LuLu's story

Everyone  read the  story of Maude  and  what  happened on the trail. I want  you to meet Lulu.

I met  her  because  of my friend  Alan. He  saw  her last year when he  was  camping at  Apache' Junction with Kelly  and  Ron.  She  was  with a  gal named Rosemary and  Alan asked her if she was  for sale. He  knew  that  Peg  was still looking for a  good  mule  at the  time. The  lady  didn't  want  to sell her.

It turns  out  that  Rosemary is a  horse trainer and  has  had  this  molly  for the  past three years. Lulu was  repeatedly being  brought  back to her  by  her  300 lb owner  because  she would  buck him off  when he was  mean to her. Rosemary  said  that she just  needed somebody who would  love  her and  gain her  trust. 

We went  to Rosemary's  house  the  next day to look at  this  mule. Understand  that  I still was  pretty  sore  and  beat up from my  episode with Maude. When we got  there , the  entire  back of her  place  was an obstacle  course  and  Lulu was already  saddled. Rosemary  took one  look at me and said  that I was  much  lighter than her  previous  owner  and  would  pack me  just  fine. I wanted to see  what she knew  but, I was  still pretty  sore  so Kelly  rode her around  the  backyard  and  then Allan before  I got  on her.

I pretty  much fell in love  with her  as  soon as  I met  her. She was  that  nice. The  fact  that  so could do every  obstacle  in the  whole  course  effortlessly  helped too!

Rosemary  had  many training obstacles  setup in her  yard.

The  teeter totter/bridge setup

I liked  this  one. You put  the  front two legs in and  rotate the  rear around  the tire. Then put the  rear end  in the  tire and rotate the  front  around  the tire,  kind  of  like  side passing.

"The  Box" go into it and  turn around inside  the  box.

the  hanging  bear obstacle and  the  mailbox.

                                       she had  to pull this  creaky old wagon and blocks  around

                                                     The  mailbox and  chair obstacle

Alan taking  Lulu for a  test drive.

We took her  on several rides seeing  what  she  could  do and  it was great!

she is  like  a  little  Ferrari sports  car! she really  can move  out  when she's in front but  stays  off the  horses  butt  in front of her when we're  on the trail. She's  got  great stamina and  can go all day!

she  really  handles  the  technical trails  very  good and is  a thinker. 

It is an amazing difference  when you're riding  something that  you can feel totally  comfortable  on and it makes it so much easier to establish that  bond between you and  your  trail partner.

I just  Love  her and  I'm so lucky  to have  found  her!

She can be  pretty  laid  back

But, she doesn't  miss much

At home  , when I call her  in the  pasture, she  comes running  to me. That's  something Maude  would never  do….

Like  I said, I just  Love this  mule!

Just when we thought it couldn't get better….

         We met early  in the  morning at Sugars  Cafe' in Overton for  breakfast.We discussed  todays adgenda  and area that  we would be  riding. This  would  be  our  last  ride and  hardest  with  Charlie  and Terri Oliver guiding  us in The Valley of Fire State park. Todays ride  will be  to some  places  many  riders  haven't or  never  will see  on horseback. It will be  our  toughest  ride  of the  entire  trip although it won't  have  some  of the  high elevation ledges that we've ridden.
         We parked  along  the  side  of the road in a turnout  with the  two horse trailers  and  quickly  headed  off  towards the  red hills  of  the  Valley  of Fire.

Charlie  would  be  leading  us  along  this  ride and  Terri would  be  keeping  an eye  on the  GPS to make  sure  we  keep going  the  right direction.

Once  you get  into the  rocks, it is extremely easy to get yourself "turned  around" so a GPS is  recommended. Also, I don't recommend that  you do this  ride  (if  you think your horse  can make it) without a  camera! The  views  are  out  of this  world!

We rode  by  some  petroglyphs early on in the  ride which was  pretty  cool. This area  was a long  way  from any  roads.

                                                There were  lots of  cool rock formations

    We saw  a  herd of  Mountain Sheep along  the  ride. They weren't too bothered with our  presence.

