Doranna Durgin's Blog, page 2

How Getting Rid of Tack Results in a New Garage Door

By Patty Wilber

Whelp, I am retired (but without retirement pay yet since the paperwork apparently is going in circles…sigh).  But even without income, I may sort of have time to tackle some projects–like paring down on the amount of tack I have accumulated over the years.

I decided to get rid of some of my English stuff:  clothes, ancient saddle, and saddle cover.  I kept both English bridles (no good reason) and my show boots–that could one day become barn boots–I mean, they are boots, after all.  I converted my English show gloves to everyday riding gloves.

I ditched my western pleasure show chaps--those were a little hard to part with, but I hadn’t worn them in 10 + years.  I also rehomed a Parelli bit and rein set-up I never use, and a western saddle cover.

I sold some of this for pennies on the dollar and gave some to the WalknCircles Thrift Shop. Picture me dusting off my hands and with a look of satisfaction on my face.

I also needed to get rid of a smaller sawbuck pack saddle that I wasn’t using. It was in great shape, and I decided to try selling it for real money on Facebook Marketplace.  I took some pictures and posted the ad at 11 pm, Wednesday night.  I had a hit in 10 minutes. And three more hits Thursday. I think I picked the exact right time to try to sell it–hunting season is taking off! I sold it to the first guy (who I “knew” from Facebook). He also took some smaller panniers (for an extra 50 bucks), and I threw in some wooden panniers. That was the easiest sale I have ever made.

LT modelling the sawbuck. Kind of an odd angle of the horse, but focus on the packsaddle!

Unfortunately, in the process of packing up the car with the gear, I fully busted the already malfunctioning 30? 40? year old garage door.  I had knocked a large red muck bucket slightly into the path of the door.  When I hit the controller to shut the door, it slid down and crunched onto the poorly placed bucket.  The bucket was not a wimp.  It resisted! There was a standoff!  The garage door ended up with a bent support beam, and the rim of the bucket cracked!

Fortunately, one of my fix-anything friends is on speed dial. He told me how to disengage part of it, so the door could at least be shut, and gave me the number of a garage door place he’d had good luck with: Precision Garage Door.

At 4 pm, Tony showed up and about fell over when he saw the age and condition of our entire garage door system.  Since we had installing a new door on our to-do list anyway, we now have that on the calendar for Monday! New door, controller, motor, the works.

I just have to clear the crap out of the way all by myself (the world’s smallest violin is playing “Have some Cheese with that Whine”, just for me) since Jim is busy being the Best Grandpa Ever in Hawaii, while Maegan and Rick are at the wedding of one of Maegan’s best friends (since 6th grade!)

We have Jim’s elk antlers in the garage, so Tony and I then spent the next 20 minutes talking about hunting, and I forced him to wait while I pulled up the photo of a neighborhood buck eating out of our bird feeder! Our bird seed kept disappearing at an alarming rate, at night, so I set up the game cam to catch the culprit, who I figured would be a raccoon! It was not!

Happy Friday!

Horse Arena Display Windows at Expo New Mexico, 2025

By Patty Wilber

Volunteering was something my mom did (still does) a lot of, and I guess it rubbed off on me.

This year, I ended up committing to DECORATE the display windows at the State Fair for BOTH the Appaloosa Club and the Buckskin Club. Me. Decorate.

Me, who might be caught wearing purple jeans (someone gave them to me, they fit and they are wranglers…), a ragged red vest (ok I did replace that, finally) over a thrift store long sleeve shirt (I bought new sunshirts but they are so pretty and will get covered in dirt at the barn in about two seconds, so they are still in the closet), topped with a flamingo bucket hat (I prefer basebal caps, but when all my hair fell out with chemo, I declined to grow it long again, and my ears were getting fried so I needed a bucket hat to save my ears… and the flamingos are fun…).

I was scared to be in charge of the windows!

To get enough material to decorate, I went through my stuff and found a fair amount of pretty cool things!  I also solicited materials from club members and was able to pick some up, while other folks delivered items  (like saddles–thanks, Julia, Natalie, and Connie!).

With all that we were able to put together some pretty decent windows representing the two associations!

On Sunday, Jim helped me tote everything to the fairgrounds.  Together, we put the New Mexico Buckskin Horse Association display together! We had to rehang the banner three times to center better, and to lower it.   When you are inside the window, there is a lot of height, but when you are outside, you stand behind a railing and can’t see up and in too well, so things have to be lower than you might think!  The image below has a ton of glare, but you get the idea!

2025 New Mexico Buckskin Horse Association display window at State Fair.

Jim and I started on the New Mexico Appaloosa Club window, too, but Joy, Heather, and Connie were coming Wednesday, with more!  Lots more!

On Wednesday, me, Joy, Heather, and Connie had a good time getting it all put together in the semi-dark (because the display lights were not on).  Once we got it all done, the light guy came, and WOW whole thing popped with the colors.  It might sound silly, but it was exciting to see it jump to life!

2025 New Mexico Appaloosa Club State Fair window display!

It turned out to be a lot of fun!

Appaloosa and Buckskin classes are Sept 12-14 at Expo New Mexico!  Cattle classes are the 13th!  Stop by for all the excitement!

 

 

Riding in the Rain

By Patty Wilber

Last week was crazy busy, so the blog is late!

Thursday was the day that made the blog late!  We had a Back Country Horsemen pack-in project.  We drove to the Borrego Trail (150) trailhead.  We were warned that the road was rough up through Pacheco Canyon, but that the other road (104, I think) has steep sections with hairpin turns, so Pacheco it was. Nine miles in 4WD low to creep up the rocks and ruts.  We drug (“dragged” is probably more correct but, “drug” sounds more western) our bumper-pull hitch a few times.  It took about an hour to go nine miles. It was not an especially tricky road, but it was slow. Also, it was fairly narrow, so we were happy not to meet anyone going the other way!

Jim and I hauled Penny, (Cometa has a foot abscess and an eye ulcer, but is getting better), Gette, and LT.

Gette, ready to pack (after doing well at two shows a few days earlier!  Good pony!), LT ready to ride, and Penny on the other side because she tends to crab at any horse except Cometa! You can see the Kingsbury’s rig and the stuff we were getting set up to load! We loaded five animals. Many Ende, one; us, one; Kingsburys, three.

Mary Ann asked if I was going to bring my Muddy Creek raincoat.  It was totally clear skies at the time.  I haven’t had to ride in significant rain in years!  I said I was just bringing rain pants and a jacket, because despite my lucky no-rain streak, it is always good to be somewhat prepared!

As we rode in on trail 150, that turned to 163 on our electronic maps and then back to 150 (a little confusing at first), we crossed a beautiful little creek, then climbed out of that drainage, into another and across Rio Nambe, then out of that and into the third drainage where the trail crew was camped.  Some of the trail was pretty narrow with steep drop-offs (which I do not love), but LT is athletic and experienced, and never took a bad step. Also, I was leading, so I didn’t have to witness any potential missteps by anyone else! There was one steep (but short) rock section with a wash-out that made me pause, but we all got down it no problem. It was, overall, a nice rice.  I thought about taking a photo or two, but then thought we didn’t need yet another photo of horse ears on a trail in the trees…

All this time, the clouds were building to the east of us, and the thunder started grumbling in the sky.  We were still in the sun.  As we reached camp, the clouds crept over us, and the thunder kept arguing with the clouds or the sky or something! No lightning strikes were streaking to the earth, so that was a relief.  And there was no actual rain, either.  Until about 10 seconds before we were going to mount up.  At that point we all put on rain gear.  I did not put on my waterproof gloves.  They are kind of hot.  I left them in my pack. I stuffed my extra jacket and vest in my saddlebags.

Jim took the lead, and Penny motored up and out of the camp.  It is always a bit disconcerting to climb higher in a thunderstorm, but we were leaving camp at 3:30 pm, we had five miles to cover, and a drive back on that road, possibly in a downpour.  The lightning was staying up in the sky, also. The rain became steady, but there was no wind, and it was still warm, so it was not unpleasant.

But it kept raining, and it rained harder.  The narrow trail with the sloughy sections was decomposed granite, not slick clay, so that was a comfort.  My rain pants seemed to be leaking at my crotch!  I could feel water running in!  The waterproofing on my boots was also non-existent–they USED to be waterproofed! I decided to put on some neoprene gloves that I keep in my pommel bag–but they are REALLY hard to pull on when my hands are wet. Fortunately, LT follows the trail well, so I could ride no-handed and mess with the gloves.  They are not ideal, but they do not leak–once you get them on.  Unfortunately, they are also hard to get off.

