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I got back home last night about dinnertime after two weeks on the
trail, and something over 200 miles across Washington. This was my
second year on the trail, which certainly made things easier. As last
year, getting home is a bit disorienting. After the intensity of
camping and driving horses every day, it takes a little while to get
back into my normal life. This year I was more conscious that sleep
deprivation was part of the experience.
We did pretty much the same trail as last year, with a few changes of
campsites. My horses had the advantage this year of three months of
fitness work ahead of time. On the trail, they were bright and
energetic every day, to the end.
The pattern of the trail is that the first few days are cool or even
chilly, with some rain. This year we had one substantial overnight
rain. I was sleeping on my wagon each night. For the night we had put
a canvas top on it, with blue tarp over that, which kept me dry. A few
days later, on a very windy day, we took the top off and left it off.
The next phase starts at Ellensburg, which is warmer and drier.
Approaching the Columbia River, dry goes to very dry, and this
continues with increasing heat to the end. For the last 50 miles or
so, we get in to the Palouse area, which gets more more moisture in
the soil, and the wheat on the hillside is greener.
One thing we learned during the past year was the history of the Lake
Missoula floods - 40 of them at the end of the last Ice Age. The water
from the floods scoured the soil from central Washington east of the
Columbia, exposing volcanic rock. In the flood areas numbers of loess
hills stood above the water, and are referred to as loess islands. The
flooding did not extend into the Palouse. There, it is a region of
pillow-like low hills, all covered in wheat. The last three days were
very hot, with temps into the 90s.
This year 21 of us went the whole way. I'm not sure how many overall
were involved, but the number was large.
For the first half of the trip I was accompanied by a friend from Port
Townsend, a retired woodworker. For the second half, our old friend
Jenny Bryan (and fellow Fjord horse owner) from Vermont flew out to
travel with me. Just as I was appreciative of her traveling with me
for two weeks when I was wagoning cross-country, I was happy that she
would come all this way on faith for this trip. Before Pam took her to
the airport this morning, Jenny made it clear she'd had a very
memorably good time. She was very helpful to me, willing to do
whatever work needed doing, and even able to drive the horses some of
the time.
One thing I thought about this year was how people who crossed the
country on wagon trains must have constantly worried about the
condition of their animals. After all, if the oxen or the mules
failed, the family and all of the family belongings would be stranded
in a place where help was unlikely. The travelers must have
encountered places where feed and water were hard to predict, or
scarce. When you travel with the stress of animal flesh pushing
against harness, things can go wrong. So many of the people who
finished their long travels remembered it fondly. During the travel
however there must have often been considerable anxiety.
This year, a friend from near my home came along also: Jennifer
Reandeau. She drove a pair of Haflingers to a wagonette. Despite being
new to this event, she brought years of knowledge and skill to the
task, and went the whole way. Her horses also ended up in good shape.
Traveling with horses is always a great experience. I am ready to go
again next year.
Dave
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