Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2014 – Second Ride Day

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!

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