After more than 30 years of making this annual trip, the Durango Mountain Caballeros have this horseback ride perfected. The ride is comprised of members of a club (actually an official non-profit organization) whose sole activity is the ride that comes each year in the week following Labor Day. About half of the riders are local to Colorado while the others come from Florida, Texas, Arizona, Virginia and of course Maryland. For many, its the only horseback riding they do, but the trip planners don’t hesitate to plan a spirited route through tough Colorado mountain terrain.
Its a men only ride, but that doesn’t mean that the ladies are ignored. A separate ladies club has formed to provide activities while the ride is going on. Additionally, “sweethearts” are invited to the opening and closing dinners.
I arrived in Durango about two hours before the opening dinner Tuesday afternoon, so I had little time to unwind after the plane ride and the drive from Albuquerque NM. I took a quick shower, dug through my belongings trying to re-pack for the next morning’s departure and headed out the door with John and Fritz to meet the van ride to Electra Lake where I would meet the other riders for the first time. There is no finer place to watch the sun melt behind the mountains than the community lodge overlooking Electra Lake. Hugs and handshakes abound, I was welcomed into their close community with a couple other guys who were also first timers. When I attend work meetings and conferences, I’m used to being the youngest guy in the crowd… I was thankful to see that there were a handful of guys younger than myself.
Day 1 began by deciding what the necessities were before I headed out the door. Get my gear bags downsized to one bag, throw it on the truck along with whatever I’ll be riding with that day (also a complete guess). Bus ride from the hotel back up to the lodge at Electra Lake for a great buffet breakfast. Load back up and head to the stables. Drop off gear bags, get horse assignments, sign waivers. Bus to trail head where horses are waiting… meet horse. Take selfie with horse. Mount up. I’M ON A HORSE! Stirrup adjustment (one of many) by wrangler… and hit the trail.
The trails remind me of the ones I explored with Ryan and Jason in years past on bikes: steep, rocky and winding. Day 1 started with lots of climbing up 30 or 40 switchbacks to finally summit atop the bluff overlooking the Animas river valley and Electra Lake… what a view.
After another hour or so we made it into camp so we could set up our tents and get settled. The tents were already set, numbered and assigned. John, Fritz and I moved in, changed into campground attire and found the bar. The dinner bell rang and within minutes I was full to the brim with bbq prepared for us by skilled culinary craftsmen. Our entertainment came next as we surrounded a giant bonfire (inside a tent no-less) as Tim Sullivan sang western songs, and told stories until midnight when we all wandered off through the night to slide into our sleeping bags after a long 1st day.
Day 2 started with a much needed cup of cowboy coffee and a breakfast that would clog the heart of a rhinoceros. But in the cold high altitude of the San Juans, it was the perfect thing to keep me warm. We rode out of camp at about 10 am and explored scenic vistas, long winding trails and said hello to cows that were hiding behind the Ponderosa pines along the way. Instead of the long ride that was originally scheduled, we had a shorter 3.5 hour ride, returned to camp for lunch followed by an optional ride in the afternoon. Since Fritz and I had signed up for the Mountain Boccie ball tournament, we felt it would be best to get warmed up for that. We played two games and won handily so we moved on to the semifinals of the bracket. Food, food and more food followed the ringing dinner bell (yep, a traditional western triangle). Campfire, music, stories…. amazingly it was all the young guys that wandered off to bed first.
Day 3 was a sequel of the second. We stayed in the saddle for nearly 6 hours along new and uncharted trails (kind of an oxymoron, but you get my meaning). We saw more of the eastern facing vistas and brought lunch along with us to enjoy atop panoramic meadows. My favorite thing to do was wander off and find a quite spot to soak it in. It felt like a visiting a home I had never seen.
Crunch time for the Boccie Ball tourney. We faced off against some fierce competitors and won by a narrow margin for the first game. That placed us into the finals against Michelle (Machete) and Gary. We had a tight game through 7 rounds and were tied at 9 (of 15). But our luck ran out and we could score no more losing to worthy adversaries.
Day 3 also marks a special night for dinner… Steak and Lobstah! Yeah, this isn’t your normal camping trip. Campfire: Check. Music: Check. Open Bar: Check. Bed: Shortly after midnight.
Day 4 we got a slightly earlier start so that we could packing up camp. After another colorful and choleric breakfast we packed our things, loaded the trailer for the ride down the mountain, and set off on horseback for a 4.5 hour ride. Along the way we saw elk and views that stopped me in my tracks. I took more photos that day than the others and tried to breathe in the grandeur around me. The awkward positioning on the horse had finally caught up with me. It wasn’t my ass like everyone said it would be, it was my knees, especially descending the steep trails and posting as Vegas trotted below me. As enjoyable as the whole descent was down into the Animas River Valley, I was ready to be off.
We made it to the trail head, saying goodbye to a few that had alternate rides available when we arrived. Also said goodbye by to Vegas. He had been good to me despite his orneriness. He was as ADD as I and we found a balance.
A couple hours and a long shower later, we said our final goodbyes at the closing dinner at the hotel. The ladies joined us for that event and we kept the dirty jokes and crude fireside stories to ourselves as John’s photo slideshow played on the screen above our dinner tables. The next stop in this rodeo is reality… it wasn’t one anyone was looking forward to.
