This morning I found an e-mail waiting for me from Terry in Abiquiu, NM. Sea stopped by Terry’s ice cream shop yesterday. He helped her find a place to camp last night and suggested a friend she could stay with tonight, 8 miles down the road in Medenales. He also sent me some great pictures.
Cell phone service is spotty and wi-fi connections are rare. If you don’t hear from Sea she’s most likely doing o.k. and meeting wonderful people along the way.
Fifteen years ago I discovered my most beautiful canyon in the world. I hope you have your own version! 😉 There’s a photograph upstairs at my folk’s house taken on my first visit; I am standing in the ford of the wee Tularosa river with Ranger, my orange and white Aussie dog with whom I was traveling at the time in a 24′ Winnebago. It’s scary sometimes going back to a place that I have loved deeply because nouns do change with time and so often things have gotten developed or shut down or otherwise messed up (by my standards) and 15 years is a long time! AND Gryph was coming for a visit, the ponies were in dire need of a rest and I didn’t have a plan B – nothing like a little pressure!
The canyon didn’t disappoint – if anything it was Better than my memories and dreams. The plan had been 5 days and then Gryph would return to Boulder and the ponies and I would return to the trail. Well – Gryph made it back to Boulder safely, but Finehorn sprained her pastern on the way out that day – and the best plan I had was a trailer ride back to the Canyon where we were in a good situation to rest for a bit while she healed. So, I’ve been blessed with 15 days in my earthly paradise – swinging between euphoria and stress!
How to describe the beauty of “my” canyon? The peace and grace and sense of safety in that haven – waking up at dawn to the sound of Jesse James whickering from his tether – going to him and slipping off his halter – Finehorn coming to say good morning and get her face itched before the two of them canter happily off to their “day pasture” where they range free, content with the creek and the graze and the creatures sharing the world. Evenings when I walk a half mile to retrieve them; one time passing 3 elk mamas with their fawns, one still wearing its baby spots. Another dusk there was a bobcat hunting at the edge of the field caught my eye, or the ringtail cat who frequents one of the 5 gigantic cottonwoods that have conquered time and floods and grown unique and majestic.
The amazement as the “purple explosion flowers” suddenly shot up, many growing as tall as I (sometimes I feel that very few things other than trees and buildings are as tall as I am) and started to sprout beans! The soft random blooming of the velvety mullein. The bull snakes and beetles and butterflies – and looking up from my hammock one afternoon to see a peccary on the “lawn” across the creek. The sound of the creek in the night as I sleep in my hammock, slung between two juniper trees with their identical foliage and very different barks. The part of “in love” that’s like loving Ice Cream (which doesn’t do a whole bunch for the ice cream) and the part that has to do with paying minute and specific attention to the beloved – be it human or horse or meadow – and the territorial and protective feelings that come with that. “MY Canyon!”
It’s a 2 1/2 mile hike up to the ridge where the cell ‘phone starts to function. Even in paradise there’s pragma that needs to be dealt with – at the very least the occasional call out to my sister to let her know that I’m not dead yet so nobody calls the rangers in to search for me. One afternoon as I was walking back down it started to Pour – cold rain and intense wind and I’d been sick in my guts the day before and wasn’t feeling my strongest best. A pick-up truck heading the other direction stopped and offered me a ride. Grateful, I got in the back seat with two boys and a pit bull. Riding back down the canyon one of the boys opened his hand to show me the rattle from the 8 year old snake they’d just killed – and I just felt so shocked! I hadn’t seen any rattlesnakes during the previous two weeks and it just seemed like such a betrayal somehow. Here are humans coming into the snake’s territory and killing it simply for existing on “their” planet. What to even say? So I thanked them for the ride and for the gatorade and water and crawled back into my tent to get dry and warm and wait out the storm.
Day by day as my food supplies dwindled the ponies got rounder and Finehorn got sounder. The battery ran out on my Steripen water purifier and I was having trouble with the solar recharger box so I started to boil my drinking and cooking water. I was almost out of denatured alcohol for my cook stove so had even more reason to be grateful that the fire ban had been lifted. The handle of my cookpot burned off, not being designed for use in a campfire. The yellow bandana melted when I used it as a pot holder – revealing its true nature as a petroleum product. There was plenty of drift wood left behind by last year’s floods and I went through my belongings again, finding more things I can live without (reducing Finehorn’s load) and burning paper that had outlived its usefulness.
