After an excellent week working with our client, but with lousy weather most of the time, we finally had a break, with a couple of days of unseasonably warm temps, in the upper 70's. Yesterday we had some outside chores to do, but by today, we made time to go riding. Our neighbor told me about a park she had heard about but never been to, and after researching it a bit, we decided to give it a try, as it was much closer than some of the other parks we were thinking about, and since we got a late start, the closer the better. We headed out following my GPS, which, unfortunately, took us to the wrong side of the park with no entrance, but I managed to get us back on the right track, pulling into the parking lot about 1:00. We didn't notice the sign for horse trailer parking until after we had parked along the fence, but decided it wasn't worth moving since we had already gotten the horses out. We saddled and booted them up, and were on the trail by 1:25. I had vaguely worked out a trail on my GPS based on what I could see, but then we passes a trail map placard, and saw there was another section, making it like a figure eight. I was glad to see that, as my map had only been about 3.5 miles, and the extra loop would bring it up to about 5 miles, a little more worthwhile. We headed out counter-clockwise, happy the trail was almost entirely single track. Some sections were all dirt, others crossed sections of rock, so we were glad we had boots on. Despite a lot of open space, the trail ran mostly through the trees, making it a very pleasant ride. The horses were great, obviously glad to be out of the boring pasture, not a bit of drama, despite the fact we crossed paths with a number of cyclists and several hikers along the way. A very enjoyable ride! Got back in two hours, and we headed back to the house, settling down for the evening, thoroughly glad we found a new trail to ride!

Decided to take another ride today, this time heading out northward on the east side of the valley, along the bottom of the mountains. We did our best to stay out of the washes and on the firmer trails today, and some of it was an easement road under the utilities lines, and another road to a gorgeous hacienda with beautiful grounds and a huge but empty stable. We followed along the mountain line as much as we could, then continued northward, somewhat past the place where we turned around yesterday, passed a number of other riders again, and finally headed back south through the middle of the valley, eventually picking up the same trail we came back on yesterday, though with a little variation at the end. Another no drama day, very relaxing ride. It may be our last here, depending on when we decide to leave. We keep looking at the weather, and are leaning toward a Saturday or Sunday departure, which should give us clear skies all the way to Dripping Springs, albeit the nights will probably be cold. I guess we can't avoid that at this time of the year, especially in the desert!

Had our usual Sunday morning blueberry pancake breakfast (well, more like at brunch-time), then saddled up the horses so that we could explore the flats to the northwest of the campground. From my previous walks with Billy, I found a number of trails that seemed to interweave nicely, so we headed out on the first trail that headed west, which we followed as far west as we could before turning northward. We spent more time on the wash than we would have liked, but eventually we hooked up with some of the firmer trails that we liked better. We hit a fence after a while, where we turned east. Once we reached the middle, and ran into several other riders as well, we headed south again, back toward camp. The footing was perfect, so we hadn't even put boots on, and everyone was completely relaxed, and we all enjoyed ourselves. A great, no drama ride!

Because we had some errands to do nearby, we decided to trailer the horses over to the Saguaro National Park, the unit west of Tucson, but from a trailhead on the east side. After stops at an RV dealer where we had found a very good price on a used portable holding tank (one of those things we've managed to live without, but will make life much easier by the having!), and at a feed store, we swung over to the trailhead. It had quite a small parking lot, and fortunately only a few cars, making it possible for me to swing around, otherwise it would have been quite a challenge. A longer rig would really have trouble. I gather this is mainly a hiking trailhead, though I had called and confirmed that horses were allowed on almost all of the trails, so I knew we were good on that rule. We saddled and booted and headed north. I had a plan in my GPS for a 9 mile ride, but we got such a late start, and there were several shorter loops, we opened ourselves up to the possibility of cutting it short. The vistas here are quite striking, as is most of Arizona, but this was like riding in a rock and cactus garden! I never saw so many different kinds of cactus! Saguaro, of course, but lots of others, some that looked like trees, others like pineapple bushes, just an amazing array. Unfortunately, some were quite close to the trail, so if you have chaps, I would wear them! We got several Cling-ons that grabbed us as we were passing. The trail itself had only a few sections where we liked the footing, the rest was quite rocky, at least until we got down to the Picture Rocks Wash, which reverted, naturally, to sand. Along this stretch we found the rock wall that obviously gave the wash its name, with still quite visible pictographs, of a couple of hands, a bird that looked like a road runner, and some others we couldn't figure out. Amazing that they could even be seen after all these millennium. That was some paint! Since it was so late, and the trail was so rocky for the most part, we decided to cut the ride short, so I cut two corners from the ride, and got us headed back. Missed one trail marker at the end of a wash, we reached a point where it would have been about a three to four foot leap, just after squeezing by a large tilted wall, so we turned around to see how we could get around. Turned out there was a small "Trail" sign, but it was hard too see because of a cactus that had become overgrown there. Back on the trail, we continued without incident, finishing our short loop and then taking the last half mile or so on the trail back to the parking lot. An enjoyable ride, but somewhat less so because of how rocky the trails were, and a rather strong cool north wind that kept the temps in the mid-50's. Made one last stop at Tractor Supply to pick up a couple more items we needed, and arrived back in camp just after the sun went down and the temps started dropping even further. Got the horses in their corrals with their warm blankets, since it's going down into the 30's tonight. Settled down for the evening, though we had to watch recorded shows, because the satellite dish had been moved, probably because of the wind.

Woke up to a beautiful day, just a nip in the air this morning, quickly being replaced by warm, sunny skies. After a late breakfast we saddled up the horses and head out, going uphill on the 50 Year trail, figuring uphill to burn off any excess alfalfa energy at the beginning of the ride would be good. It got a bit rockier as we got higher, but there was still plenty of sand around for the most part. After a bit of climbing, we eventually came to a plateau for a while, a bit rockier, but not too bad. We came to a gate and passed through, and it seemed as though we were supposed to turn to the right rather than straight, (at least that's they way the sign seemed to indicate), so we went right for a while until it came to a T. Again, it seemed like the cutoff we were looking for on my GPS was right about there, so we turned right, but that just led us to an overlook. We came back and went the other way, which then switchbacked it's way down the hill until if finally reach what was more like a road, but the sign then clearly said turn right, so we did. Passed quite a few free range cows in this section. Moments later, we came to two gates side by side. The one of the right said it was the entrance back into Catalina State Park, the other wasn't marked other than to close the gate. It had a cattle guard with a cowboy gate next to it, though it was partially filled with dirt so probably not a problem, but having had bad experiences with cattle guards previously, I wasn't about to try it. Anyway, we agreed to take the park entrance, then followed what seemed to be the main path trail ahead. That eventually narrowed until it became a wash, did a river crossing, and figured out we were way off track according to my GPS, though we were heading south, which was the eventual direction we wanted to go. We followed the wash until it became almost impassable, then we cut west in an effort to rejoin the original Sutherland Trail. Just before we reached, but since we were clearly heading in the right direction, we stopped and shared an apple with the horses, resting momentarily before moving on. Again, the trail alternated between sandy and rocky, but nothing too tricky. The views of the mountains in front of us were spectacular, with a bit of snow dusting the top after the rain we had the other day. Moments after beginning again, we met up with Sutherland trail and followed that south again. There was one tricky spot that went down some actual steps that someone had build into the side of the ridge, and were a bit close together for a horse going down, but we managed to make it without any drama, though we took it nice and slow. That brought us to a creek crossing and another climb up the other side, but part of that stairway had a bypass for horses, which helped, and the top steps were wider apart, making it much easier. We started picking up a lot of foot traffic at this point, and soon we dumped out into a parking area. We found the Bridle Trail on the far side of the parking area, and that brought us straight home, passing by a group area and several campgrounds. A very nice ride, a bit shorter than we expected because we cut off a significant corner of my proposed route when we missed where to go when we came through that double gate, but that just means now we'll have to go back again in the reverse direction to find out what we missed! Just under nine miles, the perfect length for me, and even Hubby's been getting fit enough lately to hand in there for 3+ hour rides. Got the horses bedded down for the night, and enjoyed a relaxing Friday evening.

After a week of the usual chores, writing, laundry, vehicle washing and various mundane activities, and determining that this may be our last ride here at Bumble Bee, we decided to make today's ride a long one, and the one place we had heard about but hadn't been to yet that fit the bill was a spot called Hidden Treasure. I drew a map on Google Earth and downloaded it into my GPS just to make sure we didn't get lost, since the last thing we needed on a 12 mile ride is to get lost. We headed south along the east side of the ranch, on a lovely trail I wish we had known about before, it was very nice. Apollo was full of beans this morning, and shied at every piece of rusted metal, downed saguaro cactus and other extraneous junk that we passed by. Eventually, he settled down and was his usual sane self. The trail took us down to a gate that, unfortunately, only had a key lock on it, so I guess I missed the instructions, but we followed the fence a little east and found a break in the fence by the wash that is near the pipeline and managed to get through there. We then followed the pipeline for a few miles looking for where the Black Canyon Trail crossed it. We thought we saw a shortcut ATV road a little before my GPS told us to turn left, and that ended up taking us in the wrong directions, so we cut back to the pipeline and stayed on it until we finally did reach the BCT. West from there, and before we knew it, we were at Hidden Treasure, an oasis of sorts. Evidently there is an underground river that pops up along the wash occasionally, including one down on the ranch, and here there is a very small pond several inches deep, filled with bulrushes and cattails, surrounded by cottonwoods and even some grass, a very rare occurrence here in the near desert. Cattle pens have also been built here, with a ramp for loading onto trucks. We stopped and shared a couple of apples with the horses, and an ATV with a couple of guys came by, asking us if we had seen any quail, as they were out hunting. Hadn't noticed any, and told them so, so they moved on. After a little rest, we rejoined BCT and started heading south back to the ranch. This was truly a beautiful section of trail, though a bit challenging in a few places. Lots of cutbacks in order to cross arroyos, mostly a sand trail which made it particularly nice, until we finally joined the road that went straight down to Bumble Bee. We debated whether to stay on the BCT, but that would have added additional mileage, and the sun was already getting low, and we figure the most direct route would just get us back in time, so we took the road. It was a great ride, and surprisingly, neither of us felt overly tired. We've been walking fairly regularly, and I think that's been helping a lot, getting us back in shape now that Hubby's fully recovered from his broken bones. Got the horses put away, and had a lovely evening!

