Pass Mountain at Usary Park

This  is  another ride that  we  did that  started tame, ended  tame  and climaxed  in the  middle.
The trail pretty much starts on the flat at the trailhead to Pass mountain and follows  the mountain to the East (or right). We read that this is the recommended way  to tackle  this trail because  of  the  middle or  saddle section at the  top.

This  is where the  trail starts  to get  very  interesting. There are signs everywhere  that bicycles are  not  recommended.

We met several groups of  hikers along the way. I wish that  they had the  trail etiquette signs  that  are seen elsewhere  explaining  to them why  they  need  to give the  stock right of way and the  proper  procedure for getting off of the trail when stock are passing. Both Alan and  Ron had  to explain this several times to difeerent  groups. Either they  were  just  non compliant or didn't  know  what to do on the  narrow edgy sections of  trail. After some explaining, we able to proceed  with little incident.

       This  photo is  probably  the  most difficult  portion of the  trail- The saddle of  Pass Mountain.

                                            One  of the  many  switchbacks along the trail

                      The views  from the  NW side  of Pass  mountain were equally amazing!

For the most  part, the  trail is well maintained and has great  views and some good  challenges  for both  horse, mule and  rider! Another  good one! Thanks Kelly, Ron and  Allen for showing this  gem to us.

The Boulder Canyon ride

The  boulder canyon ride was a pretty hard ride  to do on horseback. The trail itself is  rated a  black Diamond trail and not reccommended for stock. It was  hard  to follow the  trail at times because of  overgrown brush and missing rock cairns. If you want  to teach your  horse that  he has  to watch where he places his feet, then this is the  trail for you. I would  rate  half of this  trail as  pretty technical (8.5-9) only  because of that. there are  long steep downgrades  with  rock"steps" of  2-3' that will have  to be negotiated with  steep dropoffs on one side  of the  trail. BUT IT WAS FUN!

We ran into 2 hikers  on this  entire  ride  because  of the remotness and  trail difficulty.

This is  the  best that the  trail is marked…. It goes downhill from here…..

Lots of rock. This place  is  aptly named….

                                                        Lunch Break and Rest Break

                        You get a great view  of  Weavers needle coming back on the  104 trail.

                                               Peg enjoying the  fine  scenery  on this ride!

      We saw lots  of  abandoned goldmines  along the trailon the  way  back to the First water trailhead.

                   Nearing  the  end of  another  perfect  day in "Paradise" with great  trail buddies!

Salt River /Suguaro Lake ride

                       

The trailhead  is  located at the  Water Users park for  this  great  ride. There  is  amble  trailer  parking there  and restrooms  available. There are also great  barbeques to cook up your  lunch if needed. We  did  this ride twice  actually. Once  we left from the  parking lot  and headed West and once we  left  and  headed East  making  the  several mile loop. There are  some  great  training areas on this  ride regardless of  which way  you go.

If you head  west from the  parking lot, within minutes  you can water your  horses in the  Salt River. There are several places that  you can right  right  up to it's banks which are  firm enough for any animal to water at.

 After riding in the  narrow river section you'll come  to   wash that  you'll follow  for about 1 1/2 miles before  you start to climb into the  most  beautiful garden area  scattered with  native  cactus.

We couldn't figure  out  what  this  structure  might have been used  for but, it  was a  good lunch  stop over along the trail.

The  horses having lunch and  a  break.

Once you reach the top of the ridge, there  is a  steep descent to the  roadf  below through a rocky  section of the trail. Take your  time going down this section and  you'll  be rewarded with excellent  scenery!

The  trail goes by the  Suguaro Dam and resort  before  coming full circle  back to the  parking  area. Total ride about  4  hours.

The Saga of Maude the mule

I bought  Maude from 3M mule and stock company in Beatty Oregon about  6 weeks before we  left  on this  trip. I got  to ride  her for about  an hour  on a  trailride  at  their place  on the 10,000 acre ranch.
     Michael explained  how  he  actually  sold this  molly to the NPS in the  Grand Canyon as a saddle  mule because  she was  a really  good  ride although they used  her  on the  trail crew to haul gravel down the  Grand Canyon to help in the  effort of maintaining the trails. The returned  her  to Michael and Katie at  3M because according to them "She was  hard to catch"….
I have  to admit  the  first ride  on her  was  pretty good and she  had  a  terrific 4 wheel Drive capability  to her! she was  the rock climber that  I was looking for. She could  also walk out  pretty  good. I brought  her  back to their arena and let  her  loose inside. She was  almost  impossible  to catch and  really  wary of you walking up to her. I worked  with her for quite  awhile  and was getting better  at approaching her. Peg and  I talked it over and thought  that just  maybe it was "having to go to work syndrome" that  we've  seen in one of  our  horses everytime  I tried to catch him in the  field to head out for a 15 mile  ride or better. He  would  be a  devil to catch. Given what  Maude  did for 3 solid  years for the NPS; this  was understandable and we were hoping to gain her trust and build a  relationship with this  beautiful animal.
        I took Maude  home  and put her in her  own pen. Even went  on a  few  rides  on her. To say that she was  hard to catch  was  a gross understatement. Oh I could  catch  her if she was in a stall but anything bigger took a lot  of  time  and patience. I worked  every day until the  day we  left  on our  trip. I received  several good rope burns when she  would bolt  off because  something or someone  scared her. I tried  everything.
      Well we got  down to Arizona and  went on a  couple  of rides. Some  technical, some  not. One  day Peg, Ron and I were  going to ride  out  to a  place called  Cottonwood Springs.

