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Updates are posted as we
get them and are presented in chronological order. You can scroll to the end of
the page to see the latest news, or you can use the links just above to find
where you left off in the wonderful saga of Garry's Dream Adventure.
CHECK OUT THE NEW PHOTOS on page 1 and
page 2.
Day 1 - Dream Adventure comes true!
I am finally off. Martha McNiel plans on riding the first two days
with me and we arrive at Panoche about 10:30 am. It seems the whole
town came to see the excitement, even the press. Though there was the
threat of rain, it was gorgeous all day. I only slept about one hour
the night before and I was running on pure adrenaline. Kate Woods
(the reporter from The Pinnacle newspaper) was there to ask more
questions and take more photos. The owners of the Panoche Inn were awesome
and treated us like family. I took over an hour to saddle up and get on
down the road.
That first night we camped at Kevin Borba's ranch. Kevin is a real cowboy
who raises bucking stock for rodeos and does day work for other ranches.
His ranch is in the Arroyo de Corrals, in a canyon shaped like a horseshoe.
This hide-out was used by Joaquin Murietta, a famous cattle and horse rustler
in the 1850s. This bandit was so famous for his boldness and brutality,
that the California governor put a price on his head (literally). The bounty
was only to be paid if the actual head of Joaquin Murietta was brought to him.
Harry Love and the California Rangers did just that, or at least Harry Love
said it was the head of the notorious Joaquin that he brought back in a jar.
Later many laughed and said they had seen the famous outlaw and knew he was
alive and well. So Martha and I put up our tent below the cliffs of the
former bandit hide-out. It was a great day and a great start to my dream adventure.
Day 2 - Second verse, same as the first
We headed down the road about 9 am, getting a slow start, but
another great day of riding with little or no incidents. We had a
little rain but not enough to get wet. We did have a truck go by with
no muffler. That scared Gwen so badly she ran down the road about 500
yards towards home, until she realized we were not going with her and she
stopped. The Orepeza family, who brought us to Panoche, came to pick up Martha
when we arrived at the Ashurst Ranch about 3 pm.
This was my first night alone. There were no incidents, except the Ashurst
stud got loose and was running along the fence around 1 am, talking to
Ginger. I woke the family who lived on the ranch and we caught the stud
and I was soon back asleep. I seem to recall Kevin Borba having a gelding
do the same thing with Ginger the night before. She seems to be getting
all of the attention.
It seems I entered into a little "Badlands" controversy where the
owner of a ranch I had originally been planning to stay at had allegedly
been arrested for cattle rustling. He was out on bail pending trial, which
was scheduled for the coming week. The "Badlands" legend continues.
Day 3 - The hoof meets the road
I start the day to find out my horses have lost a total of three
shoes between them. And a ranch worker came by to inform me that there
was a stud roaming freely through the next town up the road. The town is
New Idria, and it is an abandoned mercury mining town that was abandoned
in 1974 and is now a bonafide ghost town. The mine is now a "super fund"
toxic waste clean-up site that spews its orange mercury run-off into
streams that eventually flow into San Francisco Bay. Wonderful. As if
having to pack water (due to the toxic water in town) isn't bad enough,
now I have three less horse shoes and there is a loose stud to contend
with. Jim, a local ranch worker, offers to help by trailering me through
the town. Sorry, Ginger, no meeting Mr. Right today. I accepted Jim's offer gratefully.
Once through New Idria, I started up San Benito Mountain. I reached the
summit by walking most of it and leading the horses, since they are missing
shoes. At the top, I looked back at Gwen's pack saddle and saw that there
was no tent on top (where it had been tied). Now what do I do? I can't
go the next three days through the mountains without a tent. So I go
back down the mountain, to find the missing tent. I get to where Jim had
unloaded us and there is still no tent. I got off Ginger to look around
there. And there is the tent--hanging off Gwen's back behind the pack saddle.
We had covered over twenty miles that day and I had walked more than ten of
those twenty miles, all of it in the mountains. I arrived at Oak Flat
Campground after 4 pm and quickly set up camp and went to bed.
Day 4 - Ready for More
The girls were still sore when I got up and there was ice in their
water bucket. It had been cold! After saddling them, I started walking
and leading them, since their feet were so sore. I ended up walking the
entire eighteen miles for the day. When I arrived at camp, I had a blister
on each heel larger than a silver dollar.
My son, Nathan, and daughter-in-law, Chrissy, and granddaughter Faith drove
all the way from Orange County to support me. They met me with eight miles
to go on the day's journey. Nathan walked the last eight miles with me,
though we had planned to ride together. We did put all the gear in their
van, so the load was off the horses. We arrived at Dave Schreiner's camp
about 4 pm. Dave owns what used to be a prison road camp. From 1940-1955
"honor" prisoners from California prisons lived there and worked
on the roads or in fire protection units. Dave has owned this camp for
eleven years and has turned it into a camp/retreat center with several
cottages and lots of beds. It is about twenty miles north of Coalinga
and it is really cool, if you don't mind the razor wire fence.
Once we got the horses unloaded, we drove to town to find a farrier.