                                                           And  lots and  lots  of Rock!

                                                    Alan coming  up out of  a  draw.

                                                   Taking a "breather" after  a  climb

                                                                          and  off again…

                                                  Terri leading us into another  cool area!

                                 Alan and  Elisabeth coming  up through another  deep draw.

The  painted  area. It looks like  one  of those  sand paintings  you see  in an aquarium. Words can't describe it's colors. Also, these  draws are  very deep and  the  edges  are  smooth rock and  very  steep.

                                                Look to the right, thats  a  300' drop off !

                               We're  going  to wind  to the  North. Lulu has a  nice set of ears!

                                                   Elisabeth and  Alan lagging  behind

                          We found  an old  prospector road that we used  to get around  one  area.

                                                      About  to go into the  bottom….

                                                    That  is  a  big ledge behind  her!

We are  so happy  to have  met  Elisabeth this  trip. We had  so much fun riding  with her and Romeo. We shared  many  laughs! I'm sure  that we'll be  riding  together again soon and sharing  great  memories!

             Charlies  lunch cafe'. We stopped  here because  of the  great  view  just behind  this  rock.

                                    Miss Kitty and  Angel Eyes taking  a  much need break!

Peg is really  enjoying  this  ride!

Another  cool rock formation!

Alan and  Elisabeth

heading  up a long and steep hill

So glad  I''ve  got a  good mule!

Peg and  Rita hanging  out  under a rock

This area  looks  pretty  tame….

and then you come to the edge.

Charlie on his  young  mule "Angel Eyes" he just  had  30 days  riding  on this  mule. it did so well on this ride!

LuLu surveys the  situation. "We're  going down there????"

This  mule  did so well on this  ride! 

And  this  is  what  it  looked  like  when you got  down in it. Charlie  said that many outer space  movies and  cowboy movies  were filmed  here. Supposably, The episode  of Star trek where  Spock died was filmed  right in this  area.

 

                                         This was a really  steep hill coming  out of that  stuff!

Yeah, we can fit through there….

and  go up there….

Love this  Mule!

Alan and  Miss Kitty

These  new  friends were  great riding  partners and excellent guides!

This  is about  the  best trail we  found  today. not too many have  gone  where we  did. 

Another shot  from the  lunch stop.

This area  has the  finest  Silica sand you've  ever  seen. infact, on the  Edge of the  BLM lands  there is a  huge mine.

Coming  through " A crack in the  wall"

LuLu doing a little rock crawlin'

picture takin a picture

Isn't  this just  beautiful?

Peg  up in the rocks  on her  mule Rita

Survey  marker

Fun people to ride  with!

Holy Smokes! What scenery!

Put it in Four Wheel Drive!

oh this  is  getting  GOOD!

steeper and  smoother  hard rock.

Pick a  path you feel comfortable  with…

Did I tell you how much we  love our  mules?

made it!

This guy  is one  heck of a  guide!

So many  colors!

We're having  fun now….

now  we're about to go down there.

and  we'll let you lead us!

BIG DROP OFF!

You want me to do what?????

Well, Ok…..

When it gets too tough , Walk….

Angel eyes went down in the  soft silica  bank that sluffed off when he tried  to climb it.

Everyone  made  it to the  top safe and  no animals  got  hurt.

We took a break. that was  pretty  knarlaly!

And  we're  smiling' and  off again. What a Ride!

Another  drop off coming up!

Glad we had that  GPS or we would've  been there a  long time!

I'm so proud  of this  gal! She never  complained  or  whined  that it too tough once! She's a  damn good  riding  partner!

This is another  set  of  Cabins  that are  located  outside  of the  park that were  built  in the  1930's by  the  Civilian Conservation Corps. The  locals are able  to drive  to these so you can see  things that got left  behind….

We left  our trailers  about  a  mile  from here. This was an Awesome  ride  with  great friends!

I want  to Thank Charlie  and  Terri Oliver  for showing  this  secret gem. This  ride  was approx. 14 miles  from start to finish.

Be sure  to leave  your  comments below and  on my  facebook page.

Thanks!