After a week of writing, we finally decided it was time to get out of the bungalow and give the horses some exercise. Beforehand, we borrowed on of the employees little tank tote and emptied three tanks of black water to a nearby dump We received our new Cavallo Trek boots for the horses yesterday, but unfortunately, they sizes apparently run smaller than their simple boots, because even though they were both Size Ones, Hubby's new boots just wouldn't fit on Clio, so we had to resort to using his old boots, which he had to put duct tape around just to make sure they stayed on, they're in such bad shape. Apollo's Size Threes fit just fine, so we got a chance to try them out today. These boots are much lighter, and have a single velcro keeper strap in front, which is a significant improvement in the design. Plus, they're sold as singles, so if we ever do lose one, I only need to buy them one at a time. Off we went, out the road toward the south, endeavoring to get near what's been called the Spanish fort, or the Indian fort, a three foot high wall on top of a hill. We headed in that direction, and probably passed it, not realizing we couldn't get there with the horses, it required a hike up some serious grade. We just rode out for about 1:15 or so, until Hubby had said he was ready, and then we headed back again along mostly the same trail, though we did do a slight diversion to come in by The Big House rather than along the wash, just for variety. Apollo seemed to lift his feet much more readily at the jog, which I attribute to the lighter boots, and it was a pretty good ride, though much of the trails were pretty rocky. Never did quite pin down the location of the fort, but good exercise all around. About halfway on the return, we heard a siren, and eventually saw a paramedic van approaching on the road. When we arrived back at the ranch, we found that it had arrived there, apparently a girl training a green broke horse (using a halter, no bridle!) was in the arena when they brought in a small herd of cows as entertainment for a saddle club that's here this weekend, and, not surprising, the horse went nuts and threw her off. She had some lower back pain (which of us doesn't when we fall off a horse!), and I guess they took her away, though I'm not sure. In any event, we headed back, put the horses away in the small corral which they had been moved to (to make room for the saddle club), fed them and relaxed for the evening.

Got up a bit earlier today to make sure we got back from our ride before it gets too late, as Friday the sun was just about down by the time we got, which is cutting it a bit close to not getting back before dark, so we were out before 11:00 this morning. We took about a 7.5 mile loop that was roughly northeast of the ranch, which started along the wash. We heard gunshots of apparent target practice, so before we went around a turn I called out, and the shooting stopped. As we came around the corner, a couple of shooters waved at us to let us know they had heard me and stopped until we passed. Being Sunday, it was quite busy out in this area of BLM land, with numerous ATVers and picnickers, but the horses paid not attention. They were pretty sluggish this morning, not used to being ridden three rides in a week, particularly since the one on Friday was so long, but eventually they became engaged with the trail. The wash alternated between sand and sharp rocks, and many times we followed the ATV trail, as it avoided most of the worst sections, but weren't that great either, very rocky. About halfway around, the turnback on the loop, was very steep, with an almost 40% grade according to my GPS, but at least it got us to the top of the hill quickly! We stopped at the top for an apple break before continuing. Beautiful views up here, though it was pretty rocky, and the road was quite challenging, with lots of hills and dales along the top. Another nice ride, though! During the course of our ride, Hubby and I debated the pros and cons of staying here or moving on, and by the time we got back, I checked the weather, and there's a polar vortex moving down in the next week, so the place we were planning on going in Payson would have lows in the upper 20's by the end of the week, compared to upper 40's, low 50's here at Bumblebee, so we decided that if it was okay with Kelly, we'd stay here for a few more weeks. With a great cell phone signal, this is a good place for the audio conferences I need to facilitate in a couple of weeks, and it's pretty quiet here, and very reasonably priced, so our focus is now on just staying where it's warm for the winter, and at the moment, this is the place! Spoke to Kelly when they came up to feed the horses, and she smiled and said, "I knew you'd want to stay longer." Other than having to accommodate a very large saddle club group this weekend, we should pretty much have the place to ourselves, except maybe a few folks occasionally. Having made that decision, we settled in for the night, satisfied that the next few weeks will be comfortable, and living will be easy with water and electric!