The horses were all fantastic.  No complaining and willing to push the pace.

We reached the last creek, and it was no longer a cute, clear rivulet.  It had risen a foot (so it was one foot two inches deep).  But, it was pouring down the trail in a silty rush! It was fun to see, and we were happy that it was just a tiny stream, so we could safely cross!

The rain stopped just as we approached the trucks at 5:15 pm.  One hour and 45 minutes for the five miles!  We were happy untack in the dry. When we got our rain pants off, we looked like we’d peed out pants!  The crotches did leak!  I ordered new pants on the way home.

Jim and Penny. Jim’s rain pants are still shiny with rainwater, and his boots are waterlogged!

The road out was still slow, but all the rock was useful since rock does not turn to mud when it rains.

At home, we found that EVERYTHING was wet.  We draped the tractor and draped stuff in the house as well.

To be better prepared for the next time I ride in the rain:  New rain pants, re-waterproof my Muddy Creek jacket (that I didn’t use, so maybe actually bring it), put the easier to don waterproof gloves in the pockets of my rain jacket (oh and maybe a pair in my Muddy Creek jacket, too, I mean you can never have enough gloves), Sno-Seal my boots, and put a dry sack in my saddle bags and put my extra jackets in it.  I, fortunately, already keep my emergency kit and my first aid kit in dry sacks!

It was type two fun.  A little stressful while doing it, but I’d do it again in a minute!

The busy week:

Saturday (4/17)  was a Paint show with Gette and Patty S. Sunday was a Buckskin-sponsored All Breed Ranch show with horses Gette and Chica (first show and she was competitive when she wasn’t too distracted!), and people Monica, Hadleigh, and Boyo. Monday, I hauled Arrow (24 rides with me) out to Mary Ann S., and she, Gayle, and I rode in the Sedillo Hill Open Space. Arrow was great! Friday, I hauled Trigger and Jessica, and Chica to the Sandias. We rode out of the Cienega parking area for 5.5 miles. Chica was fantastic.

Chica with her first “loaded” ride! No issues at all.

Jessica and Trigger just over the rock step on Faulty Trail!

My college email is kaput, so I guess it’s real.  I am retired! (I was tiny bit sad to find my email gone, even though I knew it was coming!)

Happy Saturday!

Toad, I mean Frog, I mean Spadefoot, Pond

By Patty Wilber

On July 12 we had a gully washer that filled up our new Toad Pond. The next day, our New Mexico Spadefoot Toads (Spea multilicata) were in there and singing! Except they are not really toads, and are more closely related to frogs, but are kind of their own group. So, I guess we actually have a Frog Pond, no, Spadefoot Pond.  Going with that.

Spadefoot Pond, The day if filled!

Spadefoots spend most of their lives in burrows up to half a meter deep.  I thought they got a lot deeper, but, no.

They emerge from said burrows in response to thunder and heavy rain, and are only active for a few months a year.  I also thought they could remain underground for years at a time, but, nope, they seem to come out each year.

The eggs can be laid and hatch within 24-48 hours of the rainfall event.  Full metamorphosis can occur in as little as EIGHT days, according to Wikipedia. I thought they needed three weeks.  Gosh, my previous sources seem kinda off.

Since I thought they needed three weeks, and it was clear that our Spadefoot Pond wasn’t going to last that long, Jim and I sunk a kiddie pool into the muck!

Installing the kiddie pool! 7.25.25 We like playing in the mud! From our Game Camera

July 30th. Plenty of tadpoles still! Not sure why snakes or birds or raccoons haven’t eaten them all!

With all that drying, we decided to keep the kiddie pool full, so we started hauling water, and got our neighbors to pitch in when we went to Minnesota!

Lately we’ve been caching containers, and I go up and check every other day or so.  Gette has helped me tote the empties home.

Gette carried the water container down the hill for me.

It turns out that if there are new storms, the spadefoots may mate again and lay more eggs. We had a new batch of tadpoles show up yesterday (8.13.25), and we had a short but strong burst of rain just a few days ago!

Gobs of new tadpoles 8.13.25.

On the 14th,  I noted that some of the larger tadpoles were eating the smaller ones!  My amphibian biologist son mentioned that there are cannibalistic carnivorous morphs! They try not to eat their siblings.  They prefer consuming the unrelated tads.

I also pulled the game camera on the 14th.  We have lots of deer, coyotes, ravens, and people adding kiddie pools and water on camera. There were a few shots of me riding by (but I usually avoided being in the camera’s view). There was one raccoon, apparently dabbling in the water, but on just one day.  I thought a raccoon would gorge on the tadpoles, but, obviously not.  Maybe they taste bad, or are too hard to snag in that murky water.  We spotted a small sneaky snake that stayed mainly underwater on 8.12.25, but we didn’t want to muck about in the muck to try to catch and identify it!  The snake did not decimate the population, either.

Two turkey vultures were spotted!

Two turkey vultures!

No lions, bobcats, bears, or people we didn’t know, though!

Happy Friday!

 

Retirement!

By Patty Wilber

This was my last week as a biology instructor at Central New Mexico Community College!  I was there for almost 30 years!  That was not my career plan, but it turned out  that I liked preparing lectures, interacting with students, writing lab manuals, and developing online courses!

I started off as a part-timer, which allowed me flexibility when our kids were young.  When I went full-time, I timed my classes so I could ride in the mornings in the Fall (Aug-Dec.) then work late, and in the Spring (Jan.-Apr.), I taught early and rode in the afternoons to take advantage of the lengthening days (and warmer afternoon temperatures), In the summers, I often taught 8-week online courses.

The people I worked with have been amazing, and fortunately, many of them will not disappear from my life just because I am retired!

What will I be doing now?  Riding horses, of course, and I am contemplating adding a few other things, like more hiking…Also, a Wilber Family Roots trip to the East Coast in September, Elk Camp Host in October (we didn’t draw tags, so we can take care of the the stock at the base camp and hunt grouse a bit), Hannon Family Thanksgiving (wth maybe a few extra days this year), Arizona horse camping January or February, sea kayaking in Mexico in March, and horse camping near Bryce Canyon in June (thanks Tammy for the tips!). I will add in some trips to see the grand girls, too! I won’t be bored, that’s for sure!

To celebrate, we are going up north to meet friends at the Cruces Basin for some horse camping with LT and Penny, today!

June 2020, Me and Penny, in the Cruces Basin. Photo by Patty Schuert.

Happy Friday! And Happy Retirement to me! (And hopefully the not-quite-processed paperwork will get done so I’ll actually get retirement pay next month!!!)

Horse Shows and Minnesota

By Patty Wilber

On Saturday last week, I judged the All Breed Horse Show Association horse show in Fort Sumner. Jim filled in as scribe as my original person couldn’t come.  That turned out great as it was really fun working with him! I hope I can get him to do it again in the future!

The show was also a blast.  The ABHSA has a great group of organizers, wonderful competitors, and a ton of fabulous kids. Couldn’t ask for better!

On Sunday, I stopped in at the Santa Fe County Fair to cheer on a couple of my horse kids!  Heidi rode Lucy to the Senior Championship, but also rode well on Dulce, taking a second (to Lucy) in Ranch Riding.

Heidi and Cheyenne, showing off their ribbons! Photo off Facebook.

Hadleigh took Reserve Novice on Eli and also won the Novice Showmanship!

Showmanship buckle! Photo by Megan Roybal,

Reserve Novice! Photo by Megan Roybal.

Kateri and Cotton (who I haven’t worked with a bunch, but I didn’t want to leave them out!) were strong in the walk-trot and showmanship!

Kateri and Cotton.

Then, on Monday, Jim and I flew to Minneapolis on a two-hour DIRECT flight.  Going direct from Albuquerque to most places is usually impossible, so that was a treat. We spent a fun-filled four days at the lake house of Doug and Kris Picken. Jim and Doug have known each other since elementary school. Kris and I got to hear some old and some new stories of their various adventures from back in the day!

Their hospitality was amazing (and I’ll be copying some of their ideas, if anyone wants to come here!)

