We have ridden hard and the bodies are sore and we need to sleep in, so today is rest day. I get up at the usual time and try to catch up on the blog. The guys get up closer to 9 and promptly miss breakfast, which ends at 9.
Today is skydiving day. Jeff, Josh and Dave decide to skydive while Tom and I are going horseback riding. We make the calls to book the appointments and then the discussion starts. Dave has a fear of horses, but feeding them apples in Escalante piques his interest. If he an overcome his fear to feed them, could he take the next step to ride one? A deal is struck. If Tom joins in the jump, Dave will join in the horseback ride. Wait, if you guys are riding, so are we, so now Jeff and Josh are in. I chicken out of the jump - there are reasons but let's keep the chicken story as the official excuse.
You need to see the poster for the jump to understand Dave's joke about offering to pay extra to get the back position - guy joke.
We get to the airport and the guys go for the legal briefing and "drop training". We establish a rapport with the jump teachers (Jeff and Tom are masters) and the scene in the hangar becomes "cool". Turns out, the jump planes, Cessna 172s can only take 2 jumpers plus the trainers. That's two trips to get the four jumpers their opportunity to fly. There was not enough time to take a fifth jumper and the cost would be too high. Costs the same in fuel to take 2 as just 1.
I use the time to update the blog and prepare for pictures when the guys exit the plane until landing.
The plane provides a scenic ride for the jumpers as it travels through the area to gain altitude. The pilot informs me that they use a ridge in the distance to catch a lift on the ridge waves (created when the wind is forced upward when hits the ridge). The passengers end up with a spectacular view of the area. The field is 4,000 feet above sea level and the planes will fly to 10,000 feet above the airfield. 14,000 feet is the maximum that the plane can fly efficiently. With the heat (it's 34C), the air gets thin and the piston engine struggles to function with almost no manifold pressure. So, the guys jump at 14,000, where the air is thinner than the top of Pike's peak - don't want to spend too much time there before the head gets wobbly.
From the videos, the jump is intense. The tandem team falls head first, assumes the position - hands and legs up, belly down, and the drogue chute is deployed to ensure they fly belly down. Each diver enjoys a brief period of free fall (from the ground, the drop is fast - they are travelling at over 120 mph - ironic that Tom and Dave ride their bikes faster than that). The big chute is deployed and they circle the area for a while. Landing comes surprisingly fast. I can barely keep up with the speed, filming the landing. The chute whistling as it lands only emphasizes the speed, but the trainers are experts - they flare the chutes before touchdown and, in spite of the brisk surface winds (or perhaps because of the winds), each jumper touches down softly.
Later, while the GoPro videos are being edited, the trainers (who barely weigh 145 soaking wet) proclaim that they would rather have a 225lb student than a 95lb because the 225 lb weight guarantees a proper flight. The training uses the analogy of a badminton bird with the weight in front, and feathers in back and with a 225 lb student, the trainers are the perfect feather. They tell a story of a 95 lb girl who, last week, decided to touch her toes during fee fall, which caused the tandem pair to go into a spin - right into a cloud. The instructor winced at his buddies as he recalls that they spun through the cloud for 3,000 feet, not knowing where up or down were so he couldn't fly the drogue - they could get tangled if it was improperly released. When they emerged from the cloud it took a few seconds to get the tandem into the right position and the rest of the landing was text book. I asked how bad was it and the trainer said that after he landed, told the girl she did a great job, went back to the hangar, barfed, cleaned up and got ready for the next dive.
The sky divers are a motley crew. Each one has a story about their journey to this hangar, working to feed their jumping passion. There many tats and piercings and their faces look 20 years older than actual age. Some of the difference can, no doubt, be explained by the sun and wind exposure from diving, but the rest likely comes from substance abuse, partying hard and a hard life style. There is not a lot of money to be made skydiving so one does it for the love of the lifestyle and the trill of the jump.
By the time the last video was edited, we no longer had time to get to town to change into riding gear, so it was off to the ranch, regardless of readiness. All of us had jeans but most were in sneakers (except Tom, who knew this was a possibility and was prepared). The road to the ranch followed the Colorado river and was on the Butler map as a must ride. One could spend a lot of time in Moab in order to explore all of the sights.
