Thursday, Dec. 25, 2014 – Ran Into Mule Skinner from New Mexico

Took a long walk with Billy today, since we’ve been to lazy the last few days to go, and I wanted to check out trails going in the other direction, and that are not on the map, so I headed northwest out of the campground and started following hoofprints. About a mile out, I passed a guy on a mule, and oddly, he looked familiar to me. I thought maybe he was the mule wrangler from the Grand Canyon we met several years ago, but he had much bushier facial hair, so I let it go and kept walking. Love the look of these trails here on the flats, boots won’t be necessary, and though it may not be overly interesting, the trails do seem to weave around in a complex network that would at least create some variety. According to my GPS, the walk ended up being 1.87 miles, a lot farther than I thought I’d been walking, though this one was definitely longer than most others. Just before arriving back at the camp, I ran into the same mule and rider, who had stopped at the entrance to the camp. He looked at me and asked, “You don’t remember me, do you?” I told him that he looked familiar, just that I couldn’t place him. He reminded me that his name was Delford, and we had met in the Pecos Wilderness in New Mexico earlier this summer. We had a nice chat, and I invited him over to the trailer to say hello to Hubby, and to get his phone number. He’s staying at a ranch on the other side of the flats, sounds pretty good, water and electric for $17/night. If they kick us out of here for overstaying our 14 day limit, we may have to move over there for a few days! Evidently, after leaving here in March, he’s planning on going to Dripping Springs, TX, exactly where we’ll be heading after the first of the year! Crazy, small horse world, twice in two days!