Riding the Continental Divide Trail at Top O The World!

August 5 2019

It was the third annual Top O' the World pioneer endurance ride in Eastern idaho… this was my first time to finish a ride there. Fabulous and challenging trails. We did day 1's 50 miler and I got to ride on the Continental Divide - how awesome was that!

Connie rode Finneas and I rode her horse DWA Saruq.

Ridecamp is in a sweet spot in the Targhee National Forest.

great grazing for the horses! Jose Viola is eating and, of course, gazing at things in the distance

Connie, Regina, and Kat enjoying morning gourmet coffee!

Suzy Hayes' and Lynn Lee's 3 horses escaped one night and didn't come back till morning, fortunately all in one piece. Suzy was sooooo happy!

Connie and Finneas on the top of the world at about 9500'! on the Continental Divide Trail, looking West

Look really close, and ridecamp is a little white dot down in that green strip in the valley

Photobombing on the Continental Divide Trail!

Another high meadow on the CDT. We met a through hiker here. His trail name is Peanut. Connie met some through hikers the next day who said Peanut is a legend. Look him up!

Much of the ride we had a nice bubble - had the trails to ourselves. Here we leapfrogged with some other riders on loop 2

A lower meadow on loop 2

The famous Dave Rabe and Cocamoe Joe. You can tell it was pretty chilly because Dave has a sweatshirt on!

Yea. This thunderstorm grew quickly and raced towards us - 3 of us had 15 minutes to blanket the horses and batten down the hatches before….

…the heavy rain and hailstorm hit! horses hunkered down with butts to the weather and heads down

Connie and I hiked and unmarked a 7 mile loop on day 3. Just as beautiful hiking as it is riding!

More on the ride at

http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2019TopOTheWorld/ 

Big Horn 100: A Most Epic Adventure

Wednesday July 18 2018

The short of the story is that us 6 Idahoans (5 riders: me, Connie, Layne, Anne and Shyla, and Crew Master Regina) had a fun time at the Big Horn 100 in Wyoming. I was the only one who didn't finish - I pulled Dezzie at around 40 miles when he started to feel a little off.

You can read a ride recap here, 

http://merritravels.endurance.net/2018/07/tackling-big-horn-100.html

and stay tuned, because an alternate story may appear as a book or an e-book! 

Meanwhile, here are a few photos from one of the most beautiful endurance rides I've done (and lucky me, I got the best scenery in the first 40 miles of the ride!):

This was our warm-up ride on Thursday, over the first 8 miles of trail we'd be riding over in the dark at 4 AM.

Going up the Dugway into the Big Horn mountains - looking back over our tailfeathers

Looking back down the Dugway over Dezzie's tailfeathers as the sun is rising. that's Connie on Saruq and Tom on Rocky

Top of the Dugway. Now heading back down… before heading up again 

Finally on top top of the mountain, leaving the first vet check

We traversed so many beautiful meadows. The wildflowers were downright raucous (Connie took this pic)

BIG HORN BOUND

Saturday July 7 2018

What with a very busy June, and with one thing and another coming up lately, and being semi-whiny-worried about the heat and migraines and stamina, I've been conveniently ignoring the fact that we're headed for the BIG HORN 100 in Wyoming on July 14.

But now departure day is 5 days away, so it's kind of hard to keep ignoring it.

Connie's riding DWA Saruq, I'm riding Sarah's horse Dezzie, since she can't be here; Regina our Big Horn Guru is hauling us there and crewing for us (yay!). 3 more Idaho peeps are planning to caravan there with us. 

Our horses are sound and fit, their last ride being a hard and fast 55 at City of Rocks on June 8.

Me? I'm fairly fit, but… for 100 miles? And for (my nemesis) the heat? 

I think I'll just continue to ignore that part of the equation for now, but it is time to think about starting to pack.

I haven't done a 100 miler since my Tevis Cup Magic in 2009 - almost 10 years! - and I probably haven't pulled an all-nighter for anything since then, either! I've never done the Big Horn, but if I did do another 100, this is the one I'd want to do.

So, I reckon it's time for me to face the facts and admit it and put it out there: it's official! We are bound for the Big Horn 100 starting line (knock on wood). 

Cover Photo #48

Thursday May 31 2018

I've been waiting for the surprise to hit the fan. 

I knew my photo would be on a cover of Endurance News, I just didn't know which cover or when. It's the next June issue!

It just so happens that my 48th cover photo features my good friend Connie and her horse DWA Saruq (one I've ridden in a couple endurance rides), who was bred by my good friends Helen and Archie of DWA Arabians.

I kept it a secret, and the timing was such that I told Connie her birthday surprise was in the mail. Helen and Archie will be thrilled, too, when they find out. They breed wonderful Arabians, and they have long contributed to our sport of endurance, so it's lovely that one of their home-bred horses is now a cover boy!