Jeff landing:
Josh landing:
The ranch is run by a husband and wife team, John and Sena Hauer, and they are tired from a buys week at the rodeo that finished a few days earlier. This is not a tourist dude ranch and the horses are high spirited and competitive. We told them we are intermediate riders so we get the 2 1/2 hour ride into the desert. Sena matches us up to our horses. I pull Champ, Sena's personal horse. Apparently Champ did well at the rodeo and still hasn't calmed down.
Josh gets Gem, a blonde
Tom gets Nino - black quarter horse mix,
Jeff gets Cash -
Dave's gets Snip, who is renamed Snooky (Sam says she's a ornery slut - horse that is)
Sam(antha) is our outrider - a role that quickly catches up to an out of control, galloping horse and snatches the out of control rider off the horse before the rider fall off and breaks their neck. Apparently horseback riding in the desert is more dangerous that jumping out of a plane. We see a bit of that later, when our good riding skills encourages Sena to take us on the "better" trails, along ridges, up steep hills and beside drop offs that would cause severe pain if one departed the horse at the wrong time.
We head off to the Colorado river through a dry stream bed and then follow the onion river to the hills. Through out this ride, we learn about the local history - a number of movies, including City Slicker were shot here.
The setting sun brings out the best of the desert. It's spring so every bush that has a flower is showing off it's colours. Evening primrose and other night flowers are opening up and releasing their scent. The colours of the mesa's are accentuated by the evening light. On the bikes, we see the the high level views of the region. On the horses, we get to sample the beauty up close.
The horses each have a strong personality which affects how it behaves on the ride. Champ doesn't want me on his back, he wants Sena. Then, he wants to be up front so he is pushing his way through the pack to get there. At the start of the ride, Sena is testing our control of the horses. We are not allowed to get in front of her or Sam 'cause then if a horse bolts, they can't snatch us off. If a horse bolts, it's because the rider can't control it. It takes a while, but we prove we are in control and the reward is a gallop down a sandy (no rocks) section. My stirrups are done up as short as possible, but my 32 inch legs are 2 inches too short, and Champ gallops, so I need to post when he goes fast. Problem is, with the stirrups so short, all I accomplish is an ass slapping that is so loud that Dave is pissing his pants laughing when he hears the sound from the saddle. I just feel like a bad boy, who has been punished repeatedly, but we have a lot of fun. Tom has Nino, a high spirited stallion who takes no shit from no one. Tom rides him like a cowboy, separate from the group which is good because it keeps Nino away from the other horses. It also lets Tom take videos of the group. Josh and Dave's Jeff's horses gait so they can go fast without beating up the rider. The spend several little runs competing for first place. The guys love it, the horses love it. Seems that the other horses like to show up Champ when ever they can. Champ responds by pinning his ears back and taking off in a gallop, but then, under Jenn's instructions, pull him back. He shakes his head at me but Jenn says - show him who's the boss. Champ responds by biting the other horses whenever he can.
Sam is a rodeo rider and horse expert. She is also a fire cracker. The guys establish a good relationship with Sam, a cow girl who lives out of a bunk in the livery section of her horse trailer and earns her living in rodeos and guiding. She's not too tall, looks a bit like Sarah Jessica Parker and strong. When Josh makes a wise crack, she threatens to take him into the barn and bench press him. I think that she decided that she likes us because she is bantering with the boys as if they belonged to her. Her boss is worried we will not respond favourably. On a prior trip, a Mormon family was offended when Sam used swear words to describe the beautiful colours of a lizard they had discovered. We tell Jenn that Sam's description of the ride makes this cowboy adventure even better.
Can't say enough how great the ride was. By the time we get back to the stables, it's dark. We chat a bit and then prepare for the ride back to Moab. Night has set and we are worried about animals on the road back. The beemer goes first so that the bright LEDs can seek out any animals lurking at the side of the road. Turns out the biggest danger comes from a 20 something girly jeep driver, who thinks it's OK to tail gate motorcycles and pass on curves and rapidly cut in on the bikes when she runs out of road. By the time we get to a construction stop, Dave is ready to kill the driver for the risk they are taking. He gets his chance to have words with her and she just acts stupid. Hopefully she has a life changing moment before she kills someone (including her self).
