route update 3/30/12

trip route update 3/30/12:

meandering from NM border to Texarkana, TX.

across Texas border-to-border for part 1 of the ride.

last-minute changes

Just spent 12 hours repacking. And re-routing.

I now have some mule feed, some mule water, some people feed and people water, no stove or cookware (all food picnic-style), no sweater, etc... but all the essentials are there.

Route been changed to have more water, more graze, and fewer 2-day detours. Debbie if you're reading, would have loved to ride with you & daughter, maybe another time!

Friends Lois & John with me first few days. Leaving tomorrow. Off to bed now...

pardon my superstition

Technical difficulties were due to buying a Galaxy tab in hopes of posting every night from the road. Big mistake...

Anyways, returned it, back to square one. I will have a cell phone. As far as technology, that's it. Perhaps I will write better with pen and tiny notepad? Whenever I have access, I'll post. Hopefully often! Oh yes, and a digital camera. That requires a charger though, more weight... phone charger, also more weight... if I can figure out how to load pics from the cell phone to the blog, I might ditch the camera. Regardless - there will be pics! Must have pics!!

The house is empty and clean. Truck loaded with hay. Trailer tack room loaded with feed. Trailer cleaned out and ready for Butch's journey to west Texas. I'm about to clean and oil the saddle before bed. (House will stink of neatsfoot oil...) Then, packing up this laptop and that will be it for posting until - hopefully - the first stop in a town or at a house with access.

Butch has had too much time off while I've been running around. He's lost some tone. He was so beat after carrying the full load for only a little over a mile, that after he rolled in the round pen, instead of getting up he lay there and fell asleep! He didn't break a sweat though, so it's just the load that's tiring him, using new muscles. We will need to start verrrrry slow. Maybe 5 miles the first day, 7 the next two, then 9, then rest. We'll see how it goes.

Not saying any more due to superstition... Bye all, til the next post...

Technical difficulties - please stand by

lists

Why is it that it seems like there's plenty of time to do everything... until the very last minute?

Past few days, the more I get done, the more I realise I'm forgetting. Keep finding notes: "call insur. re prepay" "HC papers" "cat carrier" etc. ... each one eliciting an "Oh, crap!" as I try to figure out how to fit one more thing into the day's errands. Managed to ride Butch at least a few miles every day up until this one. Left the house at 9:30 am and didn't get back until dusk; turned him out to roll, mucked, put him up & drove off again. Even with fresh hay in the bin, poor Butch stood at the gate, staring anxiously as I departed. I suspect he senses something's up.

I can't even recall what took up all the hours. Let's see - visit friend in hospital, say goodbyes before trip. To CPA to file taxes. Office store, misc. Map store, long talk with veteran horseman from Texas who knew the route, knows equine travel and gave me some great advice, esp. on riding in the duststorms. I prepaid the cell phone/ISP for 5 months, which is a huge expense I won't have to factor in for the rest of the summer. (contract isn't up til September.) Spent time looking at a tablet to possibly buy for blogging en route, I'll sleep on it. (Can't afford to buy it, but since documenting is a big part of the ride, not sure I can afford not to.) I got vest, windbreaker & pants at the thrift store, good finds! Gassed up truck... cat supplies to go with Poots tomorrow... now, I should be packing, or in bed, Pitagirl aka Poots goes to Jack's tomorrow, and I've barely put a dent in getting ready!

So why am I listing all these mundane details? For future reference. I know I'll forget what this was like.

If anyone's reading - thanks for your interest!

route updated

Already a slight change in plans, map has been updated. Please see "Trip Map" page for updated link to the Google map.

And again please drop a note if you know of a place Butch and I can spend a night - thanks!

whirlwind summary

Part of the reason I started this blog was to provide others who come after me with what I couldn't find: a day-by-day account of what it's like for a novice to prepare for a long solo ride. Now I find myself doing the same thing I suspect others have done; as I get close to leaving, so much to do, so little time, that I don't write!

So, very brief summary:

There's lots of boring business to take care of. Early truck registration. Suspending active vehicle insurance. Balancing bank accounts. Paying bills in advance. Filing taxes. Arranging to forward mail. Picking up prescribed Epi-pen. Transferring magazine subscriptions.

Then there's mule business: Having vet come pull blood for Coggins and health certificate to travel out of state. Spring shots, earlier than usual because of upcoming trip, extra shots for extra exposure. Getting bute & banamine for first-aid kit. Scheduling farrier. Researching boots again, debating reordering Easyboot Epics. Cleaning, oiling tack. Getting a new bit (his cheap one got bent). Washing blanket.

