An annual re-ride of the of the Pony Express from Sacramento, California, to St. Joseph, Missouri, heads through Hope Valley, south of Lake Tahoe, this week.

“This Re-Ride is a 10-day, 24-hour a day, non-stop event by over 600 riders and horses over the 1,966 mile route of the Pony Express National Historic Trail from California through Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas to Missouri,” according to organizers of the ride. “It is the longest event held annually on a historical trail in the nation. The event commemorates the 1860-1861 Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company which carried letters and telegrams for 19 months to prove the Central Route through Salt Lake passable year round.”

The ride is scheduled to come through Woodfords, California, south of Lake Tahoe along State Route 88, at 9 a.m. Thursday, June 16, although riders can be anywhere from two hours early to two hours late.

The Nevada Telephone Hotline number will be 1-855-809-8589 and will be active June 16-18. Recorded messages from mobile radio teams will announce time and location of the mail as it travels across Nevada. A GPS unit will also be carried in the mochila along with the letter and personal mail. The unit will transmit the location of the mail all the way to St. Joseph, pinging every 20 minutes. A Pony Express Tracking Map is available at http://www.xphomestation.com.

Pony Express history in Nevada is being highlighted this year.

“Pony Express history is preserved in the federally designated Historic Trail, administered by the National Park Service, in museums, Pony Rider monuments, books, and the annual recreations by the (National Pony Express Association),” according to organizers. “Riders will be carrying commemorative letters in a mochila, Pony Express style.”

More information is available on the ride at http://www.xphomestation.com.

— Lake Tahoe Action