Yesterday it was time to find out if Finehorn was as fit and hale and hearty as she was pretending to be. I woke up early and turned them loose to graze. I took my time over mocha and porridge, breaking camp and loading the packs. I fetched the ponies and curried off the mud. They seemed happy and ready to travel. We surprised a big rattler a few miles up the canyon. He warned us that we were a little close and we backed off and went around – no harm, no foul (tho we were all a bit more vividly awake for a while!) We sheltered under a juniper when a 10 minute rain storm blew through and Mr.James found plenty of his favorite prickly trail snack. We made it the 11 miles out to Cruzville in 4 1/2 hours and landed in a safe and welcoming haven, 8 hooves strong!
The water situation for over 200 miles ahead is pretty bleak. I’ve been talking to people, trying to sort a route north or east and not coming up with anything that’s viable without some form of vehicular support. The current plan is to catch a ride (sans ponies) 100+ miles down to Silver City tomorrow to pick up denatured alcohol for the camp stove and some Steripen batteries. Wednesday is a bit up in the air, and then on Thursday we’re most likely taking a trailer ride up through Quemado to pick up some mail and then on to San Ysidro. I am torn about the trailering. Obviously it’s not the first time. I’m not a purist and there are times that the health and safety of the herd takes priority over idealistic visions of the Journey. Finehorn did really well on the 11 mile trek yesterday. Does that mean she’s ready for a 24 mile stretch between water holes on Thursday? Frankly, I don’t want to risk that if there’s an alternative. By my readings of the maps, from San Ysidro we should be able to do shorter days for awhile until she’s solid again. The water situation looks a bit more viable up in that area and from all accounts it’s beautiful. My lovely canyon is unconcerned – she knows the landscapes of my dreams.
“this cabin, and the piped box spring behind it weren’t on my map. i stayed two days here, including my birthday – sharing space with an incredibly brash mama chipmunk who ran in and ‘tagged’ my head every time i laid me down to rest”
The past 3 weeks have been among the most wonderful of the Journey thus far. The ponies are in good form and doing well. I have been riding through country that makes my heart sing with its beauty and grandeur. Starting out from Northern California last October, one of my biggest fears was of riding in the rain. After 8 months of deserts and drought I am finding that the rain in this 9th month is a blessing and really not all that much of a problem (tho’ i’m sure that “too much of a good thing” could eventually apply to the rain as well!) Gryph just took off to return to Boulder after a week’s visit which delighted us all – Saint Finehorn, Mr. James and I will miss her even as we bless her on her Way. The ponies are currently at the Reserve, NM fairgrounds waiting for me to finish my “office chores”at the coffeeshop – and then we’re heading back up the canyon and onward.
“one day as i was riding, i saw a storm rapidly approaching – as i came around a bend this wee abandoned sheep-herder shack appeared. it came fully equipt with a fenced in pasture with a spring for the ponies. got them unloaded and turned out just in time. lovely night listening to the rain and left with dry gear in the morning… ”
There is so much to show and tell that I scarcely know where to begin. I’ve seen not only elk and antelope and coyotes and wild turkeys and chipmunks and squirrels and mule deer and hawks and crawdads and frogs and a wide variety of lizards and an Enormous great blue heron, I’ve also been lucky enough to see a Mexican grey wolf, a ring-tail cat and 4 peccaries! I was introduced to my first “water dog” (an algae colored salamander stage with dragon “ears” that comes to the surface and grabs an air bubble so it can breathe under water! And then there were the Vinegaroons! My camera hasn’t been quite so lucky as I have with the wild animals. Sometimes I was just too caught in the moment to even think about a photograph until the spell was broken. Other times, by the time I had the camera in hand and pointed in the right direction it was too late! For quite some time I thought that the reason I wasn’t seeing much wildlife was because of the ponies, but it turns out that Vehicles are the limiting factor. It’s hard to find places where Vehicles aren’t allowed to roam, but as soon as I started riding in those places I found the wildlife roaming as well. I wonder if all the people driving around in the National Forests have any idea what they’re missing in terms of sounds and smells and actual encounters!