Cat business: Trimming her claws. Borrowing large carrier. Driving 4 1/2 hours to deliver Pitagirl to the angel who offered to take her while I'm gone, and who I know beyond a shadow of a doubt will take wonderful care of her in a home where I know she'll be happy. (Thank you Jack!)

I'm paying a few months' rent to hold on to my little house trailer at the stable. Without a cat, however, mice move in. Also, there is the remote chance I will be out on the road far longer than anticipated. So I am packing up all my wordly possessions and storing them in my landcouple's storage trailers (Thank you Jan and Chris!). Packing is VERY time-consuming. And I'll have to clean the place when I'm done.

Then there's packing for the big ride, which entails not only lots and lots and lots of decision-making, but scouring online deals, thriftshops, and regular shopping as well: sleeping bag, windbreaker/rain gear, silk longjohns, etc etc.

And still good light rope, easyboots(?), a few other odds & ends....

There's unexpected things that come up. The trailer wiring shorted out again, had to take it in. I need to buy a spare also, even if I don't have a jack. The two front trailer tires are too iffy to travel without a spare.

Huge late winter storm yesterday and today. High winds, cold rain, sleet, snow, hail. Farrier cancelled. Trip to Wickenburg to bring cat cancelled. (Practice ride had already been cancelled, had hoped to replace it with trip to deliver Pita. Highway was closed.) No riding. (Butch has shed his winter coat - I blanketed him!)

There's route planning. Hours and hours of pouring over maps, terrain, milaeage between towns, etc...

And finally, there's saying goodbyes to friends, and daily calls to family before the big launch. Other than when I'm alone with Butch, it's the only time I allow myself to let it sink in that I'm actually doing this. No words to describe...

route

Route part 1 pretty well mapped out. See the new "Trip Map" page for the Google Maps link.

If you know of anyone who could host me & Butch for a night along the way, please let me know. We are reasonably polite and come with our own tent and stake hobble. Thanks!

no dry run

Test ride scratched again.

I wanted my & Butch's first ride/camp experience to be a good one, at least as far as weather's concerned. Especially travelling across a major city. Forecast this weekend is big storm blowing in. Heavy winds, dropping temps, rain Sat night & Sunday possibly heavy at times, saying could be snow or sleet overnight. Aaargh.

Thought I'd do a one-nighter instead, get home midday Saturday before the wind and rain hit. Phoned old friend to ask if would be ok to ride to the west side tomorrow and camp out on her land, as we've discussed before. Old friend, who almost never goes anywhere, just so happens will be away all day until night tomorrow, and is not comfortable with nobody being home to ensure I arrive and set up safely. I confess I was touched by her concern even while sighing over the way things were working out (or not).

This is the only part of trip planning that refuses to fall into place. I've come to conclusion there will be no "dry run." I'm either doing this, or not. The first week of the ride will be when the kinks are worked out, Butch lets me know how he'll do, and I learn to deal with the discomforts of camping. I'll have plenty of time to gain experience.

Crossing my fingers for beginner's luck!

Countdown closing in!

Got truck checked out, oil change, maintenance etc.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) last day at assisted-living job before trip.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) find someone to look in on Pita cat later this week.

Thursday, vet draws Coggins, shots, health certificate for mule travel.

New plan for test ride... this weekend. New contacts, several, for Saturday night camp spot. Sunday confirmed. Need to re-confirm Friday host.

Tomorrow late afternoon/evening, Thursday night: pack for test ride.

My gear/tack budget is pretty much busted. I've bought everything I'm going to. All I'm missing is warm sleeping bag; waterproof hat; camp stove; mule breast collar.

--Put a call out for tiny warm slpg bag, have some offers will go see. I do have a sleeping bag, and will combine it with the silk liner and space blankets to make do if I must. It's huge, and not very warm, but only weighs 4 lbs., not too bad.

--I have a hat. It works fine as long as there's no rain. It'll be fine under a poncho hood. I have a rain poncho.

--I'd love a zip wood stove, but they cost too much and I don't have time to order one now anyway. If I were handier I suppose I'd make one. I'll weigh my little propane stove, and if stove+fuel doesn't go over wieght, I'll use that until I find a better solution. If it's too heavy, I won't bring one (Oh, no! No coffee?!! *gasp*).

--The saddle fits well enough that I think Butch can do without a breast collar. Maybe no britchen either.

Monday, take truck & trailer in to diagnose and fix wiring problem (Prodigy system shorting).

