Semptember 18th, 2007 Gene's Dreams have started to come true. Carlos, Carolina and Leidy are in the United States attending Pensacola Christian Collage. Carlos and Leidy have begun classes and Carolina will start in January. All three don't know how to express their gratitude to all the people around the world who have made this wonderful man's dreams and theirs come true.   "THANK YOU ALL, And God Bless!"

August 30, 2007

I’ll bet you’re all wondering where Gene is right now? He’s on the road (trailering two horses) to California! He and the horses will be staying for several months at Lifesavers, Inc., a horse rescue ranch near Bakersfield, California. This huge ranch is lovingly dedicated to horse rescue efforts and Gene’s latest equine addition, Jasmine, is from the ranch.

A few weeks ago Gene returned Dusty to the animal rescue ranch where he got him. Dusty is a treasure, but very rough for Gene to ride and moved much, much slower than needed to keep Gene’s pace on a trip of this nature. He figured it’s better to find these things out now and make sure Dusty was available for that future perfect home!

At the Oregon/Washington border, Jasmine (a much needed horse with Dusty gone) was brought to him from California. Gene was excited to ride and pack her, but she threw a shoe and had to be left to wait for a farrier. He continued with Gypsy and Poker on the Oregon PCT after leaving Cascade Locks and Jasmine behind.  

Why go to California?

Perhaps some of Gene’s fans across the nation don’t know that he and two of his horses, Gypsy and Poker, suffered a fall about 8 miles from the town of Cascade Locks on the PCT in Oregon. They were moving nicely on a steep (about 60-70 degrees) hillside when Poker balked and when he did that, the trail gave way. As Poker careened down the embankment, Gene and Gypsy were also pulled down because they were tied together. “I didn’t have time or perhaps the presence of mind to hit the quick release,” said Gene.

This is truly a miraculous escape from death for Gene and his two horses. Earlier that day Ragnar and Rosemary Gustafson prayed God’s protection and angels to surround Gene on the trail as he left the little town of Cascade Locks. God indeed intervened as a tree stopped Gene’s fall at about 30 feet. Both horses fell 200 feet when a tree stopped one and a down log stopped the other. If not for those stops, the horses would have continued to fall about another 700 feet and probably would have been killed.

Gene managed to crawl up to the trail and conspicuously lay ferns and a note asking for help. He worked his way back down to the horses, who were then standing upright. Gene evaluated their injuries, which were minimal and determined it would take more than just one person to get them back on the trail. So, he settled in and had the privilege of sleeping out on the trail (lots of boulders) with his two pals.

Forest Service timber cruisers found Gene’s ferns and note for help. They clamored down the steep hillside to lend a hand and found two hungry and thirsty horses that were reluctant to climb back up the steep hill. So, they put water from their personal drinking supply into hardhats and enticed Poker and Gypsy upward. A little recoverable grain also helped lure the horses back onto the trail!

Everything of Gene’s, including most of the grain, was strewn all over from the accident. His pack saddle was broken and ruined, but both boxes survived the fall. His Tucker saddle was also intact.

Escorting Gene, Poker and Gypsy, Forest Service personnel got the trio to a trailhead near Cascade Locks and they were transported back to Randle, WA.

Gene immediately took Poker to a local veterinarian for examination. Here is the shocker: the vet charged Gene $566 for a total of 12 stitches in Poker’s forehead, gave shots for sedation, a quick stethoscope and physical evaluation and a dose of Bute paste. Most folks would consider the closing bill highly out of line, especially since it was all done under his friend’s name and with his vet. The bill included $60 per minute for 6 minutes of stitching. The good news is that both horses are fine. So is Gene except for lumps, bumps and lots of bruises. He said he was stiff and sore all over!

Recovery at Lifesavers, Inc.:

Now you have the full story and can understand why Gene is taking some time off for himself and Poker to recuperate fully and spend time in training.  Gene plans to be training Poker and Jasmine further and hopefully find another horse to take on the trip. He’s definitely looking for another horse like Jasmine, who is sizeable and willing to learn. He’ll be watching the range in California where lots of horses are gathered.

What about Gypsy?

After Gene’s decision to wait until next Spring to resume the ride, something new came up about his faithful companion Gypsy. Gene decided to give her to a little girl in the 6^th grade. She is excited to ride Gypsy and plans to show her new horse in English riding classes. Gene feels Gypsy will shine brightly in an arena and is happy to see her in a good home. He always felt he was a little too big for her even though she had the heart to carry him hundreds of miles.

August 10th, 2007 ~ Gene made it to Oregon. Today he crossed the Columbia River on the "Bridge of the Gods". Gene did tell me that Poker (The Mustang) had
to pull Gypsy and Gene acrossed the bridge when Gypsy hesitated at crossing. Gene picked up Jasmine on Monday, adding a third horse to the ride. See the letter below to
view the pictures of all Gene's Horses. Please if you see or talk to Gene, send us an E-mail and picture of your time with him.  Once we get enough we'll build a page devoted to the letters.
 

August 2, 2007 Update: You can blame the Web Master for all the problem getting updates
to the site in a timely manner. Gene is riding along well, he has had some rough days and good days but lets face it DON'T WE ALL WISH we could be riding with him. The map has been updated and the E-mail has been fixed, so please send us you comments we will do our best to keep everything fresh.  Look back soon for more updates

July 21, 2007 UPDATE: Were not sure of the format of how the update will look, but for now we are just going to give you updates here. Gene has ridden over 100 mile this week and made it to Monroe, Washington. Look at the map to see his progress.