“early morning in a meadow in the mount baldy wilderness – i woke to Jesse’s alert that we had a visitor (elk) – second photo was taken half an hour later as the ponies filled up on good graze to carry them through the day”
As I’ve ridden through the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest I’ve had a glorious series of camps. I’ve tented in remote meadows and thrown down my bedroll in abandoned bunkhouses, I’ve slept between soft sheets in comfortable houses and slung my hammock between trees beside a stream that burbled just on the edges of audible. I’ve reveled in my solitude and enjoyed the company of wonderful people. I’ve been thinking a lot about expectations and gratitude. It’s so easy to grow used to things and start to take them for granted; maybe even to assume that they’re a “right”. It’s nice to be invited in to a climate controlled house and offered a shower and a home cooked meal. But if I thought that I “needed” that to be comfortable I’d have missed the sight of elk grazing in the morning mist; I’d have missed the night I heard wild wolves singing for the first time in my life; I’d have missed the sound of rain pounding my tent as I curled up inside, safe and dry.
“after 10 days in a row of riding, often over challenging terrain, the ponies weren’t the only ones in need of a rest.”
The ponies are thriving on the available forage. I’ve started letting them off of their tethers in the afternoons and thus far they’ve not abandoned me. At night, assuming we’re in a safe space, I’ll tether one of them and let the other roam free.
“that creature on the right? that’s a vinegaroon! they’re in the arachnid family – and that particular specimen is close to 4″ long – the good news is that they don’t eat people… ”
“Gryph and Finehorn – Reunion”
I am sitting on a porch in Alpine, AZ. Yesterday I attended the 14th annual Worm Races with 3 firemen! I have so much to write and share – many photos to post – adventures to relate. Meanwhile it’s past time to pack up the ponies and ride on to Luna, NM – so that I’ll be at the Post Office and General Store tomorrow to pick up my mail (a week late!) I have no idea if there will be internet access in Luna – I’m really hoping so since I’ve got a day’s worth of catching up to do and then I’m heading into another stretch of wilderness! This past stretch has been one of the best stages of the Journey thus far – incredible beauty and a deepening bond with the ponies. Meanwhile – can anybody tell me what this plant is? There seem to be 3 versions that are similar but not the same…
On Sea’s first day heading into the wilderness she met some new friends and ran into an old friend who took these pictures
And here’s a picture of Sea’s new straw hat.
I camped last night at Bill’s Lake, a beautiful well-fed pond and small RV park. The bull frogs serenaded me all night long. It was lovely. This morning I woke up and was determined to make an early start. I got up and put water to boil on my wee camp stove and removed the fly from my tent. Very quickly I realized that I wasn’t going to be taking down the rest of it any time soon. It seems that the dragonflies like the Mutha Hubba as much as I do! Quite of few of their pre-dragonfly selves had crawled up onto the mosquito net part of the tent in the night and as the sun was warming the day the adult dragonflies were slowly and carefully emerging from their dry, wingless shells. It was an amazing thing to be able to watch – and only put me back by an hour and a quarter!
Today we rode for almost 6 hours down the shoulder of a big paved road with plenty of traffic. Jesse James was remarkably calm about the trucks and motorcycles – the mental break seems to have helped him as much as the physical break helped Finehorn. Even so – riding along the side of a busy road in the heat and wind isn’t any of our favorite sort of day. By the time we followed L to the camp she’d scouted (which is lovely and on a creek that’s actually got moving water in it!) we were all a bit grumpy and out of sorts. L’s brilliant picnic sorted most of that – the ponies had plenty of green grass to munch on and roll in and I enjoyed raspberry chipotle chicken and gourmet potato salad. I got camp set up quickly when the sky started to spit and there was even time to tidy up my haircut a bit.
