Pecos Pack-In to Beatty's Cabin Dinner and the Final Day

On our last full day of work projects at Beatty's Cabin in the Pecos Wilderness, we finished up on earlier projects and started a couple new projects.

We built a ditch behind the cabin to divert water runoff from flowing underneath the cabin during heavy rainstorms.

We also completed the plumbing repairs on the pipes that supply spring water to the inside of the cabin.

And our BCHM vice president completed the repairs to the spring box up above the cabin. His waders showed the results of his hard work!

We also completed maintenance and repairs to some of the old cabin windows.

One window was cracked and we had hauled up a brand new custom made window on a pack mule, to replace the broken one.

There was also some maintenance and repairs done of the plumbing of the Game and Fish Cabin.

My son, in the green shirt, was a huge help on these types of projects.

We were also kept busy chasing away pesky cattle because they are not permitted around or near the cabins.

Apparently, the cattle have not read that memo.

The cows were crafty and sneaky.

They were also very persistent.

All the grass in the Pecos Wilderness, and those cows insisted on hanging out with us instead.

The cows seemed to provide entertainment for our horses.

In the meantime, the diversion project behind the cabin was completed.

It should do a nice job at preventing water from flowing underneath the cabin.

After lunch, there was even some time to go on a trail ride.

A nice BCHM family all ready to head out.

This nice BCHM couple, too.

I stayed behind to work on my own project inside the cabin, cleaning all the window sills, and windows. 

While I was working, two visitors rode up to the cabin, one was CeCe from Horse Around New Mexico. She had arrived to do a story on our work projects on Beatty's Cabin.

After everyone returned from their trail ride, CeCe got her interviews and tour completed and she and her friend continued on their way.
The rest of us enjoyed a few snacks, while waiting for dinner to be served.




I sat on the front porch with a friend.



And then we all piled into the kitchen to eat dinner.


Lots of silliness ensued. My son served himself some food........



It was a delicious and satisfying dinner, especially after all the work everyone had done all day.
I truly enjoyed it.



To be continued. The next up: The Ride Out

Pecos Pack-In to Beatty's Cabin Day Three ~ Work Projects

On day three, I woke up and checked on my horse and she seemed happy to see me.

After feeding her some hay pellets in a feed bag, I strapped on a pair of hobbles and let her out into the high mountain meadow to graze on the tall, green grass.

All of us staying at Beatty's Cabin that weekend did the same thing. There were horses and mules grazing everywhere.

Everyone got along wonderfully and were totally focused on eating the delicious green grass.

It was entertaining at times watching the horses and their unique and silly stances and movements they made as they tried to move around with hobbles.

I checked on Apache once again after breakfast, and she seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself.

Then it was time to get to work, starting with painting the cabin with linseed oil to protect and preserve the wood.

We all worked together and sprayed.........

and painted.

Yep, this is how I celebrated my birthday...haha!

It was a huge job.

But we worked hard all weekend and we got 'er done!

My son worked hard too, and he and his ditch digging partner got the spring's flow diverted away from the corrals.

And our BCHM vice president worked hard repairing the spring box....which was one very messy job!

I checked on Apache just before lunch and she was having a grand ol time.

Sometimes she would stop eating seemingly to just enjoy the amazing scenery.

She also seemed to like hanging out in a loose herd out on the high mountain meadow.

She got pretty cozy with Shorty, the Icelandic gelding, even sharing the water bucket with him without squealing or pinning her ears.

After lunch, most of us brought in our horses and tied them back up to their highlines.

And we had to deal with a marauding herd of cattle.

The horses seemed offended that the cattle were hanging out in their meadow, eating their grass.

The cattle are not allowed in and around the Beatty's Cabin site, so we finally got them chased off.

It sure was gorgeous up there in that high meadow.

The views in every direction were just spectacular!

We could also see the Pecos River far below, and one of the bridges that our BCHM Chapter regularly maintains.

While there was a lot of work to do all weekend, and it kept us all very busy, I still made sure to stop and enjoy the flowers.

 There were many wondrous things to see and appreciate all weekend.

Pecos Pack-In to Beatty's Cabin Day Two ~ Work Projects

I had Apache high-lined at night just below the cabin among the trees. The trees helped protect the horses from the rain we received during the night, but they still got wet. Apache was shivering a bit when I went and checked on her in the morning, so I rubbed her down really well, and fed her some grass hay pellets in her feed bag. And by the time I put her hobbles on and released Apache into the high meadow to graze, she had stopped shivering and was warm and content.

My son and a fellow BCHM member's kids hanging out on Beatty's Cabin front porch waiting for breakfast.

Apache grazing in the high meadow.

 The corrals were a muddy mess due to the spring above the cabin. The spring's flow needed to be diverted away from the corrals.

My son and another BCHM member worked hard diverting the flow of the spring above the corrals. They received instructions from our BCHM vice president.

Later, he prepared to do some work to the Spring Box. The Spring Box supplies fresh water to Beatty's Cabin, the Game and Fish Cabin and the water pump used for stock animals near the corrals.

Of course, I had to take a photo of him inside of the Spring Box. He looked like a troll.

Work was also being done on the water pipes behind Beatty's Cabin.

The boys had already made a lot of progress diverting the spring's flow away from the corrals.

Myself and another member got busy cleaning the log siding on Beatty's Cabin, so we could all apply linseed oil to help protect and preserve the wood.

There were a lot of cobwebs, spiderwebs and dead insects to brush out of the crevices.

To Be Continued......