The Pony Express was the first express postal delivery system. A letter could be sent across the country in a mere ten days. Riders raced between stations spaced 10 to 20 miles apart from Missouri to California (look at that on a map, that's a lot of way stations). And the territory it covered was barren, few people, fewer horses, rough terrain, horrible weather, not to mention other obstacles from snakes to outlaws. Given all the odds, it's no wonder it did not last longer ... it was horribly expensive to maintain.

Author Will Grant decided he wanted to ride that trail. Not at any great speed, just to see what said trail was like. The Last Ride of the Pony Express: My 2000 Mile Horseback Journey Into the Old West is the story of that adventure. It was a grand read! You follow along as he selects the horses that will make the journey, to what he will pack, to where and how he will camp along the way. There are wonderful descriptions of the people he meets (one so skinny he could hide behind a fence post) and of the country he crosses, which is vast and varied (obviously). You will learn a bit abut US history, natural history, and local (meaning the stops along the way) history.

Parts of the trail have been developed into towns, freeways and so on. He needed a police escort over one bridge, and trailered his horses around a few of the bigger developments where it would have been dangerous for him to ride, but for the most part, he and his wonderful horses walked every step of the trail. A wonderful, thoughtful, philosophic read.

Reading Hermit With Dog