Tuesday/Wednesday, take Pita cat to Jack's in Wickenburg and camp over to finish the britchen.

Sometime next week, Butch gets his first set of travel shoes. Might be borium-coated.

Every day between now and leaving: Pack up house. Proofread (Working on it, Dad!). Finish red tape busywork, including the dreaded taxes.

RIDE.

best laid plans...

Nothing like planning a dry run to show yourself you aren't ready yet!

It sounded so simple... ride from here to my friends' place 34 miles away. First day, through the Rillito River bed to prearranged stop at ranchette, only 8 miles. Saturday, through Rillito to Tanque Verde wash, then up to Tanque Verde Road to my old employers who had said I could camp there anytime, 10 miles. Sunday, ride semi-rural roads to my friends' in Vail, 16 miles.

I waited til today - Thursday - to pack. I already tested the packs on Butch. I don't have everything I'll need for the big ride, but I've got enough for this little one, right? Wrong. Off to Army Surplus for canteens. Oops, gotta do laundry. What? Out of peanut butter?!? Off to the store. Oh, geez... forgot to ask someone to look in on the cat... now where is Becky's number?... Okay, let's weigh and pack the feed before it gets dark.

Oh, crap. The feed.

I bring two empty psyllium buckets to weigh it. But which feed? I've been giving Butch hay pellets in the mornings and senior complete pelleted feed in the evenings to get him used to both. Not enough of either one to transition to full rations, though. Only a pound or two of each. I haven't decided which will be better, easier to get and nutritious, on the road. Result of my indecision being, Butch isn't ready for an entire day's feed of either one. He'll need at least a week to test how his gut handles the changeover. So much for setting off on a 3-day ride tomorrow morning.

It was another lesson for me to see how much feed a day's worth is. 8-12 lbs of senior feed or 16 lbs of hay pellets. (Plus grain and oil, if I take pellets.) That could be as much as 32 lbs for 2 days' rations. Takes up a lot of space, too - how to pack it? How to measure it out? So much to learn!

I also got another lesson in not making assumptions. I had confirmed my Friday and Sunday night stops. I assumed the Saturday stop was a given. Left a message yesterday. Left 2 messages today. Never heard back. It's not like her, so something must have come up, but just goes to show I should always cover the basics before starting in on details.

I'm still hoping to ride to my old neighborhood and camp there overnight sometime next week. I'd ask friends if I could buy some hay off them for the night & morning to supplement Butch's feed.

For now, I have bags & gear all laid out on the couch and am giving myself as much time as I need to pack carefully and thoughtfully, no rush, over the weekend. I'm packing for the big ride and will pare it down for the short one(s), rather than the other way around.

And SLEEP. Haven't been getting enough of that either. It's after midnight again!

first steps

Many's the time it's been pointed out to me that reading about it and doing it are two entirely different things. Now that I'm in the final weeks of preparation, I am finding this to be so true.

The packs look simple in the photos. But going to tie them on, the holes for strings are different from my day packs, which means a different knot, which I have yet to learn, so I attach them with my lamest excuse for tying and hope they stay. Then attaching the big poofy sleeping bag, I have to smush it down to stretch the ties over it; Butch is unaccustomed to the pressure and his hips give way momentarily, throws me off balance, I fall on my butt and, flustered, he steps on my foot. Ow.

So, he's finally tacked up. I go to climb on... How do I swing my leg over that !#*@! sleeping bag?!? I manage it, only to find... Butch's headstall has slipped down his neck because I trimmed his mane, and I can barely reach over the front packs to push it back up.

My endlessly patient mule. I could hear him sigh.

I did make a magical discovery. Butch is either the world's smartest, sanest mule, or he was hobble-trained in his raw youth to not just front hobbles, but 3-legged hobbles also! After today's ride I turned him out in the round pen with his grain, attached the 3-ways, sat back and waited for the kicking to commence. And waited. And waited. Butch finished his grain, felt the pull, shuffled a few inches and stood calmly, staring at me. After a while he reached out in my direction with his nose. No fuss. No impatience. No moving. Then he got bored, picked up the empty pan with his teeth and started playing with it.

What a good, good, good mule. How lucky am I!

Butch at the racetrack

Lots of practice for the Butchinator and myself today. First, loaded all the new saddlebags.