It was  a day with a forecast of  78 degrees which can be  pretty  warm in the  desert where  you don't  find the  shade  of the  big firs trees  that  we're  accostumed to in the Pacific Northwest. We had an uneventful ride  all of the  way out. We stopped  and gave the  mules  and and horse  water at  the  spring located there. They all loved  the  lush green grass there.

Then it was time  tohead  home. It was  really  starting to get  warm as  we followed  an old jeep trail which was  part of our trail. I took my hat off and attempted  to wipe  my  brow of the  sweat that  was rolling  into my  eyes. When Maude saw  the shadow of that hat and me  wiping my forehead above  her , I can only  think that  she thought that  she was about  to get  beat  by that  hat. She bolted  off at warp speed down the  road bucking like a  rodeo bronc! She  finally  managed to dislodge me from the saddle although  not  completly  from her. My  foot caught  in the  stirrup and I was being  dragged down that rocky dirt jeep trail for 50 yards. All of the while  I was  watching out  for her hooves so I didn't come  in contact with them. Maude  kept running , leaving me  in a  piled  up bloody heap in the  middle  of the road. Ron was  able  to locate  her  and  push her  into a  canyon. Just about  that time  2 other trail riders  heard the  commotion and  came  to assist. One of them was  able  to walk up to her  on his  horse and grab the  lead rope and put a  daly  on his own saddle horn. I should tell you at this  point I was  pretty  beat up and hurt  good.
     I asked the  cowboy to not  let  go of the  lead rope or  move  until I could  get  back on her. I did  get  back on and things felt a  little tense but  tolerable. We walked  back out to the  jeep trail to continue  the  trip home. I was not about  to take my  hat  off of my head this time no matter what! We walked  for about 10 minutes  down the  road and things  seemed fine . Then, for  no reason at all; she started bucking again and bolted! this time  there  was a  pile  of  rocks along the  side  of the road and a  staghorn cactus in which she  stuffed  me into head first. This time I was really  hurt  bad and I watched as Maude ran off towards parts unknown. I laid there for quite  some  time just trying to get up. This  was  not  good as we were  quite a ways from camp. I finnaly was able  to get  up and could walk so I told Ron and Peg to just  head for Camp and I would walk back. Ron was  going to come  back and pick me up with  another horse but, I felt  too bad  to ride at that  point.
I ended  up walking  all of the  way back to camp a couple  of  hours in the desert  heat.
I also had  to take  a week off from riding before  I felt  good  enough to sit in a  saddle. My entire  back was  black and blue and  I had a  large hemotoma abve the  kidneys. I peed blood a couple  of days  but, that  cleared  up. I know  that  my  injuries  could've  been much worse than they were and  for  that  I am thankful.
After  a week, I thought that  I would get  back on Maude  to see  if she was over it. We were  going to go for a beautiful ride  in Bulldog Canyon. We  parked  at  the  gravel pit/Trailhead and proceded out  from there. The very  beginning of this  ride  is  completley surrounded  by  Cholla Cactus that  borders the trail.

For  those  unfamiliar, Cholla is  also referred to as Jumping  cactus. and  ataches  to you or animal and is  hard to get off! Well, as soon as I got  into this section Maude tensed up and started "dancing" around on the  trail. I thought that  that day was  not  a good day for me to get hurt  worse than I already was and that I couldn't  be able  to walk back to camp if  I got  unloaded again.
I took Maude  back to camp and called Michael at 3M to ask if  he had another  mule to replace  her. He didn't  at this time and I wouldn't  be  able to get into his  place  until the  middle of April because  of  all of the  mud.
Peg and  I thought about  making  the 1800 mile  trip up to his  place  to trade Maude  out  with something  more suitable but, this  wasn't  appearing to be  an option. So, we arranged  to have her shipped  back to Michael at  3M Mules to be  rehomed. I don't  think that she'll ever be able  to become a good  saddle  mule because she  doesn't  trust  people. I think that  she  may have  been beat  by someone or  man handled by someone rough. Mules don't  forget things  like  this and can take  a long  time  to forgive. I must  tell you that  I was never  mean to her in any way and I thought  that  we were  building a nice  bond between us. I just  couldn't  handle  something that  would intentionally  hurt  you or  leave you lying without hesitation. My biggest  fear  with her came  true  when she  got  loose and we  couldn't  catch her in the desert.