California Desert Trails

Imagine all the soft places of the world, the green valleys, the soft beaches, the tranquil islands, the cool mountains. Now imagine you are on horseback in one of the harshest deserts in the world - riding alone for two years! That is what famed British naturalist J. Smeaton Chase did. He mounted up and rode into the Mojave Desert to undertake the longest equestrian study of its kind in modern history. Chase was no newcomer to equestrian travel. In 1910 he rode from the Mexican border to Oregon…