The rain moved out overnight, but the clouds remained, at least high clouds that veiled the sun. We saddled up and this time, headed north on the main road, then turning west once we got through Bumble Bee, taking a previous route backwards, until we took a turnoff that headed us east toward the mountains, though on a road we hadn't been on before. The road was a bit rough, but we eventually came to the end of it, where there is an abandoned mine. I've noticed when I look on Google Earth that there are a lot of primitive roads around here that seem to just end, and I'm learning that these mostly lead to abandoned mines. Good thing they didn't have satellites in the old days, the old prospectors would never be able to keep their strikes secret! On the way back down, something had the horses at full attention, likely something they smelled. We saw some hoof prints coming up the hill that looked very fresh, probably elk or some similar large deer, so we figured that was it. They finally settled down again once we got to the crossing of the Black Canyon Trail, which we again headed south on. So far, this is our favorite trail, it's a really nice section. Had a nice canter once we hit the main road, then got back to the ranch safely. Didn't bother to wash the horses, since the paddocks are nothing by mud, but we did move them to a different pen because the one they were in had gotten so chewed up during the last couple of days. Once it dries out, I'm sure it will be fine again. Had another relaxing evening, it was really quiet since both our RV neighbors went to Sedona for the weekend. Terry and Martha just got their new RV on their new pickup, so they've been busy the last couple of days trying to get everything moved in, and it took a little longer to pack up than usual. So no happy hour tonight, just a nice quiet evening!

After a couple of days of rest, we saddled up to take another ride today, this time heading south on Black Canyon Trail, which we haven't done since the first ride we took here. Tried to find an alternate route, but our first attempt didn't work out. Looked it up later on Google Earth to learn where we should have gone, so we'll know for next time. Once we reached the pipeline head by the road, instead of crossing, we ran north on the main road for a short distance before picking up a Forest Road that skirted around above the wash, which was lovely. We stopped at a rock outcropping for a quick apple before heading out again. As I suspected, the road ran into the road that takes us up to the mountains on the east side, and we dropped down into the wash and took that back to the ranch. A very nice ride, no drama, thank goodness. Gave the horses a bath when we got back, the dumbest job at any ranch, since it only lasts about one minute once the horses are let back into their paddock, even though we did let them stand around to dry for some time. A lovely ride! Managed to get some writing in when we got back as well, so a productive day as well.

After spending the last two days diligently working on my next book, we took the afternoon off and went for a ride on what quickly became our favorite trail. We had been on Black Canyon Trail heading south, but this was the first time we headed north, and it was a very nice ride. It wasn't as rocky as the other end of the trail, and not as much of a climb, fairly even, twisting through some growth, keeping the horses very engaged. Really nice! We crossed a road, circling around trying to find a way back to that road, but we missed the turned I had pegged out on Google Earth, which was a wash that looked a bit overgrown, but ended up having to go cross country once we determined we had gone too far. I managed to weave a path around the cactus, down into the wash, and back up to the road again, which we then took all the way down to the main road just north of the town of Bumble Bee. We hadn't actually seen the town since we've been here, though it's little more than a collection of small cottages and a row of mailboxes. One of the buildings is apparently the original station along the old stagecoach road from Phoenix to Flagstaff, where customers of the stage line would spend the night on the three-day journey. The road is only marginally better now : -). Weather was perfect, even warm today, so after we put the horses up, I opened a bottle of wine and Hubby and I sat around on the tack room porch with the neighbors and some of the hands, and chatted for several hours, until the sun went down and it started getting chilly again. Another great day here in Arizona!

The good news is that Billy was moving much better today, though he's still unsure about jumping on things, which is understandable, but he raced down the stairs this morning, and ran around greeting everyone in the barnyard, his usually squiggly self! After breakfast we saddled up and headed to Antelope Falls again, taking a couple of alternative routes along the wash now that we knew where we were going. This time when we arrived, I hiked up the trail to where the actual "falls" were, thinking it was a ways up, but it turned out to be just around the corner, less than 100 feet around. It was a pretty sheer cliff-face with a good-size pool of water at the bottom, but there was no waterfall, not even a trickle anymore, though you could tell where water would have usually run. A very pretty spot, with a campfire ring which was obviously built by the locals, no doubt a great party spot for ATVers, though someone had left a big tire in one little pool of water for some reason. We rested for a while and shared some apples with the horses. Just as we were getting ready to leave, a couple of ATV's with some older guys showed up, we chatted for a few minutes before heading back off to the ranch. A very nice day, warm temps but a nice breeze that was actually a bit blustery at times. Got back around 4:00, bedded everyone down, putting blankets on the horses because it's going to be cold the next couple of nights, and settled down for the evening.