Another Great Ride!  On Saturday the weather greeted us with warm sunshine and a light breeze!  Perfect weather for the thirteen riders to enjoy the beautiful Wickenburg Mountains.  Some of us lucky members camped out at Sophie’s Flat on Friday nite and enjoyed a beautiful sunset complete with an almost full moon.  Rumor has it that one campsite even had an electric and water hookup.  Upon closer inspection, we realized we had been fooled by our long-time member Dave.  It sure did look real!  His trailer was even hooked into the electric and telephone service.  Great joke!  Sure got some laughs out of that one Dave! 

Of course, we have all heard stories about the quicksand along the Hassayampa River.  Well, I gave a demonstration on how easy it is for your horse to suddenly sink out from under you.  As Smokey was getting a drink out of a deep shady spot in the river, he was suddenly down on his right side.  I quickly jumped off !  He was able to get up and retreat to the far side of the river where he was caught by some people on ATV’s.  Thankfully, there were no injuries.  My boots and pants were a little soggy, but it sure was refreshing!  So, I brushed everything off, and we continued our ride to the “Box” along the river.  What a great lunch spot.  The huge tamarisk trees provided lots of shade for the horses while we enjoyed our lunches.  We all explored the “Box” canyon and took lots of pictures.  Everyone agreed it was one of the neatest lunch spots ever!  

After lunch, the GPS’s all came out to find a loop that would take us back to camp.  Linda actually was the one to see a faint trail that came out of the river canyon that eventually took us back to camp.  Dinosaur Canyon was spectacular!  There are natural rock formations that look like a lizard and 2 bears.  The only real wildlife we saw was a desert tortoise.  He sure was cute!  

Our Saturday nite potluck was complete with cake, pie and ice cream for dessert.  We took a shorter ride on Sunday due to the threat of rain. (it was just a threat!)  We took a shorter trail going around Red Top Mountain.  The trails are very nice with beautiful scenery to enjoy.  

We’ll be going back to this same area to pre-ride for the National Trail ride.  If you’re interested in joining us, just give me a call.

Happy Trails!

Judy
623 464-1234