Archives for 2010

I spent the day getting caught up on work, while Hubby went into town to meet with the propane guy (we had to make an appointment, would you believe!) and get a few things we had missed at the store the previous day. Went to Happy Hour again, met some more people, and had another pleasant evening all around.

Got out by 10:00 after going over to the campground to dump. An easy drive down some desolate roads, with just a few small hills to cross on the way. After shopping and getting gas in Presidio (where the prices were much higher than anywhere we’ve been lately, mostly because it was so small everything was pretty much a monopoly), and discovering the only propane place in town was closed, which was a problem because we had one empty tank and despite our southern location the nights are still below freezing, we arrived at Fort Leaton, an interesting museum of the early history of the area and one of the outposts for Big Bend. After several minutes of pleasant banter with the Ranger there, we discovered that almost the entire park was closed for all but a public hunt, a fact that neither the reservation in Austin or the folks at the park had mentioned to me when I had called earlier. All he could offer was one night, but we’d have to be out before 9:00 am when the hunt started the next day. Considering that we had to go 27 miles on washboard gravel roads to get there (and another 27 to get out), we declined. Now we were stuck. Fortunately, just up the road was the Loma Paloma Golf Course and RV Park, and the owner was kind enough to let us stay there with the horses. We found a perfect spot, way at the western end in their storage area, that had two trees just the right distance apart for a highline. It didn’t have water or electric, but at the time we thought we were only spending the night so it didn’t matter. We had filled the RV with water at Ft. Leaton before our unfortunate discovery, so all we needed was to fill the 55 gallon drum for the horses, which we did in short order. We were soon settled in, and were then invited to Happy Hour at the Lizard Lounge, a tent-covered are in the middle of the park with long tables and chairs for socializing, which apparently happens every day at 4:00. We made our way over there about 4:30 with drinks in hand, and met some of the other temporary residents of the park. They even had some munchies, like a real live happy hour. It was very pleasant, and quite a nice surprise after being in so many public parks that have posted warnings about not having alcohol on the premises. We soon learned that all of the property directly behind the RV park was State land, and we were welcome to ride back there. Once Hubby learned that, we decided to stay a few days, rather than to rush back north into much colder weather (a major blizzard was crossing the country). Stayed in the gathering until the sun went down and the temps dropped, then got everyone settled in for the evening.

Spent the day conslidating as many jobs as we could whenever we needed to go outside, just to avoid the 15 minute exercise of getting the burrs off our boots and clothing before coming inside, longer if we took the dogs with us, because I had to put boots and Marina and carry Billy out to the dirt road. Not a fun day. We went to get water out of the trough for the horses, but it was frozen and hadn’t refilled, so we had to run over to the main campground to pick up some water there. Did some work on the computer, made a few phone calls, confirmed there were openings at the horse camo down at Big Bend Ranch State Park on the Tex-Mex border, and otherwise prepared for our departure tomorrow, ahead of schedule purely due to the misery of the burrs!

