Riding After Dark--Another Wraff Adventure

I had ridden at night many times as a kid. I was used to riding all day. What could be hard about riding ALL night for 100 miles? I asked myself this & decided it couldn't be hard at all so I signed up for my first 100 miler in Nov, 1985. The Camp Pendleton Challenge was held on the Camp Pendleton Marine Base in San Diego County, CA.

It was a gorgeous day, listening to the waves as Wraff & I rode for miles along the beach & seeing the buffalo as we rode through the herd. Ok, that was a little scary because they were, after all, BIG furry horse eaters. At about 40 miles I caught up with a woman, Karen, on a black horse & we started talking. She said it was also her first 100 & she was nervous about riding in the dark. I assured her it would be easy & fun so we decided to ride together for the next 60 miles.

Sometime shortly before dark we ended up riding with endurance legend Robbi Pruitt & her great horse Assoul (I'm sure I'm spelling it wrong but he was my horse idol at the time & the reason I wanted to own & ride a high mileage horse). As we trotted off into the dark I was confident we were going to have a non-eventful, easy ride through the night & I couldn't wait to celebrate the finish of my first 100.

There were glow bars zig-zagging across the field for about 50' & we thought the pattern was because that's where the brush was. We went in a straight line & soon found out the real reason the glow bars hung in a zigzag as Karen's horse slid into a crater. We turned on our flashlights & yes, it was a crater made by the marines during bombing practice. We were riding through a test range!

As we rode along the ridge line we wondered what it was that looked like white gravestones in the moonlight. Surely it was just the moon reflecting off rocks, but it was an eerie feeling. Then out of nowhere, on top that ridge, miles from anywhere, a man walked out from behind one of those rocks. He asked what we were doing. We told him & asked where he'd come from. He just said over there & kept walking. It was very strange & made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Later I learned that it was indeed an old cemetery up on the ridge line & there was nothing around for miles. I still wonder where that man really came from. From under a gravestone maybe?

At about 75 miles I finally decided to eat something. That banana didn't sit well because by 80 miles I was dry heaving over Wraff's shoulder as we trotted through the dark. I'd never gotten motion sick riding in the dark before, why now? Ok, I'll admit I'd never ridden quite that long in the dark before. Not long after I'd lost my banana we were walking through the pitch dark, not able to see our hands before our eyes dark, when a harsh voice shouted "HALT! Who goes there?!" & we heard an alarming number of rifles being snapped into place. YIKES! Someone had forgotten to tell the reserve units that we'd be riding through. Fortunately we were able to clear the matter up without any shots being fired & down the trail we went.

I don't know when Robbi trotted on, leaving Karen & I to fend for ourselves. Probably when she decided riding with 2 rookies at night was just too exciting. Way off in the distance we could hear the songs of Doc Frank Bennett echoing through the night. Somewhere he was back there on his mule Apache. I knew that as long as he was behind us, we were going to be ok & would get to the finish line in time. FINALLY we rode into camp. I don't remember but it was about 2-2:30 & boy was I glad to get off my horse. My crew trotted Wraff out for the final check & the vet said he was a horse who could definitely go back out on the trail. Unfortunately the same couldn't be said for me. I was done for the night. Surely my next 100 would be easier & less exciting. I couldn't wait for Tevis 1986 to get here!