We are dead tired when we get back to the hotel so it's a quick dinner and then flop into bed. Tomorrow, we get back on the road to Colorado. We only have 5 more days on the road. We need to win the lottery.
Today is skydiving day. Jeff, Josh and Dave decide to skydive while Tom and I are going horseback riding. We make the calls to book the appointments and then the discussion starts. Dave has a fear of horses, but feeding them apples in Escalante piques his interest. If he an overcome his fear to feed them, could he take the next step to ride one? A deal is struck. If Tom joins in the jump, Dave will join in the horseback ride. Wait, if you guys are riding, so are we, so now Jeff and Josh are in. I chicken out of the jump - there are reasons but let's keep the chicken story as the official excuse.
You need to see the poster for the jump to understand Dave's joke about offering to pay extra to get the back position - guy joke.
We get to the airport and the guys go for the legal briefing and "drop training". We establish a rapport with the jump teachers (Jeff and Tom are masters) and the scene in the hangar becomes "cool". Turns out, the jump planes, Cessna 172s can only take 2 jumpers plus the trainers. That's two trips to get the four jumpers their opportunity to fly. There was not enough time to take a fifth jumper and the cost would be too high. Costs the same in fuel to take 2 as just 1.
I use the time to update the blog and prepare for pictures when the guys exit the plane until landing.
The plane provides a scenic ride for the jumpers as it travels through the area to gain altitude. The pilot informs me that they use a ridge in the distance to catch a lift on the ridge waves (created when the wind is forced upward when hits the ridge). The passengers end up with a spectacular view of the area. The field is 4,000 feet above sea level and the planes will fly to 10,000 feet above the airfield. 14,000 feet is the maximum that the plane can fly efficiently. With the heat (it's 34C), the air gets thin and the piston engine struggles to function with almost no manifold pressure. So, the guys jump at 14,000, where the air is thinner than the top of Pike's peak - don't want to spend too much time there before the head gets wobbly.
From the videos, the jump is intense. The tandem team falls head first, assumes the position - hands and legs up, belly down, and the drogue chute is deployed to ensure they fly belly down. Each diver enjoys a brief period of free fall (from the ground, the drop is fast - they are travelling at over 120 mph - ironic that Tom and Dave ride their bikes faster than that). The big chute is deployed and they circle the area for a while. Landing comes surprisingly fast. I can barely keep up with the speed, filming the landing. The chute whistling as it lands only emphasizes the speed, but the trainers are experts - they flare the chutes before touchdown and, in spite of the brisk surface winds (or perhaps because of the winds), each jumper touches down softly.
Later, while the GoPro videos are being edited, the trainers (who barely weigh 145 soaking wet) proclaim that they would rather have a 225lb student than a 95lb because the 225 lb weight guarantees a proper flight. The training uses the analogy of a badminton bird with the weight in front, and feathers in back and with a 225 lb student, the trainers are the perfect feather. They tell a story of a 95 lb girl who, last week, decided to touch her toes during fee fall, which caused the tandem pair to go into a spin - right into a cloud. The instructor winced at his buddies as he recalls that they spun through the cloud for 3,000 feet, not knowing where up or down were so he couldn't fly the drogue - they could get tangled if it was improperly released. When they emerged from the cloud it took a few seconds to get the tandem into the right position and the rest of the landing was text book. I asked how bad was it and the trainer said that after he landed, told the girl she did a great job, went back to the hangar, barfed, cleaned up and got ready for the next dive.
The sky divers are a motley crew. Each one has a story about their journey to this hangar, working to feed their jumping passion. There many tats and piercings and their faces look 20 years older than actual age. Some of the difference can, no doubt, be explained by the sun and wind exposure from diving, but the rest likely comes from substance abuse, partying hard and a hard life style. There is not a lot of money to be made skydiving so one does it for the love of the lifestyle and the trill of the jump.
By the time the last video was edited, we no longer had time to get to town to change into riding gear, so it was off to the ranch, regardless of readiness. All of us had jeans but most were in sneakers (except Tom, who knew this was a possibility and was prepared). The road to the ranch followed the Colorado river and was on the Butler map as a must ride. One could spend a lot of time in Moab in order to explore all of the sights.
