RIDIN' MEMORIES

We got up well before sunrise, caught the horses and took 'em to the stalls and fed them. Then we went and fed ourselves, packed the saddlebags, grabbed our guns and gear and went back to the barn to load up. Just about sunrise we were into the Coronado National Forest.

My daughter was on her blue roan Morning Star and I was on my quarter horse Shay's Gal. Both of them loved exploring the mountains and canyons in the country around us and were eager to go. We headed down the canyons following old game and cattle trails. Several ranchers ran cattle in parts of where we were traveling through and over the years the cows had beaten paths through the rocks and canyons that were nice trails to ride.

My daughter on her blue roan Morning Star

It felt like it was going to be a hot day. Arizona was in the middle of a 5 year long drought and water was scarce. A few years before it hit there was usually a small stream of water in the canyon bottoms where we could water the horses. But that was long gone, dried up.

There were still man-made tanks in several places that we knew but it was quite a distance between some of them. However we planned our route through the hills and canyons so we could hit at least a couple of them. There was also a well with a windmill up in the higher country. It was located in a small canyon and had some steel tanks with floats on them to control the water. I never shot any game near it as it was the only source of water for miles and I did not want to booger them from coming to it.

I was riding through that part of the mountains one day and heard shooting. When I got up to the windmill I found one of the tanks shot full of holes and leaking water. Tracks of several 4-wheelers led away from it. I rode back into town and called the rancher who ran cattle there and told him what I found. The next day I rode back out there with him and several hands and we patched up the tank. Never did find out who did that, but with the advent of 4-wheelers there was a lot of stupid people gaining access to the back country.

As we headed into the canyons I noted that we did not see as much game like we did before things got really dry. This part of Arizona has both Mule Deer and Coues Whitetail Deer as well as Javelina, Bobcats, Mountain Lion and Bear. Also Jackrabbits, coyote, fox, squirrels (both ground squirrels and little gray squirrels) and Coatimundi, as well as other small animals like skunks, possum and porcupine. And snakes of course. Rattlers was what we watched out for. There were Diamondback as well as Mojave rattlers in this country. One old Diamondback that I shot measured near 6 feet long! Further South on the mountains there were Bighorn Sheep. Usually we saw quite a bit of game when riding but as the drought had dragged on we saw fewer every time we went out. I had seen Whitetail coming into my corral and getting a drink from the horse trough. I never bothered them. I knew they needed it.

We had been riding for about 3 or 4 hours and had turned back toward the mountains and started a climb. Coming up a little draw I saw a green patch a ways ahead of us and headed for it. When we got there I found a small pool of water so we stopped, pulled the gear off the horses and let them drink and then roll the kinks out of their backs. The little pool was a seep from what would have been a nice spring during wetter times. But the horses were able to drink what they wanted and it filled back up each time. We let them graze on the grass that was there while we had a sandwich. I got my camera out and snapped a photo.

After a nice break we loaded up and headed on up the mountain. We had a climb of about 7or 8 miles to get to the canyon where the windmill and stock tank was located. Being hot we did not push the horses but let them set the pace. They seemed as interested in seeing the country as we were.

There's nothing like the feeling of a good strong horse under you … one that works with you and ain't fighting you or trying to do its own thing … one that you trust and understand when it is trying to tell you something. Gal was the kind of horse that you could ride in bad country all day long and in the evening she still had stamina. She enjoyed getting out and going in the mountains.

Eventually we climbed up to the trail that led past the canyon where the windmill and stock tank were located. We found our way up that canyon and when we got there the stock tank was full of water. There was nice shade on the sides of the canyon so we unloaded the horses and let them drink, then tied them in the shade and took a rest ourselves. It was hot and still, no breeze blowing.

The pictures below were taken during a different ride out to that windmill, but you can get a small idea of it. I apologize for not having better photos. Somehow I have misplaced or lost the originals. This was always a refreshing place to stop when coming through the hills.

We climbed out of the canyon following an old game or cattle trail that led up and over the mountain, circled around and brought us back down behind our house. It was a good 2 hours or more traveling around there. During the ride we came around a turn in the trail and found a small herd of Coues Whitetail Deer in the canyon. We stopped to watch them for a bit. Some people call them the “Grey Ghosts of the Desert” because they can disappear so quickly. I learned that often, when coming to a fence, rather than jump it like a Mule Deer, they will crawl under it!

More than once I had ridden up on deer feeding across a valley and watched as some of them ran uphill, stopped at the top and looked back to see what we were doing. While another group of deer ran downhill into the brush. The ones that ran uphill were Mule Deer and the ones that ran downhill were the Whitetail.

Eventually we came around the mountain and could see our house off in the distance. We rode on down, hit the road that led home and in a while we were in the corral. We got the horses unloaded, watered and fed them and brushed them down. Then we packed our gear in the tack room and went into the house to water and feed ourselves. It was a long warm day but it was a great one! I miss those days!

Oracle, Arizona. The mountain we rode down is the one on the left of the photo.