I am a bit annoyed with myself for not finding a clever and cheap alternative to buying this expensive saddlebag set. But some things are best not to skimp on, especially when one has no experience whatsoever; the less likely gear is to fall apart, the better. The set is hornbags, saddlebags, detachable cantlebag, all waterproof with zippers, and insulated removeable foam inserts in all but the cantlebag. I got truly ugly glow-in-the-dark hunter's orange because I want to be visible from a mile away when I'm out on the road.

Also got a scale. I loaded the bags to be perfectly evenly balanced, with pillows, rolled up shirts and water bottles. The cantlebag held my tent (4 lbs.).

My ignorance immediately showed itself. I had no clue how to safely tie on the saddlebags, what kind of knot to use, where the long straps go. I adjusted several times out on the trail because the bags, though the same weight, kept listing to the right. Because the saddle lists a bit to the right. It's the way I ride, my slightly twisted pelvis. Poor Butch... I do my best to compensate, it's always been a problem. Maybe I can find a packer to show me how to tie and keep the packs straight.

The hornbags are too short for my saddle's design. I'll need to lengthen them with nylon straps or something (old seatbelts?).

Other than that, the packs seemed fine. Butch carried them well, walking, trotting, up and down inclines, leaping over a ditch or two. He kept stopping until I removed the crupper, which was rubbing him underneath the bags. Then he stepped out fine (other than slow pokey barn-sour for the first two miles).

Boy, did that orange ever get attention! I've never heard so many comments from passers-by.

About 3 miles on I ran into another rider. He had just come from the racetrack we passed, and when I said how cool was that, said if I wanted to go watch he'd go back with me. So we went up the ramp out of the riverbed and into the parking lot of the Rillito Racetrack. Great training for Butchmule! Big crowd, tons of families milling around and vehicles driving through the crowded lanes, blaring radios, high-strung sweaty horses on hot walkers in the paddock. He acted like he'd been around it all his life. Then we sat on our steeds at the track fence, literally just on the other side of it, when the field came thundering by a few feet away. Butch perked his ears, threw his head up with an utterly surprised expression and backpedaled a few steps. That was all! I was so proud of him. Last race of the day - new friend and I parted ways and went home.

Tonight, called Amy - she of the mustang, SweetPea - and she happily agreed to join me on a 3-day 2-night dry run. Might be one other person along also. Next weekend or the one after.

status update

Had a lovely ride on Butch today. About 7 miles, in the riverbed and along the city path above. First time in months he has saddled up without any protest.

And first time in months I've had a comfortable seat as well. What a difference! I loaded the large pommel packbags over the horn. They're ugly fluorescent orange, spot em a mile away, exactly what I wanted. Butch didn't bat an eye. Tomorrow we'll try the matching large rear saddlebags.

I also brought along hobbles, and hobbled Butch when I got off to let him graze. Somebody taught him well! He doesn't move with them on; stands still and stretches his neck out to reach the far grass. I'll need to teach him it's ok to move a little and graze with 3-leg hobbles on, but I like that he knows to freeze with the doubles, and don't want him to un-learn that.

Out riding relaxed through a city wash in the midafternoon sun, with big orange saddlebags hanging from the horn in front of me, kids yelling "Hey! It's a donkey!" from a distance, it was easy to imagine I was in some other town, mid-route. Heading for the evening's camping spot. A stable, a ranchette, somebody's back yard, a fire station... not thinking about the low-30s temps we're still having at night and how I lost a stake for my tent the second night I used it... (true haha)

Back home, put Butchmule up for the night and fed him his pellets & psyllium in a feedbag, the new nightly ritual. When I get the stake setup, I might start feeding him his hay on the ground while staked. We'll see.

Current status:

Rental and storage arrangement with landlady - check.
Work contracts amiably suspended until return - check.
Home for cat while I'm gone - check.
Saddle and pad rebuilt to fit - check.
--(Courtesy of Jack, saddlemaker here in AZ. What a guy!)
Basic hobble training - check.
--(Turns out Butch had worn them before.)
Hobble training to 3-way hobbles and picket - TK.

---(TK=editor's shorthand for "to come")
Mule packing gear - check.
Tent - check.
Good, light sleeping bag - TK.
All the other stuff to pack - getting there.
Butch's hooves repaired, shod - check.
Easyboots - TK.
Butch road safe - pretty much, tuning up, riding lots around traffic.
Real mule camping dry run - TK.

Route - check. Um, well - TK. Nope, original route - check. Uh, gas price up, maybe rethink that. Okay, let's study the map again...
Contact fairgrounds etc along route to prearrange places to camp - Oh, sure! LOL

Naive enthusiasm - check
Courage - TK

Sense of wonderment and slight disbelief - constant.