We enjoyed the green, the water, and the fun bug zappers that we took on several walks. Frying deer flies as they buzz by one’s ears is quite satisfying.

Electric handheld bug zapper. less than 10 bucks from Cabela’s!

 

Above gallery shows: Minnehaha Falls, Millford Mine Memorial, Jim water skiing (I didn’t make it up, but I did try!), cornhole, view of their house from the pontoon boat.

We also played pickleball for the first time, and that was a blast!

Crazy week, and now we are home and ready to resume our “normal” life.

Happy Friday!

 

 

 

Move the Horse’s Hip

By Patty Wilber

I recently read a FaceBook post by a cowhorse trainer called “Why I Don’t Disengage a Horse’s Hindquarters”. It is by B1 Horsemanship. I spent a week or two thinking about what he said and decided not to get on that bandwagon.

B1 felt that horses don’t move that way naturally, disengagement did not promote what he was looking for, which was engagement of the hindquarters, and disengagement was like using an emergency brake instead of having good steering. He also felt like he achieved his training goals faster by avoiding this maneuver.

I think Jack Brainard or Ray Hunt or some other master horseman (and yes, it was a man) said something like “There are 75 ways to train a horse and all of them work. Some are easier than others”.  A Google search attributed the bones of this quote to Frank Evans, inventor of the Mikmar training bit. I had not heard of him and I did go to clinics with both Jack Brainard and Ray Hunt, so I think I heard it from one of them…the point being, not teaching hind end disengagement works wonderfully for B1.  I, on the other hand, find it quite useful. And there may be many other takes on this that are all successful.

When I get on a baby horse, one of the first things I ask for is lateral flexion, followed by moving the hip. It’s a nice way for me to see how comfortable the horse is with moving while I am up there.  If they decide to blow up (which is super rare because I wouldn’t have climbed on unless I thought they were ready for a rider), I have them bent.  Yes, an emergency brake, but since the first-ride horse has no steering at all, any sort of brake seems nice to me.

Also, with youngsters, things do fall apart upon occasion (fortunately, rarely, “no drama” being my mantra).  Being able to ask for disengagement without having to think about it has saved my bacon more than once. I’d rather get the action stopped and start over than fight it out, any day.

I took issue with the idea that horses don’t move their hips over naturally.  Maybe it’s not the most common move, but just today I led a horse through a gate and turned.   My horse stepped his hip over to turn with me.

Do you have to disengage to get hip control?  No, but for me, it is an easy place to start, and for sure, being able to place the hip is useful.

In each of the following, the hip gets moved: English Equitation, there is a movement called a “Turn on the Forehand”; working a gate; working a turn around box; stuck in a tight spot on trail; teaching sideways over a log; backing an L; various training exercises.

To finish this gate, Lucy will essentially disengage her hip.

I am pretty sure Cometa is in the process of disengaging in order to turn. He is already making faces.  I am not looking forward to winter, by the way.  I like summer just fine. Photo from Jan. 2024)

Finally, I think being able to disengage is like yoga for horses.  It increases range of motion and strength.

That’s my two cents, but each horse, person, and horse-person team is unique.  So my real take is everyone should build a big toolbox and then use the tools and techniques that work for them and the equine they are on.

Happy horse training!

 

 

A Perfect Day!

By Patty Wilber

Summer in our part of NM usually consists of mornings of brilliant blue skies and clear dry air, with the yellow sun sending beautful, hot spears of light down to the earth. Temperatures quickly climb into the 90’s, followed by threats of thundershowers in the afternoon.

Last Saturday felt like we’d been transplanted to a different part of the planet–Ireland maybe? It was a cool 60F, green, and overcast.  As we climbed to the Red Canyon Campground and trailhead, we left Ireland behind and entered a cloud forest. It was magical!

Climbing into the clouds on Spruce Spring Trail in the Manzanos. Amber and Richard. This did not seem like a summer day in New Mexico at all!

We were there with Back Country Horsemen, Pecos Chapter, to fix the pipe for Spruce Spring and clear more to the north on the Crest Trail.  This kind of adventure is among my favorite activities, and even better, with some of my favorite people.

