Hay Creek Ranch

We have been here almost a month now and it is time to get things caught up here in blogland. After reading about the issues with Live Writer I was inspired to get going on my contribution. Since I made the jump to the Mac ecosystem I have been without Live Writer and sure miss it, but Blogger does a passable job, but then maybe that is why I never seem to get anything written anymore.

I have done a little riding here at Thunderbird Farms but until this weekend we had not had the LQ out of the yard. Last week we started stocking it up with supplies to carry us through 3 or 4 days of camping out near Oracle at the Hay Creek Ranch. We have heard about this place from a few of our riding friends and the Pohl's from Ponoka, along with their friend Rob Patterson were heading that way so we decided to join them.

It is a beautiful spot up on the side of the Santa Catalina Mountains north of Tucson. There is a nice campground and great stalls for the horses. The first day we rode over to the American Flag Ranch House and Post Office and then a short distance up the Arizona Trail looking for a geo-cache that Ken and Verna had found online.

Looking for the Geo-Cache

Beauty doing a little trail clearing

Coming down the Arizona Trail

 We didn't take a long ride on Friday, my horses and I have not done a lot of work this summer so it was a good day for me to get some kinks out and I rode Brenda's Wink as she has only been on grandkid duty since last spring.

Saturday we woke up to intermittent clouds racing by pushed by a 30-50 mph wind and sporadic rain and snow. The mountains over there by Mt. Lemmon were covered with snow. We made a call early on that Day 2 was going to be a camp day.

There's a little snow in them thar' hills

Sunday dawned clear and sunny so we saddled up and headed down the wash to a local crested saguaro. These things are thought to be some kind of genetic mutation and only happen in about 1 in 250,000 saguaro's so they are always kind of neat to see.

And if a person was going to look for a Geo-Cache around here you might use the above picture for a clue. Today Brenda loaned her horse Wink to Rob Patterson to ride so both Blue and her were on our ride.

Rob on Wink

Mt. Lemmon complex from the Hay Creek Ranch site.

Couldn't resist a little night photography, the light pollution is a combination of Tucson and Phoenix

 Although we didn't ride far either day both Blue and Wink were looking pretty happy to get back to the trailer. All that good green grass and loafing around all summer hasn't done a lot to get them ready for hiking around Arizona washes and hills.

First Time but not the Last Time this Season

Brenda made it safe and sound down to Dogpound South and we spent the week just loafing around enjoying the great weather and catching up with our neighbours down here.

Yesterday I loaded Blue and headed out to a favourite trail over near Superior. We re-discovered this trail last year when we were riding near Picket Post mountain and figured there must be some way to circumnavigate it. Oh yah, Blue and I did pass right by Retired Rod's place over there in Mesa but thought maybe his neighbours wouldn't appreciate an organic fertilizer delivery on a nice Friday afternoon.

The whole gang, Suzi, K, Julie, Blue, Teresa, and Janet with Ted on the camera

 Hard to believe but this was, K, who has shown us most of our Arizona trails, first time around the mountain. It is a great ride and passes some pretty nice scenery along the way. Most of the horses there had a lot more riding than ol' Blue but he made out pretty well. A little sweated up but still stepping along at the end of the 11 or so miles. He'll get his trail legs back pretty quick down here after a pretty soft summer.

Good to be back on the trails down here in Arizona

Always nice to ride a trail with a little water down here in the desert

Looks like the fall colours will be along eventually but not in full glory for a week or two.

And these saguaro's have made it in the blog before and hopefully will again

I am hoping to get this blog a little more current than in the past few months but it will probably be more focussed on trail riding than RV'ing although we still do a lot of boondocking as we follow the trails around Arizona and back home in Canada.

In a Land just North of Summer

Really, since we have got back north of the Medicine Line we have enjoyed an extended period of winter like weather. I guess maybe wintering at Dogpound South has made us soft but even though the temps have not been terribly cold it seems like it has snowed every day since we got home. But the forecast is for warmer weather and maybe even some of those mystical April showers. That should get the snow knocked down and make it a little more spring like here down the road from Dogpound. I haven’t done much riding but the horses are enjoying their time off and making the most of their freedom.

We kept them in for a couple of days and then turned them out with the rest of the remuda, so it is time for them to just be horses and do a little pawing through that snow for their fed. Don’t worry those that were here all winter are much fatter than our hand fed southern ponies so I am sure they are doing just fine, and I do walk down every day just to make sure all is well. And now that the weather is turning around I will be able to start working with some of our northern horses, to start getting them in shape for the summer.

Turned Out VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

But we didn’t head home just to make sure we got a little snow and salt all over our vehicles. Our, daughter and son-in-law, Lacey and Clayton, were heading to Cuba to celebrate Lace’s 30th birthday so a couple of little girls were looking for a place to hang out till their parents came home and Grandma and I are glad to have them here. Although looking after two kids under 4 is keeping us hopping I have to say. Well, really, Brenda is hopping, and I am just trying to stay out of the way for the most part.

The Anderson Girls VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We are having a riot with the girls and should have them well and properly spoiled by the time their parents get home.

On other fronts I am back at my regular pool and doing 2500 meters (~a mile and a half) five days a week, and both Brenda and I are heading into battery of tests and doctors appointments over the next couple of weeks so we can get that out of the way before it is time to head back to Dogpound South.

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No Sleepovers

It has been a few weeks since we were actually home on the weekend, but just so we didn’t get used to it we hit the trails both days anyway. Saturday we headed north up I-17 to Black Canyon City with the Pohl’s in tow to meet up with the Rogers and Modahl’s. We saddled up at the trailhead there and then took our trailers back down to the Table Mesa trailhead. Once we got done shuffling the trucks we headed out onto the Skyline trail. This one of the trails we rode last year with the Rogers and also the McKinney bunch, but it is just as pretty this year as it was last year. There are some great vista’s along the way.

There are some parts of the trail that are a little ledgey,

but all of our horses are pretty sure footed so they watch the trail and we enjoy the scenery.

Skyline Trail VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Because someone asked: The two black horses are Percheron crosses, brother and sister, Beauty in front, and Ben following along.

This trail is used by mountain bikers as well and they have left their own trail markers along the way.

And of course there are some motorized users as well. These guys crawl up and over some rocks that I can’t imagine walking over let along riding over.

The last few photo’s make it look a little crowded but it is a big country and for most of it, it was just us, our friends, and our horses. We finished off the day by heading back into Black Canyon City and enjoying some local cuisine at Kid Chilleen’s Bad Ass Steakhouse. For those keeping track here is a peek at our trail.

Sunday we were up and at it and off to the TACC Poker Ride, we can ride right to the start of that one from our place here at Dogpound South so we saddled up and headed to the arena to meet up with 30 odd other riders. The Canadian contingent was well represented there, probably more than 30-40% of the riders are hiding out from Old Man Winter down here in Thunderbird Farms. After we got done the ride our neighbours and Wink’s trainers the Donally’s supplied lunch for all the riders.

That was it for our weekend and other than a trip to the shoe doctor for Blue and Wink we are not planning anything exciting till next weekend. Here are a few shots from that visit to the farrier. I didn’t get a picture but Blue’s shoes were plumb wore out, guess all that rock we are roaming around in does some grinding on those shoes.

		Horseshoes–the real kind VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL