The Canyon Loop Trail - Catalina State Park, Tucson, Arizona

 

Our final day of trail riding at Catalina State Park, we rode the Bridle Trail to the Canyon Loop Trail. I was overjoyed to see so many water crossings - which always make a ride a little more interesting and relaxing. It was an easy ride with some beautiful views. 

Catalina State Park is a definite winner.

A Day off from Riding - Walking the Turquoise Trail in downtown Tucson

 

With my broken foot, I can't ride my horse every day. We bought this cute little mobility scooter off Craigslist so I can tool around and play tourist. I wanted to "walk" the Turquoise Trail. You follow the blue painted line for this walking tour to see all the sites.

This was my favorite stop...

One of the stops on the Turquoise Trail.. El Tiradito - also known as the Wishing Shrine or the "Throwaway". Back in the 1880s, when the Barrio Viejo (Old Neighborhood) was first getting started, there was a ranch hand named Juan Oliveras. Juan fell in love with his wife's mother. (I cringe at this entire idea) Juan's father in law caught them in bed together and stabbed Juan to death.

Because Juan was an adulterer, he was not allowed to be buried in the Catholic cemetery. Instead, his body was thrown away. So, his lover and mother in law started this shrine - the only Catholic shrine in the entire United States dedicated to a sinner and not a saint. His father in law was not charged because he was considered the victim and well within his rights to kill his son-in-law.

About a month later, the father in law was out herding his sheep - after killing his wife's lover - and was set upon by Apaches. The Apaches scalped him and tied him to a Saguaro cactus naked and left him there to die. He was found on the wagon trail entering Tucson, dead and still tied to the cactus.

The mother-in-law - now a widow and without her lover - hung herself in despair. Juan's widow who was pregnant, tied the rope of the property's well around her neck and jumped into the well, snapping her neck.

Well, this story is very Shakespearean, with all the players dead at the end of the story.

The shrine sits near the site where Juan's body is buried. Legend has it that if you light a candle and make a wish, if the candle stays lit from sundown until sunrise, your wish will be granted - as long as you have a forgiving heart.

We didn't have any matches, so we were unable to light a candle and make a wish, but it was also pretty windy, so I am not sure if the candle would have stayed lit - although there was one candle burning when we stopped here to check it out.

Another thing I enjoy about these walking tours is to see and learn about different architectural features. These canales are drain pipes. They drain the water from the flat roof of this century old adobe house and because they extend away from the wall, they keep the water away from the walls and foundation. The canales are decorated. They are lovely and a fabulous invention.

We also saw many murals, but this one is my favorite as it has a lot of Mexican symbols - including the eagle grasping a snake sitting on a cactus. The Mexican eagle grasping a snake in its beak and cactus in its talons portrays an ancient Aztec myth. 

The myth-story tells that the Mexica tribe, originally from Aztlan (mythic place, and why people incorrectly named them “Aztecs”) were looking for the promised land. The supreme god of the Mexica tribe was Huitzilopochtli, and told them to travel south and establish a big city.

In order to know when they reached the promised land their god Huitzilopochtli would signal them by placing an eagle devouring a snake on top of a prickly pear.

According to the myth-story they found the sign on what today is Mexico City, were they founded Tenochtitlan and created the Mexica Empire that lasted till the Spaniards invaded and conquered Mexico.

Each individual element had meaningful elements for the Mexica tribe:

• Eagle: Strength and freedom, also related with the sun, wind and fire. for the mexicas, the eagle was deeply linked to Huitzilopochtli.
• Snake: Knowledge, and sacred animal
• Prickly pear: Symbolizes the world, the universe, and life. A thorny path that we all should take with pain and suffering to reach the flower and fruit of happiness.

Having both the eagle and the snake together symbolizes the Quetzalcoatl god.

Meanwhile the snow storm in Tennessee means that the medical device that is supposed to help my broken bone heal is being held up. This means we will be staying in Tucson and Catalina State Park a little longer. We need to wait for the device to be delivered before we move on.

 

Cataline State Park - Tucson, Arizona

 Heading South before we head east, we are spending the next few days in Catalina State Park in Tucson, Arizona. This campground is a real jewel. Only $20/night (including the stalls for the horses), water is available, but no electricity. There is a vault toilet available as well as a small picnic area with barbeques. The horses have good sized stalls with no covers. There is a dump station close to the park entrance and you can dump your black and gray tanks for free if you are a paid camper.

