Joel Whitfield
As the trail continued we wound up at a hand off area again waiting for the Express to continue. It was here, on the east side of I-17, under a scorching 110 degree sun that we met Joel Whitfield. It was on his leg that we would cross I-17 one last time. Jason, took the opportunity to learn more about Joel while Debbie and myself walked a hundred yards or so down the trail to catch the previous rider coming over a hill. We saw the rider, snapped a few shots then waited, until he abruptly appeared about 100 feet away moving at a fairly fast pace. Debbie and I had little time to react, breaking into a full sprint back to the truck where we found Jason still chatting with Joel, who was yet to even be on his horse. There was only a slight momentary delay in which the blame jokingly fell to Jason. At least he was able to get a lot of good information about Joel for his writings.
Bradley Larch
Bradley Larch
At the end of Joel's leg it wasn't long to pass through Black Canyon City. Unfortunately there were a lot of changes to riders/legs so for most of this post I have yet to collect the appropriate names. Moving through Black Canyon City was a blast. Bradley Larch rode at a gallop through most of the town and north past it. It was an entertaining time, with Cody, our driver trying to match speeds while Debbie and I were trying for any shots that we could get of the moments that we were alongside the horse. We had yet to know what lie ahead as Cody, who was Debbie's son of 16, would be taking us at relatively high speeds through some mountain roads the remainder of the day, all while enjoying the music and girls in the cab with him.
Unknown
Unknown
We began our climb to higher elevations and to the town of Cleator. Several riders took us up through the hills and mountains. Many of these legs were of a much faster pace as the dirt roads allowed for more safety and comfort for the horses. The riders through this stretch really enjoyed it, and we even got from Cody that he was hoping for one such leg next year rather than having a leg that was all asphalt. The real show was the hand off between Dan Hamilton and Mike Hill. The two obviously practiced as they performed the hand off at a cantor and before he had the bags fully seated, Mike was off to a gallop. It was a beautiful and precise display, which I was happy to capture in a total of 68 photos. From this hand off, we had a few more legs to Cleator and a the final climb to Crown King.
Dan and Mike's Hand Off
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