for some time.

Once we got within 2 miles of camp, Demon wanted to walk, and the mares passed us again. This now being Demon's "thing" and not being especially unhappy with a horse who isn't interested in charging back to camp, I allowed for the nice little mosey back to camp.

At the ride meeting that night, I was pleased to find Demon and I had been awarded fastest time (who else ya gonna give it to, if there's only one horse and rider what did all 4 days?), but particularly thrilled that Dave awarded Demon the overall best condition award. While clearly there were no other candidates, Dave would not have awarded it if he didn't feel Demon had deserved it. If he felt I'd overridden Demon or otherwise pushed him harder than he was fit for, Dave would not have put that on the plaque.

Overall it was a great weekend and I feel really good about both of us. I was a lot better off after 4 days than I had been after the 2 days I rode at Laurel Mountain. I was able to run enough to trot my horse out without looking like I was going to fall down. Demon ate and drank both in camp and on trail quite well. Any time we stopped to wait for other horses to drink, he'd cast about in the desert for something to eat. Demon was able to drink while other horses were close by drinking, and even when riders weren't paying close attention to keeping their horses' heads away from him, Demon kept his own and didn't do anything foolish. In the past I've had to wait for other horses to leave before I could allow him to drink. This is a great thing for him to be able to do, as on the Tevis trail it will likely be far harder to get him a trough all to himself. As to the hunger, I have a suspicion I need to up my electrolyte game. I suspect he's looking for food in an effort to get electrolytes. While it works, there's simply not enough time and sometimes not enough food to replenish electrolytes. So I will fiddle a little with how often I do electrolyte him when we do 20 Mule Team.

* Yes, I mean Duck. These days it seems few people are aware of Dave Nicholson's nickname, The Duck. The story of how the appellation came to be hung upon him varies depending on when you ask and how many drinks are involved.