Deep mountain snow can cripple a horse’s progress to three miles per hour
Evidence
At last I reached a log cabin where I got a feed for us both and further directions. The rest of the day’s ride was awful enough. The snow was thirteen inches deep, and grew deeper as I ascended in silence and loneliness, but just as the sun sank behind a snowy peak I reached the top of the Divide, 7,975 feet above the sea level. There, in unspeakable solitude, lay a frozen lake. Owls hooted among the pines, the trail was obscure, the country was not settled, the mercury was 9° below zero, my feet had lost all sensation, and one of them was frozen to the wooden stirrup. I found that owing to the depth of the snow I had only ridden fifteen miles in eight and a half hours, and must look about for a place to sleep in. — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 170
Categorization
- CANDY: Fifteen miles in eight and a half hours up a snow-choked pass is an elevator-ready stat.
- FICTION: A lone rider whose foot has frozen to the stirrup is a ready-made survival scene.
- XREF: connects to: Frozen creek ice can give way under a horse in winter travel. — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 161; Wet snow balling in hooves makes horseback travel impossible. — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 164; Deep snow can cut a rider’s daily distance to under two miles an hour — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 372 (+4 more)
Broader Connections
- Deep snow can cut a rider’s daily distance to under two miles an hour
#qualifies(0.94) — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 372 - Mountain air and a rested horse make vast distances feel effortless
#complicates(0.81) — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 205 - A horse left behind will follow its rider through deep snow for companionship
#complicates(0.78) — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 178 - A missing horseshoe nail can slow a mountain journey to a three-hour foot pace
#complicates(0.75) — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 176 - A horse’s trail instinct can fail, plunging rider and animal through lake ice.
#complicates(0.73) — Isabella L. Bird, A Lady’s Life in the Rocky Mountains, 254