Wednesday April 11th.

We are off at the crack of dawn, 5:30am heading back to Reddington Pass to start the second leg of this adventure. We had hoped to leave earlier but Ron's mule needed shoes and his farrier was on his honeymoon and did not get back until late Sunday. Thus, Rosie had to wait until Tuesday to get new shoes. The goal is to get to Picketpost before we take another break. Part of the trail over Mt Lemmon, near Tucson, is not passable for equestrians so a section of about 8 miles will be missed. But then on down Oracle Ridge to Tiger Mine to Freeman Road to Ripsey Ranch (ruins) to the Gila, thru White Canyon and Alamo Canyon to Picketpost. We will try to keep this updated as often as possible, but finding internet cafes in the desert is not easy.

Richard Wertz


Thursday, April 12
Reddington Rd. to Prison Camp on Mt. Lemmon

VERY windy this day . Ron and I agree that this passage was our favorite so far: rolling hills with interesting rock outcroppings, good trail, flowers (sego lilies, penstamon.Indian paintbrush,verbena, purple sage, and grass greening up nicely), good sized live oaks (and some dead oaks too), a few junipers . The Catalina Mountains loom larger and higher in front of us .
We had an intersting visitor at our camp in Reddington Pass.













Ron showed her the mules . I woke Dick up from a nap so that he wouldn't miss seeing her . You will know what I'm talking about when you see the pictures later in the blog .
The trail coming down into Molina Basin CG was challenging in places; steep steps, we got off the mules and led them .
Camp that night was at Prison Camp. It gets it's name from being the site of a Japanese American internment camp during WWII . The "prisoners" from this camp built the Mt. Lemmon Highway .
We were so glad to have corrals for the mules for the night . The corrals were built by County Line Riders of Catalina; Thank You !
Also at Prison Camp, we met Tom with his pack goats . (Purple Mountain Pack Goats , Tucson)
And that night it rained (and the wind blew hard). Next morning the weather was fogged in and still misting . We could see the snow level was about 500' above us . So, being smart people, we went to Claire's in Catalina for breakfast; and on to American Flag TH on the north base of the Catalina's where we made camp.


Friday the 13th
We spent the day drying out the camp things .
That night John and Gwen Rendall invited us to their home in Oracle for dinner and showers!!
Ron made the sacrifice of staying in camp to keep an eye on the mules; he also got to initiate the shower tent.


Saturday, April 14
Only 7 1/2 miles today. Before we left camp to ride, some other mule riders came to also ride the trail . So Billy and Rosie were really moving along, trying to catch up to the other mules . ( Now I know what Billy is able to do when motivated !)
John Rendall came to camp bringing us maps that he had printed from his computer .

A fact that I forgot to mention at the start of this trip, is that Billy is barefoot. I carry Easyboot Epics on my saddle and put them on him when I feel that he needs them . I have only put them on the front so far . They are only maybe halfway worn through . Rosie has gone through a set of shoes and is now into her second set . Ron and I are both amazed at how well Billy's feet are holding up through this much riding ! I can feel the difference in his better traction when he is barefoot.

Sunday, April 15
Yellowjacket Tank in Bloodsucker Wash to Freeman Rd.
Well, we thought we were starting at Yellowjacket Tank..... After 9 miles of searching we were on The Trail . We had erroneously started at another tank and were trying to make the trail discription fit what we were seeing but of course it wouldn't fit .
While searching, we saw a Great Horned owl on her nest in the arms of a giant saguaro cactus !
It was another WINDY day. ( At one point Ron said that he thought that the stampede string on his hat was going to garote him .)
We came onto the trail shortly before Beehive Windmill. What a picture it is . You first see it from the top of a ridge . It is in a sandstone canyon with lots of big mesquite trees in the bottom. The holding tank is about 60' across and 6' high ! It is made of rivoted steel plates which have rusted and so it looks very old and authentic, which it is of course .
Up on the ridges the hedgehog cactus were really starting into full bloom . Their magenta color was offset by the yellow of the prickly pear blossoms . The ocotillos were in full leaf and full bloom, waving in the wind24 miles in 8 1/2 hours .

We were glad to see Dick in Walter and Mary Francis's pickup .
Walter and Mary Frances are ranchers in the area, and they had seen Dick parked out on the road and stopped to see if he needed help. He was getting concered about Ron and me, so these good people drove him out in their truck to see if there were any mule tracks on the road/trail coming into Freeman Rd. They were going to stay out there with him til we showed up, or he decided that he needed to" get up a search party".

Monday, April 16
We took the morning off; enjoying the nice camp place that Walter and Mary Francis had told us about . Ron and I had threatened Dick with padlocking his tent zipper so that he would not be up before sunup rattling around in the "kitchen".
The mules were resting under some big mesquite trees. The dogs had found a ground squirrel burrow to dig; (More about the ground squirrel later .)













The day before we had had some problems with the trailer brakes and lights, and since it was still so windy, we decided to go to Wickenburg for repairs.
As we were driving home on I-8, we were encountering rain squalls so we brought the dogs into the truck . They were in the back seat with me . Jesse was very neurotic about it and I had to hold onto her to keep her from roaming all over the cab . Jane went to sleep . After a time, (I'm still wrestling Jesse) Jane, beside me, begins to wretch. She barfs up a long, fat, slimy thing . It is the ground squirrel ! Holding onto Jesse, I elbowed the electric window down, grabbed up the slimy, dead squirrel and threw it out the window .