[pct-l] Ed Anderson and Primo on the PCT

[Tom Bache]

Ed Anderson is 72 and still one of California's best long-distance
equestrians.  He has won more than 50 "endurance" races at distances between
50 and 100 miles and placed high in many more.  He is attempting the PCT on
Primo, a beautiful little Arabian gelding who has been Ed's mount on some of
his endurance race wins.

Ed now lives in Agua Dulce.  He started from the border on Saturday.  He
plans to ride to Trail Crest (mile 745), then exit via Horseshoe Meadows and
skip north to avoid snowy passes.  He plans to get back on the trail where
it is safe (probably in the Tahoe area) and go north as far as he can this
season.  The big problem with a horse is that it needs 6-10 lbs of grain
each day, depending on availability of grass and time to graze.  This limits
its range between resupply to less than a human hiker.  Ed plans to
self-support by caching food before undertaking long sections.
 
I was curious about how he managed the horse, so met him Monday evening at
Sunshine Trailhead. We camped there (cold -- low about 36 -- and windy) and
walked down to Scissors Crossing on Tuesday.  Ed walked that day because he
added grain from a cache he had left at Sunshine Trailhead, and this made
his total weight exceed his self-imposed limit (250 lbs) for Primo.

Ed is an extraordinarily strong hiker for his age (for any age), but the
years do slow us all down on the steep uphills.  But when it gets steep, Ed
drops behind, grabs the horse's tail (it is called "tailing" in endurance
racing) and lets the horse go.  With this technique, he can keep up with
anybody!  

San Felipe Creek is bone dry.  Ed had to ride off past many locked gates to
find water for Primo.  After several miles, he found a place (nobody home)
where he could get water and graze the horse.  He camped there because he
must graze the horse for 2 hours each morning to keep it fueled.  I camped
at Scissors where it wasn't very cold, but the wind howled all night.

Ed was going to ride on Wednesday, so I started early to have some hope of
reaching Barrel Springs before him.  I spent the day leapfrogging with about
10 thru's (all but one in their 20's), and reached B.S. about 30 minutes
before Ed.  They needed only 8 hours to do the 24 miles plus 2-3 more from
from his camping spot.   The horse wasn't even sweating, showing that it was
an easy day for him.  He could have done it in half the time if Ed had let
him.

Over the two days we saw about 30 PCT hikers going north and south. SOBO
hikers are headed for ADZPCTKO, as are some of the NOBO.  People are spread
out and dry camping in all sorts of places, so we saw no crowds anywhere.

The big lesson for me is that riding the PCT is hard!  It is easier to ride
than to walk, but any saved energy is used taking care of the horse and all
its gear.  The equestrian needs to spend hours each day watering and grazing
and checking the horse carefully to make sure it is ok -- no lameness,
holding weight, good appetite, etc. -- basically the same things we check on
ourselves.  The logistics challenges are formidable, as demonstrated by the
situation at Scissors Crossing, and a horse can't handle ice or much snow or
downed trees.  I think the latter is going to be Ed's biggest problem.
Another hiker and I combined to move one only a few hundred yards before
Barrel Springs.  Had that tree been much larger, Ed would have been faced
with hours of sawing or a 10 mile trip back to 3rd Gate to exit the trail
and go around. 

I was wondering what the hikers would think of a horse on the trail.
Everyone seemed happy to see this beautiful animal.  It is thrilling to see
this four-legged athlete moving fast on very exposed sections where the
trail is sometimes only 12 inches wide.  Needless to say, this is only for
expert riders and sure-footed horses.

I'll be watching Ed's progress with interest.  You can see where he is on
the front page of savemegps.com

Tom Bache
San Diego