Thursday, July 29, 2010

On the road to Durango

Hi and thanks for checking in. I am currently in Pagosa Springs, fresh out of the Maroon Bells Wilderness. My friend Patty and I rode the trail from Gothic, a little town north of th lovely village of Crested Butte. We packed our gear on Magic, the 9 year old gelding, and spent the first night at Copper Lake. It's a good thing we were fresh for the trip over Triangle pass.

The word "scree" has new meaning for me now. It's no surprise that scream starts with the same sound. Patty was first to get off and lead Maggie. It was scary hearing the sound of the scree falling down the mountain under the horse hooves. The view however was spectacular, and then we were treated to a fabulous wildflower display as we made our way into Conundrum basin and to the Hot Springs. Our camp spot was perfect with sweet pasture for the horses and trees to shelter us from the sun and rain. We had plenty of both.

We rode out after three nights and four days of camping. The way back was still scary but the horses did amazingly well! The eponashoes give amazing grip on all surfaces, and the scree field was accomplished without problems of any kind.

We got a hotel room in Gunnison, cause Patty was craving a hot shower. Turns out the Hells Angels had chosen Gunnison as the rendezvous spot on the way to Sturgis. While they were quite intimidating in their "colors" and with the noisy Harleys, we heard rom the locals that they were only polite, considerate, and generous. We had to park on the stret because there were so many Harleys in the parking lot, but in the end, we slept well and were only awakened a couple of times by bikes coming in. The horses spent he nIght at he fairgrounds. What a wonderful thing that is! So much more comfortable than standing in the trailer all night.

I'm almost out of battery, so will close for now. Tomorrow we head to Durango, where I will prepare to ride the Colorado Trail almost 500 miles to Denver.

Stay tuned!

4 comments:

  1. I saw Trish on top of Kennebeck Pass tonight. As of 9:30 PM on 8/4/10 she had found her horses, found her dog (WILEY ROCKS!), but lost her phone. She was debating routes around Indian Peak.

    Ben Hoshall
    Outlaw Tours
    Durango, CO.
    benhoshall@rocketmail.com

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  2. thanks ben! I miss my lovely friend!! It's good to know someone has made contact.

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  3. Saw Trish at Kennebeck Pass on Aug 5th as we were hiking out of bad weather in the mountains. My son and I enjoyed meeting her and hearing her story and helping her (mostly watching) load Magic and Midnight. Happy trails, Trish!

    Mark and Jackson McGraw
    College Station, TX

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  4. Trish asked me to post this message so people would be able to know what she's doing, since she had lost her cell phone and therefore hasn't been able to make posts herself. She took a wrong turn, got off the Colorado trail, and ended up at Highway 550 near Coal Bank pass. She borrowed our cell phone and called someone to arrange to stay in a stable nearby to regroup. She said she had some pretty bad weather for a couple days. Amazingly, though, still in pretty good spirits. Beautiful horses and an amazing dog.

    Will Finn
    Durango, CO

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