Trail Log: 4-26-2026

• Trail: Alamo Lake
• Miles: 5
• Riders: Self - Nina - James
• Horses: Drifter - Seattle - Ed
• Dogs: Groot - Harley -  Pilot

Notes: Well, that was a fun day. I've been wanting to haul to Alamo Lake and ride and we finally did it. Nina, her boyfriend James and I met in Wenden. I threw in with them and we drove to the north end of the lake and unloaded. The N end is more primitive and you don't have to pay the park fee. There were still a few campers and side-by-sides but not as many as the other side of the lake. Drifter has never seen that much water in one spot. He is not a fan, but I coaxed him to get fairly close and walk along the shore. Fingers of roads leading to individual coves led to the water surrounding the lake. We picked one without campers and rode cross county. It is rock and all of our horses are barefoot. I packed Drifters boots but they were not needed. Thankfully, he has feet with iron. I've been doing my own trimming for about a year now. I follow David Landreville: On the Vertical. I might not be great at it - but neither horse has walked off lame after my trimming and Jack is 100 times more sound than he was after being shod for 16 years. I keep learning and feel like I'm getting better with each trim. The trick for me is to do it often (weekly trims) so I don't have to do as much filing or knife word. It helps if their feet have been wet but that doesn't happen  much in these parts. 

James - Nina - Ed - Seattle and Pilot the dog

The dogs loved the water. Pilot is a lab so naturally he is a water dog. Harley apparently identifies with a lab because that scruffy little dog spent the entire time paddling around and diving for whatever she imagined was worth diving after. Groot got his feet wet...he is definitely not a lab. 

We rode up a nice sandy wash to let the horses run. We spotted a wild burro around a bend and decided it was best to turn back for the lake. Wild burros can get aggressive. Not taking that chance even if I'm fairly certain we could out-run one. 

We decided to cross country back toward the trailers using the shortest route. The trail dove off a ledge and crossed a small cove that hadn't had water in some time. I planned to ease Drifter slowly across and sort of test the ground for stability.  One second we were above ground - the next we were sunk past Drifters hocks. The harder he tried to lunge out - the deeper his back-end sunk! He floundered around, somehow managed to get turned around and drag himself on to solid ground. He never panicked. He didn't hit solid ground and go to bucking...he just calmly got ashore and we went on our way. Later, I discovered we sunk a lot farther than I realized. He had mud caked all the way from his hooves to the top of his hips on both back legs. I am so thankful he didn't pull a muscle or get impaled with something stuck beneath the mud. I worried he might be sore the next day but he is not. The little Black Hellion earned his trail points that day for sure! 

We stopped at The Wayside for lunch and called it a day. 

The mutts living their best life

Trail Log: 4-22-2026

• Trail: S. Eagle Eye - 2nd Windmill
• Miles: 8
• Riders: Self - Celia - Nina
• Horses: Jack - Liberty - Seattle
• Dogs: No

Notes: We skipped  the balloon killing and hauled to the 2nd windmill to ride. We stuck mostly to the wash were the snake's are more visible. We saw one crawling into a hole but that was it. It was great weather. It's cooled off again. The desert willows are blooming and we saw one saguaro bloom. So pretty

Desert willow in bloom

Trail Log: 4-15-2026

Celia/Liberty - Me/Drifter

• Trail: Hassayampa River - Box Canyon
• Miles: 8.6
• Riders: Self - Celia - Nina
• Horses: Drifter - Liberty - Seattle
• Dogs: No

They went that-a-way! 

Notes: Nina had not been to the Box Canyon and we all needed a bit of a break. We unloaded off Rincon Rd and rode to and beyond the box canyon to where the fence crosses the Hassayampa. We encountered just 3 side-by-sides. It was fairly clean for this area. During the busy season, it can get littered up pretty good. The trickle of water is farther up from the Box than I've seen it but at least it is there. We left the river and rode up several off-shoot canyons and discovered some rock ruins. We stopped back at the Box and had lunch before heading back home. 

Celia and Nina

Trail Log: 4-14-2026

Shade - Hank

• Trail: Aguila - Tiger Wash
• Miles: 4.72
• Riders: Self - Celia
• Horses: Jack - Dirt
• Dogs: Groot - Harley

Notes: An eventful little ride. You know the snakes are out there and we kept watching for them. Made it almost back to the trailer before we ran into this one. I kept telling Celia what amazing snake radar Jack has...she believes me now! We were just crossing the wash to climb up the other side when Jack scooted backwards faster than he was going forward. Then I hear it. Somewhere on the bank a very agitated rattler let us know we were intruding. We skirted around it back to the trailers. Went back to dispatch the snake but it had disappeared. The horned toads are really out! My favorite lizard. They look like mini triceratops. 

Today was/is Shades birthday. I didn't know Hanks birthday so we celebrated them both on Shades. They are both gone now. Life isn't always an adventure. Sometimes it's a punch in the gut. 

Trail Log: 9-12-2026

 

• Trail: Aguila - Hood
• Miles: 5.5
• Riders: Self - Celia
• Horses: Drifter - Liberty
• Dogs: Groot - Harley

Notes: A ride around the hood. The first ride taking Harley out on the road. She did really good and stuck close like she usually does. There isn't very many people out here now so it was a good time to give it a try. 

Harley sticking close

Trail Log: 4-9-2026

• Trail: Aguila Hood
• Miles: 4
• Riders: Self - Celia
• Horses: Jack - Liberty

Notes: Ride around the hood. I walked and led Jack thinking I could use the exercise. It's hard to do any walking when you are leading a perfectly good horse. 

Trail Log: 4-4-2026

• Trail: Aguila-Hood
• Miles: 5.80
• Riders: Self - Celia
• Horses: Jack - Dirt
• Dogs: No

Notes: Saddled up and met Celia on the road between her place and mine. We rode around the hood. It's getting pretty quiet around as all the snowbirds are abandoning ship. Kind of nice really...

The snakes are out. Been seeing a few - mostly the Mohave...I've read they are more aggressive but I haven't seen much difference between them and the more common western diamondback. You can tell this is a Mohave by the mostly white band around the tail - it's very green (greener in person than this picture shows), the striping on the jaw and the scales between it's eyes. Mohave's have two large scales - diamondback's have a bunch of little ones. I'm not getting close enough to count and tell you how many.