Saddled the horses and got out a little late for our four-hour ride today. I had tried to plot a GPS course based on the hand-drawn map that I got from Kelly, the ranch manager, but it was mostly guesswork on our part. We did manage to find most of the landmarks, and actually did pretty well until the end, when we hit the farthest wash, where we thought we were supposed to turn left, which we did. We followed the wash another mile up into a cove, climbing all the way, until the trail simply petered out. We headed back down the valley again, until we reached where we had turned left, and went the other way because there was an interesting rock formation that I though would be a good place to stop for an apple break. Turns out, that was where Antelope Falls was! So instead of left, we should have turned right, which quickly dumped down into another wash where the rock formation and the trail up to the falls were. There was a small pool of water in the rocks where I was able to collect some in our portable bucket for the horses, then we split a couple of apples between us all. There were two ATV 4-wheelers parked there, and after a while, half a dozen guys came down the trail that led up to the actual water fall, though according to their report, there was only a tiny drip at the moment. We all chatted for a while before heading back toward the ranch. The trail along the wash is like so many here, it's more of a general direction rather than a precise trail, so we meandered here and there on our way back, cutting through the campground on the road this time, though we cut back down to the wash to stay off the main road. Got back to the ranch by 5:00, having completed nearly 12 miles, about 2 miles longer than we expected because of our wayward trip up the canyon. A great ride, Hubby even held up well the entire trip, despite being longer than we expected. A gorgeous day!

After picking the brain of one of the other campers here yesterday (who left this morning, leaving us pretty much on our own here today), I managed to make some sense of the hand-drawn map the manager Kelly gave me yesterday, and plotted a 6+ mile trip for today. We headed south out of the ranch, past the "Big House," and climbed up for a while on Black Canyon Trail. Rather rough going, not too steep but pretty rocky, until we finally hit the plateau full of huge saguaro cacti for a while, before finding the "Big Rock" that signaled our turn to the right. We weren't sure if it was the right place, but we were following tracks from the group that had gone out yesterday, and when they disappeared and we backtracked, they did turn at a big boulder, so we followed those roughly down hill until we reached the pipeline head, which was clearly marked on the map. Once we crossed the road and went down a bit more, we finally came to the wash, which was mostly dry, mostly flat, and mostly sand, and we soon had a wonderful canter along the riverbed. One last turn up a beautiful, narrow canyon, under the bridge of the main road, before following the wash back to camp, before finishing our 6.75 mile ride back at the entrance to the ranch. A much more interesting ride that we thought at first that it would be, and were happy the rocks didn't continue for the entire trail. Gave the horses a quick rinse off before settling down for the evening.

The state park here is on the edge of the Coconino National Forest, and today we took a trail that doesn't appear on the Dead Horse Ranch Map, but does appear on the "You are Here" placards around the trail. I had taken a picture of one on our last trip, so I was able to do a general GPS map to guide us, though it wasn't a full picture, so I missed part of the western edge of the Bones trail. Nevertheless, I figured about an 8+ mile loop would do the trick today, so off we went! This turned out to be a very fun trail, designed by the local biking community, and once it turned off the main trail, it essentially followed the terrain of the hills and valleys about halfway between the top of the hills and the depth of the valley, so it curved deep into each valley until the trail met that halfway point, then curved back out again around the peninsula that was the mountain. It was easier than Lime Kiln, and all the climbs were gradual, so we had no trouble anywhere. Once, Hubby lost one of Clio's boots, but fortunately he noticed before we had gone to far, so it was just a short jaunt back to retrieve it. Our Cavallos have been GREAT boots, but the straps are getting pretty worn out now, so we're probably going to have to get a new pair for Christmas! Apollo shied a couple of times at nothing, but otherwise, he was a very good horse today. We stopped for a break and an apple all around before continuing on, with the final leg of the journey on Lower Raptor Trail going in the opposite direction than we had taken previously, then we picked up another short trail past the old house that sits atop the hill above our campsite, that got a bit rocky and difficult on the downside, but not too bad. That hooked us up directly with Lower Raptor again, and a short walk southward led us directly back to the campground. It turned out the trip was just under 9.5 miles, but that was because I was missing that section of map and left out one of the trails around one of the mountains. No worries, Hubby is feeling much more fit these days, and he handled it beautifully! The temps today were perfect, and though it was a bit breezy and cloudy, it wasn't enough to create any dust problems. Forecast had called for a 30% chance of rain, and it might have on the other side of the mountain range, but it was great here! This has been a great stay!

Because it was forecast to be a bit warmer today, we decided to get a ride in a little earlier, and to try to reach a nearby National Monument known as Toozigoot, a former Indian pueblo village that sits right on top of a nearby hillock. Since it was only about 1.5 miles away, we thought we would try to ride there, though I was pretty sure we'd be blocked by fences and rules, and in fact, we were. We began by heading north up the road, which turned to gravel just after a cul-de-sac where the tarmac ended. There was a gate just a bit further on, and fortunately it was open, so we headed through it. On the way down the hill after that, we saw a trail marked for horses, but I thought it was too early to turn to we stayed on the road. Shortly after that, we came across a turnoff marked hikers and bikers only, and just beyond that, then the road was marked for hikers only! Even though it seems like a perfectly good road, it seems it leads to a marsh where they didn't want horses, so we turned around and went back to the path marked just for horses. Suddenly we were out of the desert and into a wonderfully cool, shady, riparian area, with taller trees, water crossings, lush grass, a really beautiful, albeit short, trail. We soon rejoined the hiker/biker trail, until it reached a fork. We took the right fork because it brought us closer to the monument, going through a very interesting forest, before being stopped by a gate with no trespassing signs beyond it. We went back to the fork and took the left trail, which was obviously quite new, with little traffic, but someone had marked it with pink ribbons, so we followed the ribbons. We had a couple more water crossings, one about 30 feet wide, but shallow and with firm footing, so it wasn't any problem for our guys. That brought us out to an area that bordered a horse farm, and the trail eventually took us to an old sluice, presumable for gold panning! The trail ended there, so we circled back on a parallel trail, going past a private dam and lake, ending up directly across from the gate where we had been stopped on the hill above us. Apollo balked at making the crossing there, which had loose gravel and dubious footing, so we headed back around the way we came in, back across the water and eventually back to camp. Only 3 miles, just over an hour, but a truly lovely ride! Amazing how a desert can suddenly have so much life, just be adding water! We put the horses away, and decided to drive out to the monument by truck, and though it was only 5 miles away by road, it took over 20 minutes to get there through town because of it's speed limits. We spent about an hour or so wandering the museum and around the grounds of this pueblo, which had been mostly restored by workers in the 30's as a result of the WPA programs, so it wasn't exactly original, but it was at least representative of what it might have looked like back from 1100-1425 AD, before the Indians abandoned it. Then Hubby told me a story about his first boilermaker, back in the early 80's when he first came to this country from England, and that was in the town of Jerome just up the mountain, so we decided to take a ride up there. Talk about some views! Absolutely gorgeous! This old mining town had become an old hippie town, lots of aging bikers, but still had a quaint feel to it, and lo and behold, Hubby managed to find the old bar! It was now called The Spirit Room, though he didn't think it was named that back then. We enjoyed a nice cool draft beer before heading back down the mountain, arriving just as the sun was setting over the mountains behind Jerome. Fed the horses, poured ourselves a cocktail and settled down for the evening. I downloaded a new app on my smartphone today, one that tracks the International Space Station, and tells you when there will be a sighting in your area (based on your actual GPS location), and we were fortunate to be having one this very evening, so a few minutes before it was due, Hubby and I headed outside, and moments later, we caught sight of it, watching it cross the sky from just above Jerome and go toward the south. What a perfect ending to another perfect day! As a raging space fan, I'm going to LOVE that new app!

As our neighbors started to pack up before their noon check out, we started to saddle the horses, leaving on the trail just before they did. We headed north, having decided to go on the most obvious loop, which included Lower Raptor, to Thumper, to Lime Kiln, about 7 or 8 miles according to my Google Earth-made map. The trail started out rocky and climbing, with a few occasional sandy spots once we reached the plateau. Mostly desert-like conditions, but with truly spectacular views all around. To the north, the red rocks of Sedona were clearly visible, to the south, the town of Cottonwood, to the west, the Mongollon rim with a clear view of Jerome, and old mining city up on a hill, to the east, yet another line of mountains. What a grand view! Each time we turned onto a new trail, though, the terrain changed somewhat. We had a few areas with grassy fields, a couple of areas with bunches of small trees, almost tunnel-like, then the most challenging trail, Lime Kiln, which has a long history and which had been recently restored, with a linear trail leading to another state park 15 miles northeast. This was the trail that was described as for experienced riders and horses only, and we could see why. A few places along the trail were so eroded that the drop was too much, so we had to trace a less-traveled route around it on several occasions, making for a few tricky moments, but overall, the horses did a fantastic job! We took one break about halfway around, stopping for shared apples and drinks for us, before heading back out again. It turned out to be a fantastic ride, we had an incredibly great time! The sun was shining, but a nice cool breeze was blowing, making for perfect weather. Everyone enjoyed themselves tremendously! By the time we got back to camp, our neighbors had cleared out, doing a pretty good job of "leaving no trace," except for their corrals, which they didn't seem to do much cleaning of at all. We decided to keep the horses together in one corral so that we would only have to fill one water bucket at a time, and they enjoy being near each other anyway. A great day, perfect in every way!