Tomorrow morning the ponies and I are heading out into the wilderness again. We’ve got 8 days of riding between us and civilization and in terms of how much food we can carry there’s not a lot of leeway. I’ve got a big fancy forest service map of the area we’re riding through (courtesy of B) and I swear it’s big enough to use as a blanket (and waterproof!) The women at the Ranger Station in Lakeside were above and beyond helpful – helping me to plot out a route that goes from known water source to known water source and stays away from areas that are closed due to recent or impending fires. I’m as prepared as I know how to be – but it’s a big deal taking two ponies across 8 days of dry wilderness, gaining well over 3000′ of altitude and not knowing the terrain. This is not an ecosystem that I’m familiar with – and apart from things I’ve been warned about like bears and mountain lions and dry springs and non-existant lakes (and the monsoon season starting, which can lead to flash floods, and lightning… ) I don’t know what I don’t know about the area I’m riding into – Solo. This is sobering!
I’m hoping to be in Luna in time to pick up my mail on Friday- 6.July. I’ll be 47 by the time I emerge from the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest and enter New Mexico! What a strange thought. One other bit of news – I traded in my red felt hat with the feathers for a big floppy brimmed straw hat which L put a giant sunflower on and brought to me. The red felt was cooking my brain! Sorry I don’t have any photos of the new hat yet – that’s something to look forward to when I emerge from the wilderness! I’m so grateful to have had 3 days of rest (and lots of water and fruit) with the Llamas and the Peacocks before heading into this stretch. Really having to watch my hydration in the hot winds – I’ve upped my carrying capacity to 1 1/2 gallons and my Steripen Adventurer is charged and ready for the trail. Tonight it’s raining on my tent, I’m snug and dry and counting the seconds between the lightning and the thunder – it’s getting farther away now and the sound of raindrops is soothing and comforting after so many months of dry.
Last Tuesday in the very early morning I was woken from a peaceful sleep by the sound of galloping hooves. I was out of my tent and into my shoes before I was conscious – Jesse was running up and down the fence and around the yard, all flags flying, snorting and blowing and intently focussed on Something down the wash to the south. I went towards him and Finehorn came trotting over to me, wrapped her neck around me and pressed close. The sun was not yet up (it was before 5am) and although there was enough light to see, I couldn’t determine what was upsetting the ponies. After about 5 minutes of this Jesse came over and I put my hand on his neck to find his muscles tense and literally trembling. We all looked together, seeing nothing out of the ordinary, until finally things calmed down and the ponies returned to their grazing. The best guess is a bear or a mountain lion coming by to check out camp – and since whatever it was didn’t return, that morning or the next – Mr.James had been big and fierce enough to make his point – my Hero!
We were camped in a lovely spot. The ponies and I had everything we needed and quite a few of our “wants” covered as well. I had wonderful neighbors a few miles up the road who knew where I was camped and were keeping a friendly eye on me. A young elk had come by the water trough the day before. Hummingbirds hovered, checking out my bright yellow dry bags and colorful laundry. I was catching up on my journal Tuesday afternoon, sitting in my tent under the shady pavillion, enjoying the peace and beauty of my surroundings, when a dust devil sprang up right behind me, twisted and whirled across the yard, picked up several Large barn sections that were neatly stacked not far from my camp and tossed them over the fence and across the field – then sudden stillness and silence – spooky! (and it all happened so Fast – maybe a minute total!)
Since being back on the trail I have been reminded over and over again how much I am at the mercy of things over which I have no control. It’s easy to feel threatened by that – vulnerable and insecure. But let’s go back to the sentence just before – “at the Mercy”. Being vulnerable isn’t always such a bad thing! On Thursday the 14th, as I was setting up camp in a fortuitously fenced-in area (to keep Finehorn safe from the Mustangs!) and realizing that all of the available water was contaminated by cow pies I looked up to the SW and saw a big plume of smoke rising and spreading – oh No – Not Again!!! A few minutes later I heard dogs barking joyfully and the voices of women. I walked quickly in their direction, calling out so that they would know I was a female and not a threat, and one of them stopped to talk. L was so gracious and reassuring, offering to send somebody in to warn me if the Poco Fire looked to be an imminent threat and giving me a bottle of water to get me through the night. She returned in the morning with news of the fire, a gallon of water, fresh fruits and veggies and a warm heart. We strolled around the meadow, talking and sharing, enjoying the morning and getting to know one another. What an amazing blessing, brought about by my vulnerability to (and fear of) the forest fire – and the seriously disgusting water – without which I probably wouldn’t have “bothered” the nice women out walking their dogs.
