Renegade Rendezvous Endurance Ride, Naches WA July 4th weekend

 This was a camping trip that I had promised the girls. The whole family was going to be there. It was a lot of planning, but with a fun creek to play in I figured the girls would be entertained for most of the day. Fun fact. You can't camp light when you travel with your whole family. It's so much more work!

Also this post has been sitting in draft for months. It's time I get it posted.

It was triple digit hot as we drove up through the Cascades, then south and back into the hills. We needed a quick stop for lunch and gas and I found the only shade I could to park the trailer so Gwyn wouldn't bake in the sun.

But the temperature dropped once we climbed a bit in elevation. Still hot, but not triple digit.  We picked a campsite where I could high line and near to Cortney and family. We had some nice shade all day in this location, which was necessary!  Peep the new to us family tent that I bought from a friend. So much room for everyone to sleep! And both adults were able to have cots for more comfort.

I was opting for the trail ride distance of 15 miles. I wanted to treat it like the first leg of a 25 mile and ride it as such, rather than take my time. As a result I was going to be riding alone.  Because of heat worry, trail riders were able to leave once all of the 25 milers were on trail, so I planned my start time to be as though I were on the 25. 

Gwyn was excited. We were camped along the initial trail out of ride camp and she had watched the other riders leaving through the morning.  It was gorgeous and fairly cool to start. I was grateful we had been given the option of starting an hour earlier. 

The hills in Naches were dry, nothing like our west side dense cover. And recent wildfires have ravaged this area.

I was really enjoying the solitude.

Much to my surprise, just after I dropped to a creek to let Gwyn drink, an 25m rider, L, came up behind me. She'd missed the initial turn for the 25s and trail and continued on the 50mile initial loop for a couple miles. We decided to stick together through the vet check where I'd be done and she'd continue on. 

I know L through Cortney. She recently had a baby and hasn't been out to many rides because of legitimate Covid concerns. It was nice to ride on a beautiful day with her!

The trail was a steady climb up a mountain. There were a few dips down, but for the most part we were just climbing up and up and up.

However, we were promised a party at Vet Check 2 (1st vet check for 25s, 2nd vet check for 50s, the end of the line for me)

It was a Luau!

I found out recently that this vet check area was victim to one of the wildfires that ravaged the area and nothing is left. None of these nice big shade trees. It's all gone to fire. It's such a shame. I'm not sure when Renegade will be held next because the trails took a beating by our 2021 fire season.

This mash is called Horse Crack and both horses LOVED it

While L continued, I waited to catch a ride on the trailer back down the mountain. I was the first trail rider to return but I opted to hang out while other trail riders who arrived after me got a ride back. It was nice hanging out at vet check. I tied Gwyn to a tree with some hay and water and hung out with Cortney and the vets. 

Gwyn was not a fan on the trailer, historically she does not like loading onto slants and that's all we had available if we didn't just do the whole 25. But... she did get in with assistance. So that was a win! 

Back in camp I got Gwyn set up at our campsite then removed riding clothes in favor of soaking in cold creek water clothes.

And I took over child minding. They enjoyed having my waterproof (and shockproof) camera to play around with taking underwater photos.

Then it was riding meeting and awards night!

A full day in water and fresh air wore the kids out.

We drove home the next day and it was hot hot hot again.

I got Gwyn dropped off, and then as we're heading back home my truck just up and loses all acceleration power on me. The trailer was still hitched, the whole family in the truck and it's super hot, especially for the west side of Washington. I manage to limp to a shady spot with enough room to park in the median and we got the family rescued by a friend while I called US Rider. 

Thankfully, they were great and arranged a tow truck for me on a holiday no less. By the time the tow arrived, the truck had recovered enough to limp home, so the tow truck escorted me back to the house. I was able to park the trailer and eventually get the truck to a mechanic where it was diagnosed with a dead transmission. 

So there you go, that story is now full circle. I know I blogged about it before. But it was a terrible end cap of an awesome weekend.