Had a rough night, worrying about how to solve all the problems with these little burrs, but by the time I got up to let the dogs out, I had a plan. I took four small plastic bags and filled the bottoms with toilet paper, then used hair bands to hold them on. I put these on our big dog Marina and though she tried a couple of times to shake them off, once I let her out, I think she realized the purpose behind the booties and went on about her business. She still didn’t go very far though. The little dog Billy, I put him on a lease and carried him to the driveway, which was mostly dirt, and walked him along the edge, avoiding the grassy areas as much as possible, and managed to keep his agony to a minimum, though he still picked up a burr or two that I had to brush off with my gloves on. That solved, after breakfast we headed out to ride the 7+ miles of trails here at Davis Mountain (named after former Secretary of War and later President of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis). We especially careful not to get any burrs under the horses’ saddles (it’s not just a saying, it’s true there’s little more maniacal than a horse with a burr under his saddle!), and headed out the trailhead. At first the trail was mostly the dirt road, then we crossed several rocky creek beds following the electrical poles. Finally we turned off and headed up the mountain switchbacks. The trails were very rocky, but we waited until we were a mile or so out before putting their boots only, mainly because I wanted my gelding to have something else to think about than taking off on me. After no trailriding for nearly a month, and feed that was mostly alfalfa, he was more than a little frisky. Fortunately, since the first 2.5 miles was almost all uphill, he settled down in short order, and was soon back to his old self. The trail was a lot of switchbacks, and the rocks were rather loose, causing them to slip occasionally. There was one place where two trees looked like they had been split in the middle and the trail went right through them, which was kind of interesting. Near the top, the trail splits, so we headed right toward the overlook about 1.2 miles away. It was still a little climb, but had more level ground, though the ground was still mostly rocky. At the overlook, the view was quite stunning. We could see an observatory on the top of a hill to the west, and a couple of huge covered fields, at least 20-30 acres, maybe much more due south. It was a great 360 panorama. After about 10 minutes of observation and rest (the horses stood perfectly still, and seemed to be taking in the sights as much as we were) before heading back down to the intersection, where we stopped for lunch at a bench under a tree. Afterward, we headed out the other trail, toward Sheep Pen Canyon, passing an old cistern that hace “Abirel 8, 1948” carved in the cement of the trough. Don’t know if it was a date, age or name but it was very impressive stonework. This trail was more level and offered a few places where the ground was good for trots and canters, so we sped along that leg whenever we could, until we reached the park boundary 1.5 miles out. We headed back and made it back to camp before 4:00, about a four hour ride. At one point, my gelding got a little ticked at the rocks and shook his head a bit (he’s a comedian, my horse), but otherwise it was enjoyable and uneventful. We thoroughly enjoyed being back in the saddle again after our long absence, and I senses the horses were glad to get back on the trail as well. Gave them some oats as a reward, and bedded them down for the night, made one more excursion with the dogs after dinner (what a pain these burrs are!), and settled down for the evening.

Slept until almost 10:30 this morning! Obviously we needed the rest, and it certainly did wonders for my aches and pains. Hubby fed the horses for me this morning, and we spent the day watching TV, getting caught up on the blog and generally vegging out for the day, finishing the last of the laundry and otherwise getting prepared for our departure tomorrow.

Decided to ride the horses in the arena today, as they hadn’t been ridden in weeks now, and the feed we bought in Albuquerque seemed to be more alfalfa than grass so they were starting to get a bit antsy. Saddled up in the afternoon and rode around for about half an hour before some other riders showed up. We decided to continue, to see how the horses behaved with other horses were around, and for the most part they were just fine once they got used to the idea. Hubby had been trying to get his mare to canter all day and hadn’t succeeded until the other horses were there, and my gelding lit off after her, going first at a canter, then at a full-fledged gallop. When I tried to slow him down he decided to kick up his heels, which, at that pace, got me off balance and I took a fall, though I managed to hang onto both my horse and my hat (a true cowboy test!). I was winded for a few moments, but then climbed back aboard and rode around a bit more before we exited the arena. Since they had worked up a sweat, and it was warm enough, we gave the horses a bath before putting them away, and I carried on and gave the new pickup a bath as well. I kept getting an electrical shock, and after some exploration, discovered the outlet that we were plugged into was the cause. I switched it to the upper plug and that seemed to solve the problem. Finally I came in and sat down, and after a while, not surprisingly, got a bit stiff. Falling off a horse is a bit like having a car crash, you don’t really know where it hurts for a while. It wasn’t too bad, though, I actually had more pain in my shoulder (which I’m still trying to straighten out, and had spent a couple of hours working on it earlier in the morning) but I’m getting close! Went to bed fairly early, anticipating taking the day off tomorrow.