Sunset in the park

When we first arrived, we parked next to another LQ. They had a loud barking dog, but we figured the dog would settle down once his owners were around. Then, they returned, but hauled out a noisy gas generator. That was that. We moved our LQ to the other end of the lot.

They left the next day, but we decided to stay put where we had moved.

There are a good number of corrals for the horses. Four of the premium corrals have covers and mangers. It is first come, first served and we are not quick enough to grab one of the coveted spaces for our horses.

It is a good-sized parking area with plenty of room to turn around.

Getting our horses ready to take them out on the trails.

We decided to try to ride a loop - starting with the 50-Year Trail to the Link Trail to the Bridle Trail.

The 50-Year Trail is a climb of about 1,000 feet, but the horses managed with no problems and the views were outstanding.

Our problems started when we got to the Link Trail. This trail was more rocky and less well marked. We got to a section of the trail where you go down a steep incline and it is really rocky. The only way to do it is to dismount and walk down. But, I have a broken bone in my foot and we were concerned that if I did that, I had a high likelihood of twisting my ankle and getting another injury. So, we backtracked looking for another way to access the Bridle Trail.

We went down the same dead end two times - using two different trails. There was a constant trying different trails, only to hit dead ends or looping back to where we had started. The 50 Year Trail was starting to earn it's name.

We finally got down to the Ringtail Loop campground. Once there, the campers were able to point us to the entrance of the Bridle Trail and we were able to get back to camp. We had started our ride at 1:30 and arrived back at camp a little past 5 pm. We were both cranky and tired, but we survived it and no injuries.

There is a Walmart across the street from the park, a Safeway a couple of miles away, lots of restaurants in the area. Major streets to get in and out. Great location. We are really happy at this campground.

Hay Creek Ranch - Oracle, AZ

 

You take a narrow winding dirt road to get into Hay Creek Ranch, but overall the road is not too bad. 

There are easily 20 LQs here and a lot of equestrians. This is probably the most equestrians we have seen in months. Everybody appears to be actively riding as well.

Some of the campers say they got here in October and plan to stay through March.

Most of the horses are in covered stalls. 

When we first arrived, there were no stalls available, so our two horses shared a large round pen. There was no cover, but it was fine. The next morning they were assigned to some stalls when some campers moved out.

I had a doctor's appointment on the day before we arrived. X-rays show that what had been a partial fracture is now a complete fracture and the bones are now farther apart and mis-aligned. So, instead of the break healing, it had gotten worse over the past three weeks. The doctor says it is looking more probable that we are looking at a nonunion fracture - where the fracture doesn't heal. He recommended a device that promotes bone growth to see if that would work. The device has a pretty good success rate - close to 90%. Otherwise, I would be looking at possible surgery in about four months. 

Now, Ari and I had to make a choice. We figured we had three options. Option 1: Bag the trip. Head back to California. Get proper treatment for my fracture and possibly try our trip again in six to nine months. Option 2: Stay in Arizona and wait out the four months to see if I would need surgery, and if I needed surgery, it would be a minimum of 12 weeks before I would be able to ride. Option 3: Stay the course, keep our travel itinerary, use the bone healing device on the road, continue to stay off my feet as much as possible. The doctor said I could ride as long as I didn't overdo it.

So, this morning we went on a ride out of the camp. We did the Ridgeline Trail, which is a relatively flat, easy ride. 

We only rode for about two hours 

We met some fellow campers coming back from their morning ride as we headed out.

I was in a considerable amount of pain by the time we got back from the ride, but I was glad to get out. I think this may be doable as long as we keep the rides relatively short and we don't ride every day.

Group Ride at the Picket Post Trailhead - Arizona

 

Today Ari went on a group ride with the other campers here at Ride Out Ranch. They rode from the Picket Post trailhead to an abandoned silver mine. They reached the site of a battle between a group of Apache warriors and the US Calvary. Legend has it that the tears shed by the warriors turned into stones. The stones are called Apache tears. If you hold the stones to a light source, you see they are actually glass. They were formed from volcanic lava.

