On a sub-freezing October morning north of Moab, Utah, an entire camp of eager endurance riders are up before sunrise. The LaSal Mountains are outlined against the brightening sky.
After bustling around, feeding,watering, and saddling, the 50 mile riders and their dancing Arabians are ready to go by 7:30. (A few quarter horses and other breeds, and even one mule, join the fray.)
And they're off! The 25 milers (us!) leave an hour later.
Here I am about mid-way through a ride. Sorry, the photo is a little blurry. Both stops and photos are few and far between.
It's big country. We traverse shifting sands and wind around Navaho sandstone formations. Above, look closely for 2 riders on the left hand side of the panorama.
We have views of the LaSal Mountains in the distance, but not a lot of leisure to admire the scenery.
All in all, we learned a lot and rode some beautiful trails. On our drive home, we stopped for a photo of Canyonlands geology.
Pretty place for a ride! These endurance rides seem like cool experiences. You guys will be up to 50 mile days in no time!! Ha.. actually 25 sounds like plenty to me. These 50 mile people must have some pretty tough behinds.
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed. 10 miles on a mule five years ago was my last ride, into the canyon, and my butt was very sore. Seems like mules are wider than horses, from my 20 year ago memory.
ReplyDeleteAmazing! I hope you can return one day to take more photos!
ReplyDeleteI was thinking of you this week - wondering what kind of weather you were having. (It was cold and snowy in CO.) Love your distance shots of those rock formations. Good riding! I bet you and the horses were tired.
ReplyDelete50 mile ride I can't even imagine. Beautiful photos and scenery. You were not too far from my long ago stomping grounds of Price.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you had a great time, Janie... We have had a cloudy, wet, COLD and windy weekend here. Snow is in the forecast this week---and we have a high wind warning... We're gonna get the backside of some of that horrible storm.....
ReplyDeleteWish we were in UTAH.... ha
Hugs,
Betsy
How long did it take to complete? A magnificent place to ride!
ReplyDeletewhat a beautiful place to ride...50 miles on a horse I bet would make you very sore...
ReplyDeleteI don't know what is more impressive -- the scenery or the fact you got up so early on a cold morning. I really like your panoramas.
ReplyDeleteA 50 mile horseback ride in sub-freezing weather, and taking photos to boot, is a lot to endure. Well done, Janie :)
ReplyDeleteExtraordinary! I applaud your endurance - and your horses' . . .
ReplyDeleteLooks like a fun even to participate in. Beautiful scenery and I love the early morning sky and mountains in the first one.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I'm on vacation every time I read one of your posts. :-D
ReplyDeleteThat is certainly a gorgeous sunrise sky and your panorama scenes are magnificent!
Thank you for correcting me on my elk identification. (Oops!)
It boggles the mind. Not knowing much about horses, I still suspect my butt couldn't take more than ten miles at most...:)
ReplyDeleteWow! Congrats! I've always wanted to do this. Have marked trails at the Strawberry Reservoir Endurance ride before ~ but Moab! How cool would that be? The 25 miles doesn't scare me as I've done that in a day many times but... doing it at a faster pace does. How long did it take you?
ReplyDeleteWow....this looks like a real challenge for everyone!
ReplyDeleteLovely views as always.
XO
That's quite a long ride!! I bet you missed being able to stop and look around more... and Daisy had to miss this one!
ReplyDeleteMiraculous expedition, views are enrapturing. I am greeting
ReplyDeletewow--what a grand event! That is great country to ride in. ~kaye
ReplyDeleteLooks like a fun, cold day! This might sound strange, but something about that first picture, with the brown mountains in the distance, reminds me of that old movie "The Electric Horseman."
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