Someone had gotten the bitten-up pipe back into the water tank at the spring (not sure why we didn’t do that last week…), so the tank was full, but to improve things, we (i.e., Richard) removed the damaged section, spliced in new pipe, and installed a bite-proof metal end. Then we all gathered rocks to cover the pipe and hold the line in place.

Bear-bitten end at Spruce Spring. Repaired pipe also visible.

Finished product with water coming out under the rock.

We have twice packed in replacement stock tanks (2011, 2020) and only once (2018)  of the 25 or 26 years I have been working on that trail has the spring gone dry. (Yikes 25+ years?) Getting the spring fixed up is always very satisfying.

We continued up the trail, and after lunch, as the clouds burned off, we headed north on the Crest Trail, along a fairly narrow ridgeline (not a narrow trail, though) that afforded sweeping views to both the west and east. Spruce Trail is steep and has some challenging spots, but the Crest Trail is pretty easy, and is largely shaded by oak and fir trees.  Gorgeous.

LT’s ears. We are facing west.

We cleared 27 more trees  (over 50 total for this section of trail, so far), and we were close, but still did not make it to the New Canyon Trail!  But, we did make it to the Trigo burn scar. The Trigo fire occurred in 2008, and started on the west side of the Manzanos.

Mary Ann and Key, looking west from the Trigo burn scar. It is hazy due to smoke from two fires in the southern part of the state.

We covered about 10 miles, total, and were off the mountain by 5:30 pm.  We had expected rain, but we didn’t get any until the drive home.  And when we got home, we discovered that our place had been hit by a gully washer! (No damage.)

This filled up my refurbished Spadefoot Toad Tank and by Sunday morning, there were toads singing in the tank! NM spadefoots need about three weeks to complete their lifecycle, and the tank, though deep, is unlined, and surely silted in some during the run off.  Hopefully, the water will last long enough.  And if not, I am going to putt my Old Blue tractor up there when it dries and do a little expansion work!

The Toad Tank! Full!

The tank was the perfect ending to a perfect day. Happy sigh!

Fun with Family!

By Patty Wilber

This past week saw the annual 4th of July visit (except last year because we went to Ireland) from my sister, brother-in-law, brother, niece, and parents!

It sure was fun to have such a great group of people happily cram into our house. We managed the Electric Playhouse (light-based interactive games–really fun!), Jemez Box hike (cliff jumping for Jim!), Range Cafe in Bernalillo, Lilo and Stitch (nearly all of us cried), an escape room (we were really bad this year), hanging out, and three horseback rides for my seven year old neice.

Chris (BIL), Kathy (sis) , me, Mike (bro), Avery (niece), Jim (better half) at teh Jemez box.  Picture from Chris’ phone.

Same fine group, but this pic has my mom and dad, too! This was after we devoured our dinner at the Range Cafe in Bernalillo. Photo by Chris.

Cometa, age 28 on July 9, (and still working in the back country with Jim), was the mount of choice this year.  Said neice had not ridden much, so day one amid thunder, was grooming and poking around under cover of our barn.

The braided tail, with the green kochia decoration!

Cometa is quiet, but he is not above taking advantage, so leading him to the arena on day two went really well unless he got too close to anything green.

Leading and staying away from green stuff!

If we had a fenced arena, I’d have let them ride off line, but since we don’t, Avery steered around and I tried to keep up so Cometa wouldn’t go too far afield.  (The round pen was being “guarded” by a herd of six pesty steeds, so we didn’t go out there.)

We even did a little trail ride out on the road, on two days.

I can’t really put into words how wonderful it is to have family that is there for each other, no matter what. Thanksgiving will be our next big get together!  And 4th of July 2026, of course!

Happy Friday!

LT, Like Totally Awesome

By Patty Wilber

Shout out to LT (Like Totally Awesome; registered name, Paranormal Activity) bred by Whispering Spirit Ranch.

LT as a yearling, 2011.

As a five year old (2015), she was the ApHC Junior Open Cowhorse National Champ, Reserve Junior Open Reining, and Reserve World Junior Open Cowhorse with me.

LT winning ApHC 2015 Nationals Junior Working Cowhorse with me.

At this time last year (2024) she was the ApHC Youth World Ranch Reining Champ and ApHC National Reserve Open Cowhorse champ with Heidi Tucker.

