Preface

Receive all God has for you

Impart his life to others

Decide to do life God's way

Encourage others in love

PREFACE: What’s it all about?

This book is an attempt to not just tell a story, but to share what I have seen God do. And, oh, the things I have seen! If only everyone could see the same. I feel what the disciple John must have felt while on the island of Potmas, where he had visions of the heavenlies. I, too, want to try to tell of the great things I saw. And inspire you to go see great things, maybe in your own backyard. “Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.” – Henry David Thoreau. I rode a horse 2,000 miles (3,218.68km) from Mexico to Canada in six months.

The journey began in late April of 2009 when my husband and I drove out of our Georgia driveway headed for Mexico. I had decided to horseback ride the 2,656 miles (4,274.4km) of the Pacific Crest Trail with my husband, Ralph, as my support crew. Our longtime friend, William C. was following us in his own van. Behind our crew cab pickup truck, we were pulling our 30 foot (9.14m) live-in horse trailer with my two geldings, Jur SuperStar and Harmony in the box stalls. On the back seat was our Australian Shepherd puppy, Ech. This group of six was to be a team for six months.

The Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail (commonly referred to as the PCT) is the longest, maintained, continuous trail in the world; 2,656 miles (4,274.4km) from the Mexican/American border to the Canadian/American border. It was designated a National Scenic Trail by the United States Congress in 1968 but it was not until 1993 that the entire trail was completed into one continuous trail and dedicated. People who hiked it or rode it prior to that time did as best they could to get from the end of a “designated” trail to the next designated section. Every year it changes in condition and distance. The condition is affected by the weather including the previous winter and the distance may increase or decrease due to re-routes or newly routed sections. It is a hiking or equestrian trail only. The trail is divided into sections and those who hike it a section at a time are called section hikers. Those who hike the entire length in one season are called ‘thru-hikers.’ Today it is popular with hikers from all over the world for its challenge, natural beauty, and tremendous distance. There are only a few dozen riders who have completed the entire trail. The trail passes through National Forests, National Parks, State Parks, Wilderness Areas, private land, Bureau of Land Management, and monuments. There are trail registers at the southern and northern terminus and scattered locations between. And I mean scattered. Some registers are so far off the trail that they are impractical to get to. Most of the PCT is 18 inches (45.72cm) wide and follows the contour of the mountains and travels the ridges thus getting its name as a “crest” trail. It really is on the crest of the mountains. It gives you a perspective of how extremely small you are when you ride for 20 miles (32.18km) and at the end can see where you started in the distance and the land all around you for miles and miles without a sign of life. It also makes you realize how very long 2,656 miles (4,274.4km) are! The number of hikers on the PCT each year grows and in 2009, the year I rode it, there were almost 400 to start from the Mexican border.

My two half Arabian geldings were not inexperienced. Both had been camping and were used to being in strange places in the dark. Jur was raised on our farm from our mare Silver Girl; he was half Arabian Horse, ¼ American Quarter Horse and ¼ Tennessee Walking Horse. This made Jur a perfect blend of trail horse. At nine years, he stood 15’2 hands, weighed close to 1,000 pounds (453.95kg), and was a blood bay. He was a lean-mean trail machine. I had trained him to ride and pull a cart and he was also going to learn to pack on the trip. Like his mother, he was incredibly intelligent. Maybe because I raised and trained him, he knew all of my buttons and was adept at finding ways to out-maneuver me. Harmony was an Anglo-Arab, half Thoroughbred and half Arabian Horse. He was an eleven-year old gray, 15’0 hands, and 1100 pounds (498.95kg) of willingness. Even if he did not “want” to do something he would, with a little encouragement. He came to me a year before the trip for training and then was given to me because he spooked a lot under his owner. He was to be my “back-up” horse, when Jur needed a rest. Both horses were grandsons of the fabulous Fadjur, an Arabian stallion (http://www.fadjur.com/). Both horses were barefoot or unshod (without horse shoes); I did all my own hoof work. Both horses had been conditioned for a year for the increased work they would do. I considered both horses exceptionally experienced.

At a fuel stop, the young man filling our tank asked, “Why?” I told him it was a combination of the adventure itself and the sights and people we would see and meet along the way. But it also was because I was able. I was learning that I had to live each day, not just be living each day. I wanted to take an active role in living each day to the fullest.

So many trails - So little time!

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