Davidson Canyon Ride, Sunday April 11, 2010

Davidson Canyon and Rain? After two different months of setting the date to ride in Davidson Canyon in southern Arizona and having to cancel due to the rain, the ride was just right for a Sunday morning on your horse. Ten riders were in the saddle and behind Jean, the ride leader. She was on Linda Merritt's "Chance" and you would not have known he had been lame a couple of years ago. He was setting the pace and others were trotting/jogging/gaiting to keep up. We had two new members on the ride, Craig and Vickie. Craig's horse stepped out well and Vickie was on a nice tall paint and in an English saddle. Dan and Letha Simmons were on Morgans and both Morgans had a surplus of energy. This ride was one of two rides for Dan and Letha on the same day. Once the riders got through the first gate, they went by a water tank for the horses get a drink and then cross country toward Davidson Canyon. We were on the Arizona Trail just south of I-10 for a bit, then cross country again. The Cottonwoods were in bloom in Davidson Canyon, but no water. A few poppys and hedge hog cacti were also in bloom. The riders were back on the Arizona Trail as they approached the roadway. Then back to the trailers. Those who had time stopped at the Vail Steakhouse for lunch. The ride covered 8.75 miles in two and a half hours and the riders were stopped on the trail for an additional 21 minutes. The moving average was 3.6 mph. We are usually in the 3.3 mph range. Thank you Jean and Linda.

Ironwood Forest National Park

Saturday March 20th 2010

Jane Norris and Becky Tucker treated fourteen of us to a two and quarter hour ramble through the Ironwood National Park. A couple of us were “directionally challenged” finding the leave point, but we started soon after the stated time of 9.00am; (note MapQuest directions are wrong). This year the ride left from Jane’s house as the road along West Silverbell was deemed too rough for the trailers. The ride was a “first” for some new TSC members and horses. We welcomed – Pat & Rosey Celentano, Chuck & Laurie Glen (Steve Pferdeort’s sister and brother in law)) and Tami Yuill (Maxine Joplin’s daughter). All their horses were new to rides except Chuck’s who now owns Dave Cunningham’s old horse “Red”, and Tami’s who rode Becky’s horse “Tip Top”. Other new horse/ mules were Jane’s horse Ms Smokey whom after an initial “panic” settled down nicely on the ride. Carolyn’s young mule Finnegan did very well and no emergency brake was required!  We were about a week too early for the full bloom of spring flowers but a taste of the carpet of yellow poppies and lupines could be seen in their initial stages. After the ride several members went to the airport for lunch. Technocrats note – We travelled 7.75 miles in 2 hours 15 minutes with a moving average speed of 3.5mph and only 11 minutes of stopping time. Elevation of the area is approximately 2.300 feet. We rode in an area of the park which is in the east valley of the West Silver Bell Mountains and viewed the Sawtooth Mountains to our North West. Educational note - The Ironwood National Monument covers 129,000 acres, situated North West of Tucson, and features the desert ironwood tree. This is a shrub like tree, unremarkable to look at except when it sprouts purple flowers in late springtime. It is quite widespread in southwest Arizona where it inhabits gravelly washes and low elevation hillsides. The tree is important to the local ecosystem because it benefits many other species of flora and fauna. The scenery and general vegetation are very similar to the nearby Sonoran Desert National Monument. Thanks Jane and Becky for putting this ride on again this year.  Pamela Deters