Spent the morning getting caught up on work, then went shopping for some essentials. Had originally planned on heading out today, but decided to stay and do some laundry while we had water and electric, something not likely for the next few weeks, or possibly even the rest of the month. We decided the weather would allow us to stay until Monday, though it’s supposed to be a bit cooler on Sunday, but the stalls seem quite cozy and the horses are better off here than out on a highline. At one point, we decided the horses needed to get a little exercise, so we walked them down to the arena and let them loose. I made a tactical error, assuming the arena was secure, but by the time I realized the far entrance was open the horses had discovered it and slipped out. Despite numerous runs and corrals of piping, they managed to beat the maze and find their way out to the parking area, then to the grass next to it. Fortunately, that was in the opposite direction from the road, and it only took us a few minutes to catch them, after which we secured the entire arena and let them run around for a bit. Otherwise an uneventful day.

Set the alarm to get up early, because the first guided tour was at 10:00. We arrived just after 9:30, signed up for the tour and headed down the meet the group. Our guide as Ranger Andrea, and she set off at a pace that had most of us (we were a mostly older crowd) breathing heavily, with one poor woman practically having a heart attack before we stopped to look at a dead bat. After that we went much slower, going through the three rooms that make up the tour. At one point they turned the lights out just to let us experience total blackness, then we moved on from there. Hubby and I remembered that we had been through this room before, when it didn’t require a guide, but they apparently instigated guided tours during the 90’s to “protect” the cavern from those rare few would desecrate them. If we had simply walked it, even at our slow pace, we would have been through in no more than 30 minutes, but because it was a tour, we had to comply with their schedule, listening to mostly propaganda with very little substance or information. Anyway, after 90 minutes we were done. We stopped in the lower snack area for a cup of coffee and a small tub of salad (macaroni for me, potato for Hubby), and decided since it was still so early, we would take the Natural Entrance trail again. We originally thought we’d start at the bottom and work up as far as we could, but quickly realized that was a fool’s errand, so we walked from the visitors center to the entrance and headed down. The change between last time we were here and now was incredible, and not for the good. When we went down in 1988, there were paths that were well marked and easy to follow, but had a natural surface that allowed you to get a feel for what the early explorers experienced. Granted, it wasn’t as crude as being lowered in a guano bucket or climbing down a ladder as early visitors had to, you could still feel connected to the wonder they must have felt as they descended. Not so anymore. Now there’s a paved path, they’ve built stone walls along both sides and completely reconfigured the opening, adding amphitheater seating at the opening, and there’s a HANDRAIL on the trail! It was like walking in a Disney World queue (albeit a steep one), but it was no more interesting than that.
There was no sense of wonder or awe or respect for the early visitors, because it was just too “safe” to make any connection whatsoever. Really disappointing, and shocking to know that our National Park Service, which is supposed to preserve these sites for future generations, in fact ruined it for them. They should be ashamed of themselves that they made it so commercial and unnatural (quite ironic considering it’s the “Natural Entrance”). I supposed if you’ve never been it would be okay, but compared to our memories, it was an awful disappointment. Finished off the museum, bought a few items in the gift store and headed back to the Arena, glad we could check the Big Room off our bucket list, doubtful we’ll ever come back again because of the destruction they’ve inflicted here.

After doing some usual morning chores, we headed out to the Caverns before noon. We decided to take the self-guided walking tour of the Big Room, something we knew we had missed the last time we were here back in 1988. While the beauty of the Caverns was unchanged, the pathways and visitor center was much more commercial than we remembered it. We hadn’t done the Big Room before so we couldn’t compare it for sure, but it didn’t seem to have the same natural cave feel that we remembered. Nevertheless, we spent more than two hours on the 1 mile trail (that was listed as being a one hour tour, but obviously that was only if you rushed through it), taking out time to really enjoy it, but getting passed by many others in a bigger hurry than we were. Afterward we walked through part of the museum in the visitor’s center, then decided we needed to come back tomorrow to take the King’s Palace tour and the rest of the museum. Got back around dusk, tended the horses and settled down for the evening.