In the past two weeks I’ve been reminded that I cannot rely on my maps. The drought is serious and the monsoons are late and lakes that look large and unmistakeable on paper simply do not exist in reality. (On the other hand, I’ve found enough water to keep us going in tiny creeks that the maps show as dry – go figure.) I’ve been stopped by large areas of blow down (impassable mazes of fallen down trees from the Rodeo-Chediski Fire of 10 years ago – at 468,638 acres it stands as the largest in AZ history) and in finding an alternate route I met DB, who not only welcomed me in like family, she told me about the wonderful haven that started this post And she called ahead to her daughter M and arranged a stay for us a bit further up the trail. What a wonderful family – and I never would have met them on my “original” route.
Due to the extreme fire hazard conditions, whole sections of the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest are currently closed and off-limits. Tomorrow morning (Monday) I will call the Forest Service in the hope that they can tell me where I Am allowed to travel – and where along that route I’m likely to find water. My next “destination” is Luna, NM – 100 miles from where I am today. I was hoping to be there by my birthday on 2.July to pick up a package from my folks and a new solar charging device that some friends in Florida are sending. Right now I think the likelihood of arriving in Luna “on time” is remote – and I’m not fussed about it. Even with all the detours and drought, I’m back on the Journey and once again finding it a great Joy.
I want to write more soon about Vulnerability and Security – but right now it looks like a storm might be blowing in. I’m inside a beautiful house which is not only full of art, it IS art, staying with a couple who rescue not only llamas and cats but also this strange thirsty woman (with two thirsty horses) in need of a bath on her coast-to-coast trail ride. I’m about to be interviewed for The Maverick Magazine and before that happens I want to get outside to feel the wind and see what the ponies sense about the incoming weather. Manana!
I’ve been meaning for quite some time now to put a few recipes up on the blog – it’s not all porridge and Clif bars – and sometimes a “what’s on hand” experiment is worth repeating. So – here’s a Free Range Rodeo Recipe – feel free to adapt as necessary!
Fry up 6-8 slices of bacon in your skillet with a small onion (diced) and a hot dried pepper (crumbled) – chop up the bacon into sections before or after frying. Leave everything in the pan.
In a bowl or sauce pot mix up a box of muffin mix as per directions (we use Jiffy, the 6-8 muffin size – which calls for 1/3 cup of milk and an egg) – add a small can of corn (drained) and a handful of craisins.
Pour the corn muffin mix into the hot skillet – all of it – like you’re going to make a giant pancake. As it starts to crisp up (when you’d normally be trying to figure out how to flip this thing without losing a bunch of it) start to slowly “scramble” it – gently turning over parts and folding them into other parts – some of it will be crispy and some of it will be soft – that’s the beauty of it.
It’s done when it’s mostly “dry” – but you’ll be able to push it together and it’ll stick to itself. It’s a different sort of texture than most USA food – but I like it! This serves as a main meal for two cowgirls. I discovered today, making it for the first time solo, that the leftovers (saved in a ziplock bag) are quite tasty at room temperature later.
Enjoy! (and let me know how it turns out if you try it!)
Monday morning I awoke to a beautiful day. I was enjoying my Mocha and had decided to check e-mail before packing up. Both ponies were grazing contentedly – Mr. James on his long tether and Finehorn loose for the morning as she’s disinclined to let him out of her sight. Suddenly I looked up and saw one Jesse James and Two! Finehorns. Something was seriously awry and I was hoping it wasn’t my eyes/brain. I jumped up and ran over to where a beautiful buckskin was trying to steal Finehorn away and convince her to join him. He was showing off, flirty more than aggressive. Jesse was doing an amazing job of staying between the intruder and his mare (even tethered as he was) but wasn’t exactly in a position to drive him away. I made myself as big as scary as loud as I could and was within 12′ of the buckskin before he took the hint and backed off. I watched him go, and he returned to his herd, which I hadn’t noticed until that moment. Several mares and younger horses including a baby who probably wasn’t two weeks old yet. I caught Finehorn and tied her to a tree. It was time to break camp and vacate, but every time I turned my back and got distracted by packing up here came the buckskin, intent on stealing Finehorn. Fascinating, if a bit intense.
