Picket Post and ATVing

This week I spent some time at the pool everyday getting my routine back up to snuff. Yesterday Thursday was the first time I make the 4000 yards I try to achieve each day. Took ten days to get there after having a sloth like summer where swimming wasn't on the agenda. But it is hard to ignore Maricopa's great facility just down the road and that morning swim is usually just me, 8 lanes of pool, and a life guard or two.

After the swim I headed out to Picket Post as I heard a rumour friends of our Dave and Linda Modahl were going to be there for a Lone Rangers ride this weekend. The Modahl's live up by Seligman now so this might be as close as they will get this winter so I wanted to take the opportunity to pop by for a visit. I had a nice chat with them and over the time I spent there some others folks I know, Judy, Suzi, Becky, and Gary pulled into camp so I got to say hi to a bunch of riders.

PIcket Post Mountain

 It is always great to see old friends and it is especially nice to do it in as beautiful a spot as this.

This morning I was intending to head to the pool but Matt called from Dogpound North late last night and said there appeared to be a lake forming in the barnyard back home so I stuck around here to give him what help I could on the phone as he troubleshot that issue. Turns out the waterer had burst a hose, so he was able to shut it down and will replace the hose in the next day or two. Meanwhile the horses have the other waterer to use so all is under control on the northern ranges.

Once the water issue was resolved at DPN I thought it was a good time to take Blue II for a spin down at the end of Warren. There are a bunch of trails down there that I have ridden in the past with Blue and I thought some of them might be OK with an ATV. Some of it is State Trust Land but I have always had my permit up to date so that wasn't an issue. I ran into some hikers down there from Rocky Mountain House and had a chat with them about some of the places they ride their quads when they aren't hiking.

Blue II ready to unload

 Although many of the trails are good enough to use the Commander on, it is still a little bit more restricted than a horse, when you are on horseback it is kind of go where you like, but with these machines you need to stay on the commonly used trails so you don't cause unwanted impacts to a delicate environment.

Along the trail.

I am still getting a feel for where this new outfit will go. And travelling alone out there it is always good to use an abundance of caution. Although the likelihood of getting bucked off is somewhat less than on horseback the consequences would be just as serious I expect. For the first 20 years of my working life I was in the back country with either four wheel drives or tracked vehicles and learned along time ago not to get myself into spots that might be challenging to get out of so I am always looking around the next corner to make sure I can get back. It is amazing the places that this unit will crawl over and up though. I am sure as I get more familiar with it my horizons will expand a little.

Top of the Mountain.

And here is the view from just behind the machine. The red circle is where our truck and trailer are and the X marks DPS. Wonder how many drug lookouts saw me go by and wondered what I was up to.

Back in Canada Brenda has returned to Alberta from her Rare Disease Conference and after a couple of days of rest will jump on a plane to the Valley of the Sun. We are looking forward to seeing her on Monday.