Josh landing:
The ranch is run by a husband and wife team, John and Sena Hauer, and they are tired from a buys week at the rodeo that finished a few days earlier. This is not a tourist dude ranch and the horses are high spirited and competitive. We told them we are intermediate riders so we get the 2 1/2 hour ride into the desert. Sena matches us up to our horses. I pull Champ, Sena's personal horse. Apparently Champ did well at the rodeo and still hasn't calmed down.
Josh gets Gem, a blonde
Tom gets Nino - black quarter horse mix,
Jeff gets Cash -
Dave's gets Snip, who is renamed Snooky (Sam says she's a ornery slut - horse that is)
Sam(antha) is our outrider - a role that quickly catches up to an out of control, galloping horse and snatches the out of control rider off the horse before the rider fall off and breaks their neck. Apparently horseback riding in the desert is more dangerous that jumping out of a plane. We see a bit of that later, when our good riding skills encourages Sena to take us on the "better" trails, along ridges, up steep hills and beside drop offs that would cause severe pain if one departed the horse at the wrong time.
We head off to the Colorado river through a dry stream bed and then follow the onion river to the hills. Through out this ride, we learn about the local history - a number of movies, including City Slicker were shot here.
The setting sun brings out the best of the desert. It's spring so every bush that has a flower is showing off it's colours. Evening primrose and other night flowers are opening up and releasing their scent. The colours of the mesa's are accentuated by the evening light. On the bikes, we see the the high level views of the region. On the horses, we get to sample the beauty up close.
The horses each have a strong personality which affects how it behaves on the ride. Champ doesn't want me on his back, he wants Sena. Then, he wants to be up front so he is pushing his way through the pack to get there. At the start of the ride, Sena is testing our control of the horses. We are not allowed to get in front of her or Sam 'cause then if a horse bolts, they can't snatch us off. If a horse bolts, it's because the rider can't control it. It takes a while, but we prove we are in control and the reward is a gallop down a sandy (no rocks) section. My stirrups are done up as short as possible, but my 32 inch legs are 2 inches too short, and Champ gallops, so I need to post when he goes fast. Problem is, with the stirrups so short, all I accomplish is an ass slapping that is so loud that Dave is pissing his pants laughing when he hears the sound from the saddle. I just feel like a bad boy, who has been punished repeatedly, but we have a lot of fun. Tom has Nino, a high spirited stallion who takes no shit from no one. Tom rides him like a cowboy, separate from the group which is good because it keeps Nino away from the other horses. It also lets Tom take videos of the group. Josh and Dave's Jeff's horses gait so they can go fast without beating up the rider. The spend several little runs competing for first place. The guys love it, the horses love it. Seems that the other horses like to show up Champ when ever they can. Champ responds by pinning his ears back and taking off in a gallop, but then, under Jenn's instructions, pull him back. He shakes his head at me but Jenn says - show him who's the boss. Champ responds by biting the other horses whenever he can.
Sam is a rodeo rider and horse expert. She is also a fire cracker. The guys establish a good relationship with Sam, a cow girl who lives out of a bunk in the livery section of her horse trailer and earns her living in rodeos and guiding. She's not too tall, looks a bit like Sarah Jessica Parker and strong. When Josh makes a wise crack, she threatens to take him into the barn and bench press him. I think that she decided that she likes us because she is bantering with the boys as if they belonged to her. Her boss is worried we will not respond favourably. On a prior trip, a Mormon family was offended when Sam used swear words to describe the beautiful colours of a lizard they had discovered. We tell Jenn that Sam's description of the ride makes this cowboy adventure even better.
Can't say enough how great the ride was. By the time we get back to the stables, it's dark. We chat a bit and then prepare for the ride back to Moab. Night has set and we are worried about animals on the road back. The beemer goes first so that the bright LEDs can seek out any animals lurking at the side of the road. Turns out the biggest danger comes from a 20 something girly jeep driver, who thinks it's OK to tail gate motorcycles and pass on curves and rapidly cut in on the bikes when she runs out of road. By the time we get to a construction stop, Dave is ready to kill the driver for the risk they are taking. He gets his chance to have words with her and she just acts stupid. Hopefully she has a life changing moment before she kills someone (including her self).
We are dead tired when we get back to the hotel so it's a quick dinner and then flop into bed. Tomorrow, we get back on the road to Colorado. We only have 5 more days on the road. We need to win the lottery.
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