I had planned to stop at Black Canyon Lake to water the ponies and purify some water for myself, but when we approached the lake, there was the herd, grazing in the meadow between us and the water. The buckskin was obviously watching for us and trotted over, high wide and handsome when he saw us. He was just about floating across the meadow in glorious passage – and I decided we could probably wait on the water. I quickly chose another route and kept watch over my shoulder as we rode away.
Not many miles along I saw a sign “Baca Meadow”, a small cemetery and a beautiful valley with fragments of a creek still lingering in puddles full of mosquito larvae. I hadn’t planned to stop so soon, but the place just called to me. A forest service sign filled in a few details about the Baca Family who had arrived in 1889, built a house, had a bumper crop that first summer, dug a root cellar and called the valley home for half a century. Seven daughters and a son, so you can imagine this was a popular stop in a country with more eligable bachelors than unattached frontierswomen! Damasia Baca (the mom) stayed on after her husband died in 1903, befriended the Apache (communicating with them in Spanish) and hosting all night dances and celebrations. There are tales of her running out to greet a passing traveler and begging them to stop and have a bite to eat before going on. There are also stories of 150″ of snow in the valley! That welcoming spirit lingers on in Baca Meadow. Even though the water situation was a little sketchy, I decided to trust my Steripen Adventurer and linger on an extra day. The air smelled of sugared vanilla, the hummingbirds visited, I watched a small bird chase a chipmunk Up a tree, the breezes blew through the pines and the skunk who visited my camp the first night passed on leaving no trace of the aroma that woke me out of a sound and peaceful sleep. I have a new appreciation for the diverse beauty of Arizona’s high country.
After 9 weeks of lay-up (10 including the time along the Gila on the Rez) I was feeling dis-membered. I had lost the sense of who I was and what I was doing out here. I’d lost confidence in myself and the ponies. I was living with people who only knew me in my time of trouble and incompetence and imagining myself through their eyes fed my doubts. The six previous months of learning and riding and successfully making our way vanished into a haze of never-was and I felt like people were assuming that I’m an idiot who has no business being out here and I should just quit this nonsense and go home, if I had one. Well meaning advice felt like judgement and my focus was on my failures. Even with all the rest and comfort I felt drained. No longer the Bold Adventuress on an Epic Journey, I couldn’t imagine anybody wanting to invite me in and hear my stories of the trail. I couldn’t imagine anybody wanting me around! What if I never left! I felt like a burden to myself, a loser, and was so relieved to finally be able to slink off into the woods with my tail between my legs.
Blessings on the Wilderness! I feel like I was able to spend my time in Baca Meadow re-membering myself and this Journey. It is a great boon to have this time and freedom to meander slowly through such beautiful country. I am still adjusting to the altitude and the ponies need some time to get back into condition before we start doing 20 mile days again and we have that grace. It is a great boon to have friends who know me in my strength as well as in my weakness. I am so grateful for the wisdom of another lady long rider who understands the ups and downs of such a life and is encouraging in realistic ways! Yesterday I was given water (with Ice!) by a nice man when I stopped at his house and he took the time to look at my maps and send me to this lovely spot. I feel back on track again – and blissing on my Journey.
Today I am celebrating 8 months on the Journey! I am celebrating being back on the trail again. I am celebrating Ponderosa Pines that smell of Vanilla (thank you K for that knowledge ;-)) and chipmunks and cooler weather with pure blue skies and a gentle breeze. I am celebrating the incredible linear community of friends and family that are following the blog and staying in touch and being loving and supportive and helpful and encouraging. I am celebrating my ability to sit in my tent in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, feeling gloriously at home, and send out a blog entry with photos of where I am right now. I am celebrating the reality of the fantasy of Free Range Rodeo.
Jesse James and Finehorn are celebrating an abundance of green grass to eat!
Thank you!
The Long Riders" Guild
