Section 32 BLM Ride

My friend Loretta invited several of us to ride into the Section 32 BLM lands near her house this past summer. 

We parked at her house and rode out into the BLM land, enjoying vistas of South Mountain in the distance.

Beautiful, hot, sunny day trail selfie!

It was very green out on the trails with many wildflowers.

Lots of yellow rabbitbush too.

Loretta, Ginny and Roxanne.

We rode up to the burn scar caused by a recent lightning caused wildfire just east of Founders Ranch.

Ginny and Tibi

Roxanne and Shadow

We believe this tree, obviously hit by lightning, was the cause of the wildfire.

Apache and I, Yvonne and Etta Bay and Ginny and Tibi.

Ginny, Loretta and Roxanne standing in a beautiful green meadow.

There weren't many tall trees in this BLM area. The pinon trees at least provided a little shade.

Riding across a man-made dam.

After we came back to Loretta's house, we watered our horses and tied them up to any shade we could find.

Shadow and Etta Bay.

Apache hanging out under the barn canopy while Duke and his mini-companions run around.

Tibi hanging out on the hill.

While our horses rested after the ride, we sat up on Loretta's deck and watched them, while we enjoyed a delicious lunch that Loretta prepared for us.

Ice cold beer and fresh shrimp ceviche with cilantro, tomatoes, onions, avocado and lime. Along with homemade pickles. Some of these ingredients came straight out of Loretta's garden.

So delicious!

And while we ate, Etta Bay got herself into an uncomfortable "pickle".

Roxanne hurried over to rescue her.

Silly mare!

Life is Good!

Section 32 BLM Ride

This summer, my friend Loretta invited me over to her house to ride into the Section 32 BLM area in Edgewood. Loretta can access the trails from her house and she even helped build and maintain some of the trails.

I had ridden the southern section of Section 32 several times over the years, accessed from Founders Ranch, but had never ridden the northern section.

Apache and I hauled over to her house and after tacking up, we headed out onto the trails.

Apache and I with the Sandia Mountains behind us in the distance.

Loretta was eager to show me her trails.

And as always, I was just happy to be out in nature riding my awesome horse!

There were a lot of amazing views, in all directions, from the tops of the mountains.

Looking south.

The terrain is varied, with many pretty meadows to ride through.

Apache and I were glad to follow along behind Loretta's beautiful gelding, Duke.

Views looking north towards South Mountain.

Some sections of the trail were really cute with how someone lined the trail with branches.

My happy face trail selfie!

It was a very hot day, so we let our horses take their and we just relaxed and enjoyed ourselves.

We rode across this cool earthen dam.

Apache, my One-Eye Wonder Horse enjoying the vistas, from atop the dam, towards South Mountain.

Just a really cool trail feature to ride across.

Most of the trail just wound it's way through meadows and trees on flat ground or gently rolling hills.

Of course, on such a hot day, we both enjoyed riding among the shade of the trees the best.

The trails were so beautiful, and I was just so happy to be surrounded by nature with my very best friend in the entire world, Apache.

The vistas to the east were pretty amazing, too!

And the views to the west were incredible!

I love the Sandia Mountains, so of course, I had to get Loretta to take a photo of us with those mountains as our backdrop.

Gorgeous vistas of the Sandia Mountains!

We did a little bit of exploring as Loretta wanted to find out where one trail went.

I'm always up for an adventure and exploring new trails!

Eventually, we started to get hungry and headed back for Loretta's house.

 

We rode past an old barn with this sign and I just had to take a photo!

After we unsaddled and watered our horses and put them up in the shade, Loretta prepared an impressive and delicious lunch spread for us! Chicken Salad with walnuts and apples along with fresh veggies from her garden. And, of course, refreshing, ice cold beers, too! Yummy!

This is the official map of the Section 32 BLM area, showing some of the trails. Of course, there are many more trails that have been built since the map was created. I really enjoyed having a local show me her favorite trails.

What a great day!
Life is Good!