Stewart Lake Ride and Pecos Work Project with BCHM

One weekend last September, I joined my local Back Country Horsemen group for a camping work trip up in the Pecos.
The day before, MA and I had arrived early and ridden 17-18 miles round trip up to Trail Riders Wall and Pecos Baldy Lake. So Apache and I were both a little tired that night and the following day.
But I was eager to ride up and see Stewart Lake which was supposed to be a beautiful sight!  

We camped at Panchuela, which is above 8,500 elevation, which means that the temps tend to always be much cooler, especially at night.

This was the thermometer inside the sleeping area of my gooseneck horse trailer at 8 am in the morning! Brrr!

It was difficult to crawl out of bed. But I did. I turned on my Lil Buddy Propane Heater and then I crawled back inside my sleeping bag and under my blankets. Within 20 minutes, the temperature had warmed enough inside to get out of bed and function. haha!

After breakfast, everyone saddled up our equines and prepared for our ride up to Stewart Lake so we could complete our work project of the day.

That's my blue truck and grey trailer on the right. I loved my campsite just above Panchuela Creek because I could hear the water all day and night. It was music to my ears.

Apache and I waited patiently and enjoyed the warmth of the sunshine and the beautiful green pastures, while everyone got mounted up.

Before we headed out we had a meeting on safety and our plans and goals for the day.

And then we began our ride up to Stewart Lake. The first section travels above a forest service road.

The entire 6-7 mile journey up to Stewart Lake is a continuous climb. But the views are always spectacular!

In the beginning, there are a lot of switchbacks......

And then we got into my favorite part...the aspen stands!

Riding through the aspens are just so magical!

And then the forest opens up and the mountains are visible and the vistas take your breath away!

The vistas behind us are just as spectacular...smiling faces included!

I am pretty sure that one of those mountains up ahead was Pecos Baldy.

It was still early enough at this elevation that the aspens had not begun turning their golden color yet.

But there were a few aspens that had started to turn gold.

The higher we climbed the more wet and muddy water crossings there were, due to springs running across the trail.

And after our long climb, we finally reached the first lake, which I first thought was Stewart Lake. I was wrong, but apparently this lake doesn't have an official name. So, I decided to name it Mirror Lake (more on why, later).

After passing Mirror Lake, we crossed a bridge, and I took a photo of Patty while she took a photo of me...haha!

We climbed for another 10 minutes......

And then we crossed another bridge and then rode up a steep hill..and we're greeted by the most amazingly beautiful high mountain lake!

Stewart Lake!!

We all tied up our horses so we could have lunch beside the lake and then get started on our work project.

Apache seemed grateful to just stand and rest after all the climbing we did that morning and the day before when we rode up to Trail Riders Wall and Pecos Baldy Lake.

I climbed up to some boulders to sit high above the lake and enjoy the views.

Yep. This may be my most favorite lunch spot ever!

One of our BCHM embers brought along his two children, and while his wife worked, he kept the kids busy with skipping stones and fishing.

The rest of us, hiked up above the lake on an established camping area, where we picked up loads of garbage, including plastic pipe and an old inflatable mattress. We had to cut the pipe into smaller sections, because it would need to fit into the packs that our pack horse would be carrying to haul all the trash back down the mountain.

We also picked up a lot of used toilet paper left behind trees and bushes, but I didn't take any photos of that, for obvious disgusting reasons.

There were also numerous fire pits created by the campers, which is not legally permitted by the Forest Service. So, we dispersed the rocks, boulders, charcoal and ash, picked up cans, tin foil and other garbage left behind in the fire pits..........

And then we smoothed out each fire pit to completely erase it's previous existence. 

And our other member and his kids continued to fish down below on the lake. The scenery was so beautiful that I had to capture a few photos.

Apache patiently waited and rested beside her tree, and I was so entranced with the roots on the tree, I had to grab a photo. Black and White seemed to capture the details better than color.

Then it was time to head back to Panchuela. But first we were stopping at the first bridge we crossed so we could check the bridge for any maintenance requirements.



A couple of hikers chatted and watched our work as we measured and assessed the bridge.



I tied up Apache beside Mirror Lake as we did a few tightening of boards on the bridge.



And this is why the name Mirror Lake is a fitting name.....

Such a beautiful lake!



Mirror Lake!



And then we mounted back up and continued down the trail.

Quite a few switchbacks where you get to look straight up or straight down and visit with fellow BCHM members as you ride along.

Apache and I were both very tired and sore and slow-poked our way back down.

Even in my discomfort, I enjoyed the breathtakingly beautiful views.

Especially whenever we rode through the aspen groves!

Enchanting Aspen groves!

The views to the east as we rode down the mountain were absolutely stunning!

Apache and I were basically riding by ourselves on the way back down. We'd see our fellow BCHM in the distance every so often, but we were mostly alone. I enjoyed that quiet, peaceful time with my mare.

At one point Apache and I caught up with our group when a horseback rider with her pack horse was riding up and we needed to step off the trail to let her pass.

When we finally arrived back at camp, dusk was falling and when I dismounted, my legs were shaking and I could hardly walk. Even Apache was walking like a tired old horse. Well, it's no wonder! We had just ridden over 31 miles in 2 days!!

But it was an incredible experience and I am so glad that Apache and I had the opportunity to explore these amazing places together!

Life is Good!

Pecos Adventure to Trail Riders Wall and Pecos Baldy Lake

I just returned last week from riding my horse up in Utah in Bryce Canyon, so now I have to get back to blogging again and catching up.

