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!
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