Gene Glasscock July 12, 2007 UPDATE

Today Gene announced that he and the horses Gypsy, Poker and Dusty will be leaving as scheduled, Monday, July 16 at 5:00 a.m. The starting point for his ride will be at the Canadian/Washington border near the town of Sumas, WA. This is where Highway 9 begins a southern journey which Gene will follow as he traverses the length of Washington State. As of today, the planned route will turn east at Highway 12 (Morton, WA.), where he will ride to Randle, WA. Here, hosts from Packwood will meet him. He plans to intersect the PCT (Pacific Crest Trail) off Rd. 23 southeast of Randle. However, if snows have melted enough and enough trail is clear, Gene prefers to ride over to White Pass and get on the PCT where it intersects Highway 12. This would ensure riding through the incredibly beautiful Goats Rocks and past Old Snowy Mountain, a section of trail magnificence Gene recalls fondly.

Gene Glasscock July 10, 2007 UPDATE:

Marking time does not come easy to Gene, but that’s what he’s been doing for the last few days while preparing to go on another long journey of love. Gene has been staying in Ferndale, WA near the Canadian border with his three horses, Gypsy, Poker and Dusty. He had a good route planned which was to ride the PCT from Canada to Mexico; up the Continental Divide Trail from Mexico to Canada; then over to the Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia. Until Mother Nature stepped in and changed things. The Northern and Central Cascade Mountains pose serious threats to riding the PCT in July. It appears that a stretch of trail right after Canada would be rideable, but hundreds of miles of trail are only partially passable. This might work if Gene were not planning a “thru-ride” but, renders problems if riding the length of Washington State. After exhausting all alternate trail possibilities with the Forest Service, many circumstances make it impossible to ride the PCT (Northern-Central Cascade Mountains only) at this time.

Let’s look at the difficulties according to USFS officials:

1.          2007 acquired loads of needed winter snow, but it’s still lingering with snow and ice on higher elevation trails. Reports from the Yakima weather station stated a whopping 20 feet of snow at Naches Pass last week, and folks traveling with 4WD vehicles in that area were disappointed when they had to turn back (some got stuck) during the holiday. Naches Pass is part of the old pioneer wagon road which stretches along some of the PCT. USFS advises NO ONE should be in that area at this time.

2.          There was a forceful windstorm creating blizzard conditions last winter and the blow-downs in our National Forest are at a record high this year. So far, the Cle Elum Ranger District alone has cleared nearly 900 trees from just a few lower elevation trails. They don’t expect to send maintenance crews to the PCT (Central Cascades) until sometime in August. Blow-downs can usually be navigated, but the chance of being stopped completely by one is too risky. On a trail extending many miles into Wilderness areas, Gene could be stranded, or required to turn back on the same trail he just rode miles in! It’s important to remember that Gene is not allowed to carry a chainsaw in Wilderness areas, so hand sawing large trees is not feasible with only one person and a small saw.  

3.          A huge falling tree smashed the bridge at Agnes Creek (on gorge walls) and rendered it impassable. The USFS finally constructed a TEMPORARY suspension bridge that will support hikers only. This is the only crossing where Agnes Creek and the Steheiken River meet on the PCT. Forest Rangers searched for a safe ford for Gene, but couldn’t find one. This time of year even creek water is raging violently and too deep to cross. They don’t expect anything to open up until possibly September. (Note: there are 7 bridges destroyed)

4.          USFS trail Rangers are advising that no one with stock ride the upper two thirds of Washington State PCT until the end of August or early September. They are currently advising hikers that choose to this route go at their own risk, and take ICE AXES.

5.          Several of the USFS access roads are also closed this year due to rock slides and washouts. One of the closed roads is Harts Pass, which Gene was waiting on to open. This makes it difficult for Gene to get much needed grain drops for the horses as well. The Forest Service doesn’t expect to have many roads repaired in the near future.

Because of negative trail situations and road closures, Gene is trying to find another way to ride down Washington State. Normally one would simply wait for trails to be cleared and water to recede, but that cannot happen with a long (PCT thru) ride. If Gene doesn’t leave very soon, it will put him in the Sierra Nevada Mountains during perilous winter conditions. As it stands, he hopes to be through areas where early snows occur and into southern California by this coming winter.

He and the horses may need to ride from the Canadian border down to the Oregon border along side roads in western Washington. If he can find trails or side roads to access the southern portion of PCT in Washington, he’ll do it. Otherwise, Team Glasscock will keep you posted as to which route Gene determines to ride (remember that all routes must be flexible on a longride). The PCT has had maintenance crews working already in Oregon and he should have no problems riding it all the way.

June19, 2007 Since April I have been working on my up coming ride. I'm glad that we have not been using land line phones as I would have worn the wires out by now. We are waiting for the snow at Harts Pass to melt so we can start the ride from Canada to Mexico on the Pacific Cascade Crest Trail.  This leg of the Journey should take 6 ½ months and cover about 2600 miles.

I know it’s been a long time in between updates, we here at Team Glasscock will do our best to keep everybody up dated on the daily goings on, now that we are in the home stretch. We are always looking for help, weather you want to ride with me help with food or grain drops come out and take pictures please e-mail the Web Site and the Team will get the information to the proper person for processing.

April 11, 2007Things are coming in to place to ride the Pacific Cascade Crest trail
I have made arrangements for some of the equipment. I will be buying my pack saddle from Kelly at Custom PackRigging Ltd. in Lillooet British Columbia, Canada.

I am still looking for horses and maybe a pack mule. I want to travel with three animals. I would like to thank every one who is helping me put this all together  these people live all across our great land. My plans are to ride from Canada to Mexico .

I hope my many Friends will remember the Philip Scholarship fund.
We have three students will be here for fall term, and more will soon be on there way.  My heart will always be with the young people of Paraguay.

Please pray for me that I will fill Gods will for my life in this under taking.

Gene