Weather finally settled down, today was much calmer and warmer, to the mid-60's, so Hubby and I decided to go on a short ride just to keep the horses fit. I started out in the arena for about 20 minutes, just to make sure what we learned together the other day was still fresh in our minds, and he seemed okay with it. We headed out the central trail northward, then cut back along the lake, though a couple of other riders were galloping along the beach, and for some reason, that got Clio all excited, plus we didn't really like the deep sand for footing, so we cut back to the trail at the back of the dunes for the way home. I did managed to get a few short canters in, mostly to catch up to Clio's outrageously fast trot, and Apollo was perfect, sliding nicely into a canter with no hysterics, gently catching up to Mama before resuming his nice job. It was a lovely ride, perfect weather, couldn't have asked for more!

Relieved that it was a nice quiet morning, no rangers rousting us out of bed, had a good breakfast did a quick load of laundry, then soon we were out on the trail. There are a number of loops, none of them terribly long, and because this is a wide open park, you can pretty much see the campground from anywhere in the park, so it's just a matter of deciding how long you want to ride. We headed out on the trail nearest the road, though we missed the actual trailhead by going out on a service road, but we soon found our way over, then went to near the north end of the park, then looping back. We saw several other riders out on the trail, including one guy riding a very leggy black horse that he was riding with only his legs (his arms were out to each side), and a couple of girls were in the arena. On the way back we had a long straight away, so we decided to have a canter, but for some reason, after a few strides, Apollo did his little rodeo routine, more so than he's done in a long time, and I ended up in the sand. I decided to work with him the arena when we got back, which I did, but every time I tried to get him into a canter, he started jumping up on me, to the point where I was starting to get too panicky every time we tried, so I was probably exacerbating the problem with my nervousness. We finally quit, unsaddled them and headed over to a nice wash rack they had here, for their first bath in I can't remember how long, and they seemed grateful. They've been so dusty lately, we just had to do something. After scraping them down and letting them dry, we finally put them back in their corrals. I think tomorrow I'll take Apollo out to the arena again and see if we can't make some improvements in his behavior, or my riding, whichever is needed!

After several days of just resting, hanging out, trying to stay warm (nights were down in the upper 30's, days upper 50, low 60's), doing mundane chores and generally finally getting caught up on our sleep, it finally warmed up enough, almost 70, to take our first ride here. Unfortunately, there is really only one trail, so a linear ride is all we can do, and neither one of us wanted to go too long and wear ourselves out again, so after a very leisurely morning, we finally saddled up and got out about 2:00, without boots today because it looks like the trail is mostly just dirt. We headed out on the perimeter trail around camp, then missed a turn up the trail, instead going down to the trailhead road that was gravel, and led to another area with corrals which we didn't know about, but it looks more like a day use parking area rather than a camping area. Got back on the right trail when it crosses the gravel road about 100 feet up the road. Naturally, being named Summit Trail, the whole first part of the trip was climbing, first through old growth evergreen forest, then suddenly as we reached near the first plateau, the terrain changed completely! Only short stubby bush-like trees, the trail got very rocky until we reached the top of the plateau, and it suddenly felt like Texas, or some other fairly barren rocky place. Then, as we turned the corner toward the west, we got a sudden, impactful view of Mt. Shasta way off in the distance. Still covered with snow, it was certainly beautiful to see in the distance. Fortunately, once we reached the plateau the trail became mostly dirt again, with just a few stones, nothing to hurt the horses' feet. We carried on for a bit, but when the trail started to go down again, we both agreed that we didn't want to go down just to have to come up again, so we stopped there, tied up the horses and enjoyed the view for a bit. Before long we were heading back to camp, and in the end, we only did about 3.5 miles, probably our shortest ride ever, but it was enough for us, since we both had the goal of not wearing ourselves out. Probably good not to strain the horses too much too early as well, since it was a pretty good grade going up and down. Nonetheless, it was an enjoyable ride, just what we wanted.