Manzanita Mountains Ride

Come along with me and enjoy a trail ride in the beautiful Manzanita Mountains of New Mexico!

This is one of my most favorite areas to ride because of the varied, yet easy to ride terrain, beautiful scenery, groves of scrub oak and tall pine trees. I'm blessed to live only a few minutes away and it's lovely all year round!

I invited my new riding companion, Loretta and her gaited gelding, to join me. She had never ridden there before and was instantly in love.

Loretta and her boy Duke.

Loretta enjoys taking photos on the trail, like I do. I was grateful for the photos she took of Apache and I.
Apache and I love to ride up to this view spot and take in the incredible vistas!

Loretta and her handsome Duke.

The grass has grown tall and lush and green. We were glad to let our horses enjoy some grazing.

My happy trail selfie!

Loretta and I took turns leading, but she and Duke were mostly out in front as he is gaited and a bit faster than Apache.

Duke never minded stopping to wait for Apache and I to catch up. He got to enjoy a few munches of grass while waiting.

In some places, the grass was as tall as Apache's belly!

Beautiful meadows filled with green grass!

I love how the trail twists and winds through the tall ponderosa pines.

And the scrub oaks are so thick and lush, it's like riding through a wall of green, and in some areas it's like riding through a tunnel.

"One Can Never Be Unhappy Riding A Horse"

Lots of shade on the trail. Apache and I always enjoy being out in nature together.

I did get a huge surprise at one point along the ride. Two old friends came riding towards us on their horses. Dave and Cheryl have been my riding companions on some pretty epic adventures, including Canyon de Chelley in Chinle, AZ, Catalina State Park in Tucson, AZ and in the Gila Wilderness at Valle Tio Vinces. Cheryl and I also camped and rode together at Fort Stanton, New Mexico years ago. 

And I've even ridden the grey horse on the left. Utah is a Percheron gelding and is as gentle as they come. I rode him in Tucson, AZ one afternoon. What a great time! 

What a wonderful surprise to run into these two old friends and riding companions out on the trails.

My "Riding Makes Me Happy" Trail Selfie!

Of course, I also showed Loretta one of my most favorite New Mexico trees, the Alligator Juniper. This is a very special specimen near the trail. Every time I see it, it's like seeing an old friend.

We rode back to the trailers and water our horses and removed all their tack.

Apache was tired. We typically stop for a lunch break during our ride, but Loretta and I had decided to have our lunch and ice cold beers after our ride on this day.

And a close up photo of how Apache's eye socket looks now that it has sunk in 5 months after her enucleation surgery. (This ride was in August)

Apache my One Eyed Wonder Horse!

Post ride lunch selfies! 

We tucked our ponies in the shade of the trees while we gnoshed and chatted.

Oh yeah!
Life is Good!

Seeing the Arizona Fire from Above ~ Photos

 

Ranchman John has been flying to Phoenix every week in preparation for a job he’ll soon be doing there at the airport. Today (Wednesday) his plane flew right over the forest fires raging out of control in eastern Arizona. The pilot pointed out the fire to the passengers, and the plane went silent, punctuated with gasps of awe and dismay.

The following photos were taken by Ranchman John, with his cell phone.

He was shocked, amazed and humbled by the vast spread of land that the fire has and is devouring at a steady and destructive pace. Surprisingly there have been no serious injuries caused by this fire and so far, no homes have been burned down.

A recent video warns of more evacuations, even in the town of Luna, New Mexico, 10-12 miles across the AZ/NM border.

The latest news report says this: “This year’s wildfire season start is easily the worst in decades.

According to experts in the field, Arizona fire conditions are the worst in years mainly due to a 12 year drought, minimal rainfall throughout the winter, dry vegetation and warmer temperatures.

On top of that, La Nina- a weather phenomenon associated with abnormally cooler Pacific Ocean water water temps normally resulting in less rainfall and drier conditions for southwest states is the strongest it has been since the 70's.

Forecasters predict that fire conditions will only get worse as winds are expected to get as high as 30 mph today as a lower pressure trough moves out of Arizona.”

Yesterday evening the smoke was thick, and when I came back inside from feeding the critters in the barn, my face felt gritty, so I wiped my face with a tissue and was surprised to see it covered with a grey residue.

Ashes from the forest fires 200 miles away.

Today was a nice respite from the smoke-filled skies because the wind changed direction and was blowing in a north westerly direction, pushing the smoke away from us.

Even with the 30-40 mph winds, at least the sky was clear and blue, and I was able to get outside and set up the irrigation system for my raised bed veggie garden.

But by late evening, the wind direction changed back to gusting in a north easterly direction and the air is now filled with the lung burning, eye watering stench of smoke again.

As of now the Wallow Fire is the second biggest forest fire in Arizona history and if the fact that this fire is still zero percent contained is any indication, my prediction is that this fire is going to get a whole lot worse and very well may be the worst forest fire in Arizona history.

(Ranchman John shot this photo with his cell phone while inside the airport)