Richard Burkett had stopped me on the road earlier in the day and gave
me the phone number for a farrier. We went to town and found a farrier
and the Coalinga Feed Store, owned by Debi Lyons. She wouldn't let
me pay for the feed and said, "It's not for you; it's for 'the girls.'"
Day 5 - A Day of Rest
After the last few days and needing to wait for the farrier, we decided
to take a day off. My blisters needed to heal, as well as all of our legs
and feet. I spent the time just messing with gear and playing with Baby
Faith. The horses just grazed on Dave's great grass.
Martha arrived tired and stressed from the drive with the trailer. We
left to take the horses to the farrier and the trailer had two flat tires on
the way. The spare was also flat. With help from many people we got the
tires changed and made it to Jack Sazano (the farrier) in time. Then we had
a steak dinner and went to bed.
Day 6
We took the trailer to get all the tires fixed or replaced. Martha and
I were back in the saddle and "on the road again" by 11:30 am. Nathan drove
the rig four days ahead. Martha and I rode eighteen miles and got to
Parkfield at 5:30 pm. We ate steak again at the Parkfield Cafe. This
"roughing it" is great!
On a sober note, we heard news of the war in Iraq. Sounds like it is
one-sided again.
Day 7
The next morning Nick was in rare form and slipped on the wet grass,
falling down on top of Martha as she was getting on. The day got better
until a semi-truck drove by and hit his horn while we were beside Highway
46. That spooked the girls and they took off running while I was closing a
farmer's gate. Ginger ran in circles until she gave up. Gwen's pack saddle
almost fell all the way under to her belly. She stopped and I re-set the
pack system. It was a long day and we had to ride 24 miles. We didn't have
a place to stay for the night lined up. We stopped at a ranch owned by
Darrel and Cheryl Skelton. They were very kind and welcoming and invited us
up for hamburgers. It was great.
Day 8
We got off early and made good time. We rode 19 miles. We stopped
around lunch time in what looked like a park, but was a pheasant hunting
club. I laid down on a picnic table for a few minutes' rest. Martha asked
to do the same, and I agreed to watch the horses. Of course they decided to
take off running after I took over the watch. When we caught them, we had
to adjust everything.
We reached a ranch owned by Mark and Jodi Leslie at 4 pm, but no one
was home. This was where we had hoped to spend the night, because the next
ranch was over six miles away. We didn't know what to do. We didn't know
if the owners would let us stay or not. We put all our eggs in this basket
and unloaded the horses in the front yard. Mark arrived at sundown, in a
truck full of cowboys who had been branding calves all day. Mark said no
problem and we gratefully set up camp by the road.
Day 9
Martha woke up sore and suggested I ride ahead on one horse and leave
Gwen and the gear with her and Nick. Her truck was parked fifteen miles
away at Simmler, where Nathan had driven it. I made it to Simmler in just
four hours. Ginger was pretty nervous leaving Gwen and Nick behind, and she
nickered the whole way.
I returned with the trailer and got Martha and the other two horses.
We both returned to the most gracious hosts you could meet: Sandy, DeWayne
and Robbie Rowlett. They gave us the use of their guest house, which Sandy
had grown up in. The house is very cute and homey. I love it here and feel
like I am staying with family. They were incredibly gracious and took great
care of us, including a tri-tip bar-b-que for dinner.
Day 10
Wow! What a great night's sleep in Sandy's mother's sleigh bed. Staying
with the Rowlett's the night before was so comfortable. DeWayne made us BBQ
and Sandy made a nice dinner (with deviled eggs, which I love!). Their
hospitality overwhelmed me.
Before I took off (Martha decided to drive the support truck), Mark Leslie
(our host from the night before) drove up to check on us. The people in the
Carrizo Plains are just great people. I found out later in the day that
Sandy had packed me a tri-tip sandwich to die for. The 19 miles was easy,
not having to carry the pack equipment. I was there by 2 pm, but the camp
had no water. Good thing Martha had the truck there. We spent two hours
transporting water for the horses.
The camp (KCL Campground in the Carrizo Plain National Monument) was run
down, but the view of the plains was awesome. We were warned by several
ranchers that the rattlers are particularly aggressive this year, so I
walked the camp before releasing the horses in the corrals. I had seen a
small rattler on the road (road kill) and later saw one slither into the
grass from the road. I'm zipping the tent up tightly tonight!
Martha measured the girls to check their weight, and both had gained 10-15
lbs. so far. I presume not only is the feed concentrate working, but the
grazing and extra hay are helping also. Also, the weight gain is probably
more muscle.
Sunday, March 30
I rested in Acton (near Palmdale) at Ann and Rob Trussels' and they threw a party for me
and Rob bar-b-qued steak. It was a great day of rest.
Monday, March 31
Lisa Wood (Longrider) trailered the girls and me to Mexico. She shuttled my gear for me
for the next 3days, to make my trip easier. I stayed at Castle Rock Ranch
(100 yards from the Mexican border). Border security was very tight and trucks
whizzed by my tent all night. For the next three days I kept seeing ponchos made
of yarn lying along the trail. These ponchos are very common in Mexico. I also
saw threads of yarn stuck to bushes all along the way, although I never saw signs
of illegal immigrants.
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