Stopping for a drink at a small creek

On the trail

Tomorrow I see the doctor to see if I am healed up enough to get in the saddle. The next day we move on to Hay Creek Ranch in Oracle, AZ

Re-Acclimating to Life on the Road - Ride Out Ranch, Florence, AZ

 After spending almost three months in one place, it is a bit of an adjustment to be in a new place. We had settled into the place at San Tan Valley. 

Both horses seem really happy and content in separate stalls.

There are two other LQs here with campers. One LQ on each side of us. One is a couple from Tennessee - they both ride. The other LQ is a couple with a foster daughter. The husband rides, but the wife and girl do not. 

The guy who developed this horse camp passed away a few months ago, so the place is being run by his friend who helped with the construction. Dave seems like a nice enough fellow. So far, he is the only person around who is willing to ride with Ari and ride my horse.

We arrived on a Monday. On Tuesday, after trying to find someone to ride with him, Ari set off on his own with Lennox. They rode for a couple of hours down the wash. Here is Ari returning from the ride. He said it was an easy ride and Lennox did OK. Mercutio spent the entire time they were gone calling for Lennox and asking him to come back, so Lennox was in a real hurry to return to his buddy and get the ride over with.

On Wednesday, Ari was able to persuade Dave to ride Mercy and take him out on the trails. Dave is pretty busy with chores, so he charged Ari $20 for the ride. We didn't mind paying him since Ari prefers to ride with someone and Mercy needs the exercise. Plus, both horses do better when they are together.

On Wednesday, Ari and I went into the town of Florence. I wanted to see the downtown and go grocery shopping. We had lunch at the River Bottom Bar & Grill, a biker bar off the highway. I asked about the chili because a lot of places use pork as an extender and we don't eat pork. The server explained that it is Hormel canned chili. It does not reflect well on any eatery to serve canned chili or canned soup. Ari ordered a burger and fries. I ordered the chicken wings. The burger was actually very good as were the fries. My wings were decent, but pretty sure the BBQ sauce came from a jar.

No rattlesnakes joined us. We ate on the outside patio - where nobody was wearing masks and several of the patrons were smoking.

Joel on Mercy

Heading out to the trails

Thursday was our best day here so far. What made it a great day was Joel and Mari came out to see us. Ari was able to get a decent ride in with Joel and even took Mari out on Mercy for a short ride afterwards. 

After the ride, one of the other campers, named Iowa Dave, reviewed our upcoming itinerary with me so he could recommend a couple of places we could stop and I could make some tweaks based on his recommendations. I always like to hear what other equestrians have to say about campgrounds. Word of mouth has been how I have found some of the best places to stay.

On Saturday, they are hosting a memorial service for the deceased owner. We have been warned that a large crowd is expected. Ari & I may just hide in our trailer for the day as these events tend to be super spreaders for COVID-19 and, so far, we have been pretty lucky.

On the Road Again....to the Ride Out Ranch in Florence, AZ

 

You may recall that at the beginning or November - we had this much hay delivered for our winter stay in Arizona.

And...this is all that is left at the end of January.  Ari ended up having to go to the local feed store to get a few extra bales to store in our hay pod as we get back on the road.

This is the shared community hall. There is a large washer and dryer (no charge) where we can do our laundry. Lots of places to sit and just hang out. There is even a small office area that I have my eye on to work in during the week. 

The road into Ride Out Ranch is about two miles of unpaved, dirt with a lot of ruts. It isn't the worst road we have ever been on, but it certainly rattled our bones.  We are a good 30 minutes outside of town and away from shopping. Ari has already stated that he is not going to drive on that road more than a few times. Well, I am hoping to go into town on Wednesday just to see the downtown and we have a doctor's appointment for my foot the following Tuesday, so I guess those will be the "couple of times" he will have to drive it.

The horses have some good sized corrals with covers. Mercy is no longer having to share a space with Lennox. He will be able to eat in peace for the duration without Lennox bullying him aside to eat his food.  There is also a nice round pen for turn out.

We have full hook-up for the trailer, so we are happy about that. There is wi-fi. We are connected using our Winegard which is boosting the signal and it appears to be decent.  

It is a lot quieter here than Joel's place in San Tan Valley. There are a few other campers, but it is not even half full here. The scenery looks beautiful and hopefully Ari will be able to go on some nice rides.