Meet Thru-Rider Gillian Larson

Meet Gillian Larson! Gillian has over 11,000 backcountry miles on horseback, having completed the Pacific Crest Trail twice and working toward three times, along with the Continental Divide Trail, Colorado Trail, and Arizona Trail among others. With all of her achievements in mind, the most inspirational thing about Gillian is her devotion to horsemanship and educating others about navigating the wilderness with their own horses. Keep reading to hear Gillian’s story and find out what being a “thru-rider” means to her.

There are so many beautiful places in this world, and riding in the backcountry with my equine partners has given me the opportunity to see locations and have experiences I never would have even dreamed about before. What has made it particularly rewarding is the added challenge of tackling some of the national scenic trails that traverse the most remote and unspoiled parts of our natural treasures in the western U.S. on my thru-rides.

The term “thru-ride” is borrowed from the more familiar phrase “thru-hike,” which is used by hikers to designate the completion of a specific long trail in a single season. Some trails, such as the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail, run for thousands of miles between Mexico and Canada across several states along often high-altitude mountain ranges. Others, like the Colorado Trail, from near Denver to Durango, or the Arizona Trail, which crosses the state from the Mexican border to Utah, or the John Muir Trail in the Sierra, will focus on a particular region and feature the terrain in that area. Each one has its own drama and challenges and pleasures, and some require very specific planning in order to accomplish.

Mother Nature is an uncompromising taskmaster, but also incredibly generous with the prizes she awards. Thanks to my intrepid four-legged companions, I have completed numerous thru-rides, as well as many shorter journeys, since I first launched my first rather naive attempt when I was only 22.

First loves are always the ones that stick with you, and the Pacific Crest Trail holds that distinction in my heart. I had no idea what I was tackling when I started out, but I quickly got schooled about things such as lingering snowpack on the high elevation peaks and the passes of the Sierra Nevada. Even later in the season—in what was definitely summer on the calendar—it still looked like winter in many places, especially the further north we got. I also had a self-imposed deadline looming over me, as I was enrolled to begin a graduate program in late August, which was really the best time to be riding in many of the areas that the trail passes through, rather than an appropriate finish date. I reached the Canadian border (but had to take an alternate route due to unsafe trail conditions), then went back over long weekend trips to fill in a few skipped sections closer to home, finally completing everything by Labor Day. But I definitely learned some lessons they don’t teach in the classroom. I was also hooked on thru-riding.

I eventually left that graduate program to major in thru-riding instead, although I recently completed a master’s degree in Agricultural Education, which has given me important skills as I try to pass on what I have learned to others as well. In the intervening years I have ridden throughout the western states—California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Wyoming, Montana and Utah—on a variety of trails, including some of my own devising.

I have figured out how to make use of resources that help me determine snowpack depth and probable melt times, so I don’t repeat some of the early missteps, and I am adept at reading topographical maps to find appropriate campsites in unfamiliar territory, focusing on water and graze for the horses. I have a strategy for caching water in desert locations without natural water sources, as well as for supplementing my horses’ feed so they stay in top condition in strenuous situations. I have been fortunate to see so much natural beauty and had the pleasure of sharing the places that I love with the people who are closest to me, such as my mother. I have relied on her help to accomplish some of my trail goals, but I have also made most of my journeys completely on my own, without the support of a resupply driver, figuring out how to get everything done one way or another. I have also met some of the kindest and most giving people while I am on the road, far from home or anyone I know, only to make an enduring friendship with someone who moments ago was a complete stranger. These trails have taken me on emotional journeys, too, not just geographical ones.

Thru-riding has changed my life. It has shown me great beauty, as well as adding purpose and meaning to what I love to do. I have formed deep and lasting bonds with the horses—and one incredible mule!—who have shown me their strength and courage and willing spirits. I realize that something this daunting, with long miles in the saddle and even longer hours caring for my equines in camp at the beginning and end of each day, isn’t for everyone. But it is possible for most of us to get out and experience more of what the natural world has to offer, even in small doses, and to foster a stronger partnership with the animals who give so much of themselves to us every single day that we spend with them.