So, this trail ride was an epic adventure that I had placed on my bucket list. I had already ridden to Pecos Baldy Lake once before, but I was by myself, so I didn't spend much time up there. And I didn't have enough time to ride further up to Trail Riders Wall.
So, when MA asked me if I'd be interested in joining her on a ride up to Pecos Baldy Lake and Trail Riders Wall, before our Back Country Horsemen Work Project Weekend began, I said...YES! Absolutely!

We both hauled our own horses in our trailers up to the Jacks Creek trail head, and we saddled up and started on our exciting adventure!

Oh yah! This is my "Happy-to-be-in-the-mountains-riding-my-awesome-horse" selfie!



Pecos Baldy up ahead!



About halfway there, we ran into a Game & Fish guy who was walking through a meadow. He told us that he had been up at Pecos Baldy Lake with a fellow Game & Fish guy hauling up salt blocks and then tagging and studying the Big Horn Sheep.

And then he told us that his horse and mule had been hobbled to graze, but had spooked and taken off. So, he had set out looking for them. MA and I didn't want to cancel our plans to ride up to Trail Riders Wall, but we wanted to help him. MA had ponied her Icelandic horse, so she didn't have to leave him alone at her trailer or in a corral. Shorty is a great pack horse, and apparently is also trained to ride. So, MA offered Shorty to the Game & Fish guy to ride down to the Jacks Creek trailhead to check and see if his mule and horse had managed to make it back down on their own.

The Game & Fish guy would have to ride bareback, though, because Shorty had no saddle. But the guy told us that he had a lot of experience riding in rodeos, both broncs and bulls, so we had no worries that he could handle Shorty if he got excited and acted up. 

But Shorty was on his best behavior while traveling with us back up to Pecos Baldy Lake. The Game & Fish guy wanted to check there again just to make sure his horse and mule hadn't come back, and he wanted to tell his partner about his plans to ride down to the Jacks Creek trail head.

We crossed water and mud a few times, and all our horses went through willingly.

It sure was amusing to see the Game & Fish guy's long legs dangling on either side of Shorty's barrel. But Shorty is a strong Icelandic horse, and is also one of our hard working, strong BCHM pack horses. He had no trouble at all carrying his long-legged rider.

We rode through the burned section of forest and I was thrilled to see a carpet of red vegetation, which I found out later, is appropriately called Fireweed.

I love riding in the high mountain forests. The pine trees are so different up there.

I'm still not great at taking selfies, but I try so that I can have photos of myself and my horse on the trail together.

Several springs cross the trail on the way up to Pecos Baldy Lake.

Aha! And we have finally arrived at Pecos Baldy!

But we weren't going to linger there for very long. We needed to separate ways with the Game & Fish guy so we could continue our journey up to Trail Riders Wall. He told us he would leave us a note on the sign post at the trail junction, letting us know what his final plans were, once he checked to see if he mule and horse were at Pecos Baldy Lake. 

Shorty called out a few times as we rode away, but we were soon climbing to reach Trail Riders Wall, above 11,000' elevation, and couldn't hear him anymore.

We could see Trail Riders Wall up ahead!

Oh my goodness!! The views were spectacular!

Trail Riders Wall Between the Ears!

The weather could not have been more perfect! Abundant sunshine, blue skies, warmth, and no wind! MA told me that every time she had been up here in previous years, it had always been very windy and had even rained or snowed. She had never visited Trail Riders Wall on such a beautiful day!

The vistas were 360 degrees!

The beautiful Pecos Wilderness!

The north east side of Pecos Baldy as seen from Trail Riders Wall.

A close up of Pecos Baldy.

There is a trail that travels north/south across Trail Riders Wall.

I was so thrilled to be up there with my awesome mare, Apache!

MA borrowed my camera and took a few photos of Apache and I on Trail Riders Wall.

And I took a photo of her on Trail Riders Wall, too.

Apache and I on Trail Riders Wall!

MA and I decided to enjoy our lunches up on Trail Riders Wall, so we tied up our horses.

Apache looked so pretty, that I just had to take a photo of her!

We enjoyed the spectacular vistas from our lunch spot.

And then we mounted back up and returned the way we came.

 

The views were just as amazing riding back, too!

At MA's suggestion, we rode down to Pecos Baldy Lake for a few photos.

Apache and I beneath Pecos Baldy.

A Between the Ears Pecos Baldy Lake photo!

We took a few more photos to help me remember such an amazing location and beautiful day!

I can't pick a favorite!

The Game & Fish guy did leave us a note on the signpost to let us know that he had ridden Shorty down to Jacks Creek trail head after all because his horse and mule had not returned to Pecos Baldy Lake.

So, MA and I continued our ride through the Pecos Wilderness back down to Jacks Creek.

We even discovered a fallen tree across the trail that we stopped to cut and remove from the trail. I found it odd that it had not been on the trail on our ride up, on this same trail. It must have fallen while we were up on Trail Riders Wall.

We rode through a couple meadows with free ranging grazing cattle.

As we got closer to the Jacks Creek Campground and trail head, we could hear Shorty screaming and calling out. We could also see our trailers parked far below.

I quickly noticed that the Game & Fish guy had tied Shorty to the wrong trailer, probably because my horse trailer has a very large BCHM decal on the back.

The only negative thing about Shorty being tied to my trailer, is that he had been pawing and rearing for a couple hours while tied. And a few weeks later, I discovered that he had damaged the valve stem on one of my tires that had been in front of him the entire time, which caused my tire to leak air and get flat. So, I had to get it repaired. Darn! 

The good news was that Apache's Cavallo boots had been put to the ultimate test, with 17-18 miles of very rocky trails, deep mud, and water crossings. And they did great!

I did have to wash them well before leaving the parking area. They were full of mud. haha!

Apache and I had the best day! Such an awesomely, epic adventure! We are truly blessed!