Heidi and LT after winning 2024 ApHC Youth World Ranch Reining

Heidi and LT. Nov. 2024, not in Open Cow Horse at the Appaloosa Nationals, but it was a such a great photo of them!

This year LT is working the back country with me.  She has always been a high-energy horse, but she seems to have found some zen on the trail in her 15th year of life! This last week, LT and I covered two new trails.  I rode her on one and packed her on the other. She can show and she can do a day’s work! I think she enjoys the trial more than the show pen, and lately she has been running across the big pen she is in to say, “Pick me!”

Manzano Mountains: Spruce Trail and North on the Crest Trail 6.29.25  8.5 miles, Max Elevation 9297 ft.

Back Country Horsemen worked Spruce Trail to the Crest Trail and for the first time, we rode north on the Crest Trail towards New Canyon.  We cleared about eight big wrecks on the Crest, and Volunteers for the Outdoors may be able to finish that section!

Note, the spring on Spruce Trail is running, but the hose to the tank is missing (a future BCH project) so the trough is not full.  There is standing water that horses can drink.  Hikers could pump water using a filter.

The Crest Trail may even get fully cleared someday soon! BCH has cleared the section between Red Canyon and Spruce and between Mosca and Cerro Blanco.  The VFO has cleared from Cerro Blanco to Bosque, and as mentioned, has the Spruce to New Canyon section in their sights.

Me and LT on Spruce between Zima’s ears. Photo is by Patty S.

The Crest Trail north of Spruce is on a narrow ridge and you can see off both sides.  The short part (with a lot of big down trees) that we did is very pleasant and I will look forward to riding it further as it gets opened up!!

North from Spruce on the Crest Trail. It is hazy but there was a great view though the smoke!

LT was so much fun to ride, and I think she really enjoyed herself!

Carson National Forest, East Fork Trail (56). 7.2.2025. 11.5 miles. Max elevation 11,732 ft.

My friend Peter had a gig to pack botanists in and out on the East Fork Trail.  I missed the pack-in as I was with Heidi and Lucy at the ApHC Youth World and adult Nationals. I was looking forward to seeing some new country for the pack-out.  Peter’s brother David also came.

First off, DO NOT try to haul to this trailhead unless you can jack-knife and spin a trailer without falling off into a creek or running over random rocks while going backward.  The parking lot is NOT set up for trailers, and there is a sign part way in that warns of this, but by the time you get to that sign, you are already in there a ways!

After a four-hour drive, we arrived at a nearly full parking, so tricky backing and spinning ensued.  Once that was completed we used a wide spot for parking.

The trail goes partly along the line of the Big Ditch (Elizabethtown ditch) which operated from 1869-1898 and was 41 miles long.  It diverted about 7.6 million gallons of water per day from Middlefork, Horseshoe, and Lost Lakes for placer gold mining in the Moreno Valley. Unfortunately, only about 1 million gallons actually made it to the miners!

There was no obvious evidence of the ditch or the wooden flumes but, I find it fascinating to think about the massive amount of effort it took to build that in the high mountains!  The lure of big riches from gold is strong!

The trail was well-maintained and well-engineered. We climbed 2000 feet in a steady upward march, but there was no place that was especially steep, and the horses never broke a sweat!  On the way up, LT kept touching Penny, and trying to wrap the lead rope around Penny’s tail. Penny is fortunately fine with a rope under her tail, but she sure got tired of LT TOUCHING her! The nerve!

We dropped to the end of our line of riders and LT, having no one behind her to push her, was more respectful of Penny. We reached the camp near Horseshoe Lake in a few hours. We had lunch, then packed up and headed down. So green!  Streams! Flowers! Views!  Great weather!

LT loaded for the trip down. I box-hitched the load.  The box hitch is the only hitch I know and works for most of our loads. LT is so shiny!

Columbine (blue) and a sedum? (red)

Peter followed by David.

We were out and packed up for the long drive home by about 6 pm.

We got a flat on the trailer on the drive home.

I pulled into my place around midnight.  It was a long day, and it would have been nice to stay overnight instead of making the long trek home, but my family came in for a visit the 3rd, so next time we can stay over!

LT is a fun and versatile horse.  Glad to have her around!!

Happy Friday.