SKEENA ANGLER © ROB BROWN Trout Travels 13 t was noon when Kenny left Eric Mc- I Queen’s Shell station in Yale. Except for some high-riding, wispy clouds whipping over the peaks and inland, the sky was clear. Mare’s Tails, he thought. Weather’s gonna change, get harsh. Owen, the indefatigable sailor, talked about reading weather. Mares tails, he told Kenny are a sure sign thal things are about to get really dramatic. When you saw thei, he told his young employee, you should start thinking ag- gressively about places where you might lay by. Kenny passed a green sign encouraging him to come again. There was someone standing on the shoulder in the distance. As he approached, he noticed the formerly distant figure had a nice figure. As he passed he glimpsed long legs, long brunette braids, a lovely face, and a pretty smile. Her thumb was out. Kenny pulled over. His actions were impulsive, instinctual, driven, he knew, by some bioimperative too strong to resist. He wanted to leap from the car and fling her. i pack in the camper, then carry her to the door, : “open it with one hand and gently deposit the. beautiful creature, this hippy chick, in the pas- senger seat. Instead he sat and watched her ap-: proach in the side view mirror. She opened the: door and leaned her head inside. The cab filled with a sweet, herbal fragrance. Kenny began to ‘sweat. ne a 4 ““Phanks man,” she. shad’ a ‘soft, ‘musical voice, “How far ya goin’? Kenny's ability to communicate to women was poor at the best of times. What’s worse, it diminished in inverse proportion to their beauty, While the radiant creature waited patiently, Kenny struggled, first to remember where he was going, and when he did, with forming the words to express it. It felt like a snooker ball was stuck in his mouth. “Uh.,.Span...Spen...Spences Bridge,” he blur- ted at last. “Cool,” she said, turning to wave then whis- tle. “We're going to Lylton, I'll just go get my stuff.” We’re going to Lytion? thought Kenny. Thar’s right, she said we’re. She shut the door. Kenny looked into the side mirror once more. This time it was filled with freaks, a tribe of them. Kenny counted three, two cats and another chick, who was still scrambling out of the ditch where she and her friends had been hiding while the willowy beau- ty cast a lure he’d taken so eagerly. They had a mountain of gear. One had a gui- tar, the other girl had a dulcimer tied ta her _ Sleeping roll. “Hey, thanks for the lift man.” The passenger door was open again. A giant troll with a long ted braided beard and a pony tail hanging down _almost to his waist and a large knife in its ‘sheath hanging from it, slid onto the seat. The ‘troll moved closer to the middle to make room for his pal a little pale cat with dark glasses and hair so blonde it was almost white. Some of his 8 tracks and Kenny’s favourite coffee cup - the one with a leaping trout taking to the air after a fly emblazoned'on it - rolled to the floor. “Hey, I, uh, can’t take you all, man.” “Huh?” “No room, for you and all your stuff, man, iF mean, like, where do ] put it all?.] mean where do I put all of you?” The réd giant looked at the white dwarf then back at Kenny. ‘‘Whadya mean? Like the girls and all our stuff could go in the camper, man.” Kenny scrambled for an excuse, “No man.' Like it’s illegal to carry passengers in a camper. I'll: be busted.” By this time the girls were beside the truck with their packs. “The dude’s worried about the pigs bustin’ him: if we ride in his camper,” said the albino in ‘a querulous voice. “Be cool, man,” sald the less alluring of the y two girls. Kenny noticed she had a tattoo of a horse’s head on her upper arm. The braided beauty smiled, “I don’t think there’s much of a chance you'll be pulled over. Kenny caught himself forgetting he'd been duped, caught himself about to acquiesce, but managed to hold firm. “Sorry, I can’t,” he stam- meted “Hey, man [ don’t like the vibe I’m getting,” said.the giant, He leaned closer to Kenny. His: eyes narrowed. His face became dark and me-' nacing. To be continued. It’s a horse thin By JOANNA WONG JESSIE WEITMAN’S athletic equipment is pretty high mainte- nance. Not only does she have to clean it and put it away properly after she’s done —-"it eats, it sleeps, and even gets cranky. “You feed them, pat them, build a relationship,” said Weit- man of Taboo, the sinewy brown and white horse she’s been work- ing with to compete in the gyimk- hana, a series of games and races on horseback. “You spend a lot of time with them and make sure they trust you.” Weitman and Taboo train four times a week with a handful of other girls under Denita Long, who has been riding for the past 26 years and has made her living working with horses, “The biggest thing is to make sure you become partners,” said Long. “A. horse’ can make you look bad or make you look good.” The gymkhana has origins going back to medieval days. Some events, such as ring spear- ing, resemble a knight running full charge at an enemy. “Pm not a horse whisperer...l’m a yeller.” Gymkhana riders use props such as flags, lances, balls and batons and may be required to maneuver around or through stakes, cones, barrels, lines, jumps and lanes. And just to add to the chal- ~ lenge, all events are run against.’ the clock. In Terrace, the Totem Saddle Club puts on about five gymkha-.- chalk 638-7283 JESSIE WEITMAN, 13, is one of the Terrace Totem Saddle > Club's up and coming riders who te competes in the gymkhana, a series of adrenaline-filled games and races on horseback. nas throughout the summer and into the fall. “If you can sit in a chair you can go,” said Long of competing in the events, That's true for Jason Kuemper, who says he’s been on a horse and riding inthe gymkhana ever since he can remember, Kuemper’s mother Margie has been with the. Totem Saddle. Club since it started in 1963, and his three-year-old daughter Jennifer has already started to compete. “She loves it,” said Kuemper. “It gives: her some responsibility , , to look after the horse as’ much she can and: hopefully a bit of sportsmanship.” thusiasm for horses with a younger generation, “My big thing is that I've en- joyed horses for so long I want others to enjoy them too,” said Lang. “(The girls'} parents think they’ ve given up residence they're up here so-often.” “T'm Jessie Long now," jokes Weitman, To prepare for the gymkhana, Long and the girls work on bal- ance, fitness, various skills and, most importantly, building a rela- tionship with the horses, “You want to, get them, used to _ your Voice’ sd’ they know when you’re happy or when you're mad,” explains Weitman, an up and coming rider who has consist- ently been placing in the top three in gymkhana events. Of course, everyone has a dif- ferent style - and it’s not always pretly,. “I'm not a horse whisperer,” said Long, her yaice a bil raspy and hoarse. “I’m a yeller,” When they’re not training hard with their borses, gymkhana en- thusiasts let loose, with at least one fun event at the end of every competition. Favourites include a horse ri- ding relay thal involves having a cream puff- stuffed in your mouth, “The most important thing about horses. is to have'a good time,” said Long. “I learn some- thing new every time I ride.” : Long also loves sharing her en- DAVE CATER takes a drink as he prepares to run his !eg of the Skeana River Relay from Prince Rupert to Terrace June 1. SARAH A. ZIMMERMAN PHOTO Skeena relay runners take highway 16 by storm TERRACE’S DEDICATED Skeena River Relay. The event saw eleven teams, totalling 110 runuers, sprint along sunny stretches of Hwy 16 throughout the day. A women’s and a men’s team from Terrace — Attack of the Clowns and Sum- runners braved the heat and ran from Prince Ru- pert to Terrace last June 1 in the annual mer Runners, some are not! - took part and came first in their categories, Terrace’s Dave Stewart won his stage, running it in 55:02. " The men’s team placed 4th overall women’s team was 7th with 12:23:25. time of 10:31:40. with a final time of 11:00:06, and-the The Rupert Relics won the race with a Sports Scope Marathon duo out on top HUSBAND AND wife team Sherrie Hamer and Murray Warner pushed their running endurance to the limit at the 2002 Peach City Marathon in Penticton May 19. Both Terrace residents came out with top finishes in the demanding race, which had 224 participants, “It was a pretty gruelling course,” said Hamer, “The last half was really hilly.” Murray finished at 3:34:29 seconds, placing fifth in the men’s 45-49 age group and coming 45th overall, Hamer’s time was 4:4:41, putting her third in the women’s 45-49 ape group and 109th overall. “In the end for me it went well,” said Hamer. “I fin- ished and I’m happy with that.” New record for track girls TERRACE’S up and coming track and field finest got out in the sunshine last June 3 and set some new records at the Terrace Elementary School Sports Association's annual meet. Janna Olynick from Thornhill Elementary ran her best to a new 7.62s record in the 9 year old girls 50 meter. Teammate Brittany Eakin also clocked a record time, Tunning the 12 year old girls 100 metre dash in 13.09. Long distance runner Lindsay Dykman fram Centen- nial ran the 10 year old girls 1500 metre in a speedy 6 minutes16.56s. [n shot put, Alison Knocdler from Ver- ilas threw hard to 9.45m. In total, the meet had 300 competitors from 10 schools. Junior triathletes win TERRACE’S JUNIOR triathletes proved they’re already tough competition as they swan, biked and ran to top performances in the Kitimat Junior Triathlon June 3. In the 8-9 year olds division, it was an exciting race to the finish as Kailean McCulloch sprinted in first with two Kitimat runners hot on her heels. In the 10-12 year olds team event, tandem team Mat- thias Muller and Nahanni Balfour pulled ahead of the pack to win first place. Other standout Terrace performances were Evan Wat- son’s first-place in the boys’ 10-12 year olds division and Cara MacCulloch’s third-place in female division. Action at the diamond THE ELKS baseball diamond heated up for some minor league excitement at the recent Lou Lamour round robin tournament, held May 24-26. The Shoppers team came out on top, winning the tour- nament with an impressive five wins, zero losses. They were followed by N.S.C.U, who nabbed second, with [KON in third, Downtown Lions in fourth, Farko in fifth and All West Glass in sixth. IKON was voted the most sportsmanlike team, with N.S.C.U running a close second.