Hi Everyone
Written by admin on June 25, 2008 – 10:08 pm - 
Hi everyone, hope that you enjoy reading my writings, mine may be a bit different from Rocky’s. It will be more of a firsthand experience of traveling the West, because I haven’t done much traveling. I will say, I am enjoying every minute of it.
We arrived in Antelope Wells on Thursday, June 19th. The temperatures were close to 102 degrees and the wind was really whipping, about 30 mph. In minutes you were covered with a coating of dust. It was nothing, but cactus, and miles of wide open spaces. Very desolate and barren land. I had done some research on the area prior to the trip, but Paul couldn’t believe where we were at. We were very fortunate to have a very pleasant Custom Officer, Tim Balderston, let us camp on his property that was about 250 yards from the official border. We had electric and water. The water is the big thing down here, neither horse or human can get enough, as it is dry heat. He also told us to watch out for snakes, so far I have not seen one, and have no intention of hunting one down for that experience.
On Friday, June 20th while it was still cool, probably mid 80’s’ Rocky wanted to see how the horses would work. He rode Zena and ponied Pepe. I rode Soldier. Jazz and Cotton, Rocky’s dogs came along too. It was really funny watching them take off after little desert lizards. Boy, can those little guy’s move. This also gave Soldier a chance to work while the dogs were along. He handled it well. Did find lots of holes, and though they look like something a prairie dog would make, it was explained to me that those were snake holes. You really have to watch the footing, because the ground looks hard, but there could be a hole underneath. Rode for an hour, and Rocky seemed pleased with the horses.
Larry Hanson from MN, arrived about 1:45 PM, a little later than expected because of a tire blowout on the way down from Silver City. He was with Jerry, a minister from Silver City, who was driving the rig back. CORRECTION: In a previous entry Rocky wrote that a woman in Silver City was storing the rig, he made an error. It was this Jerry all along. Larry really wants it printed, so that nobody gets the wrong idea. He came with his 3 horses, Kemo, Dakota, and Cochise. We all spent the rest of the evening getting settled and acquainted, since we were all relative strangers.
We were visited that evening by Will and Crystal Gierhart, and their 2 children Keenan and Cheyenne. Will is a manager for the Gray Ranch, which covers 500,000 acres and has 10,000 head of cattle. They live down the road about 8 miles from where we were camped and offered to let us stop at their place to water the horses during the ride. In this area, any water you can find is a valuable asset. We also chatted about ranching in this kind of area. That is one thing I will say, is the people are the nicest I have met, always willing to help and answer questions of complete strangers.
ONE IMPORTANT FACT: There is no internet or phone service, until you are about 60 miles farther North.
JUNE 21, Saturday, at, 8 am, MT, Rocky and Larry started their ride. As much as they would of liked to have gone through the gates, there was a cattle guard, and no way around it. Gates were locked, and there was no wire to take down. Rocky started off riding Zena and ponied Pepe. Larry was riding Kemo, a bay quarter horse type, and leading Cochise a leopard Ap. The dogs went along for the first 3 miles and then decided to pack it in and jumped back in the truck with me. The support team was there with water for the horses and cool drinks for the men. The second stop was outside the gates of the Gierhart place, but we watered from the trailer, rather than make the horses go an extra mile down the drive and back. The temperature was 92 degrees in the shade of the trailer. Larry switched horses and added salt to his canteen. You never can get enough water. Highway 81 is a lightly traveled road, you see mostly border patrol agents, shuttle buses, which are vans that bring the legal Mexican’s to the major cities that they wish to visit. Not at tax payer expense, as that was a question that I asked Robert Cherrier, an agent who stopped at our night stop that evening. He stopped because a storm had come through during the afternoon, and caused problems on the road. He wanted to make sure that wasn’t the reason we were camping alongside the road. Other travel was local ranchers or day working cowboys. Everyone waves and are very friendly. Paul and I went on to find a place to camp. Rocky said he should have had us do one more water stop, as the sun was beating down and it was the clouds moving in for the storm that really helped them. They were almost out of water themselves at the 20 mile marker. The stretch of road was in the sun the whole way. Larry did some walking along the way, and Rocky switched over to Pepe. Larry switched back to Kemo for the final miles. When the storm started a rancher who was at his gate invited them down to seek shelter and water their horses. At that end of the road they didn’t get anything but rain. Up where Paul and I were camped, the winds really picked up and there was hail for about 5 minutes. Then the rain came down and covered the field, can see why there are WATCH WATER signs along the road and DUST STORM area. The heat made the horses extremely tired. The total miles ridden was 26.55, at an average pace of 3.5 mph.
Another person that they encountered was Border Patrol agent Lee Reyes, who was checking out the hoofprints to see who was riding north. So all of you can be proud that our Border Patrol is doing their job so well. With all the miles that they have to cover, we should give them a pat on the back.
June 22, Sunday was another hot one. Rocky and Larry headed out about 7:45 am. The goal is to get earlier start times and beat the heat of the day. This whole section is all highway and no shade anywhere. Rocky started out on Pepe and ponied Soldier. Larry rode Dakota and ponied Kemo. Both men kept the same horses all day. Today’s trip was 21.3 miles and the average moving speed was 3.4 mph. They chose to ride along the hardpacked roads that the border patrol use. It runs along the miles of fence, put up by the ranchers. All along that stretch the fences are nice and tight. The temperatures were better than yesterday, because there was a slight breeze. Rocky put on sunscreen around noon, and the thermometer on his saddle bag said 90 degrees. There were more gullies and puddles to drink out of along the way. At the first water stop, emptied Paul’s 80 gallon water tank on the trailer’s roof. We then started getting water out of the camper. Paul moved on to Hachita to find a camping spot. Kathy went up the road about 7 miles to be there for more water. We also had some conversation with Border Patrol officer Dusty Smith. Rocky and Larry talked to another one named Dave. I finally went on to Hachita and Paul and I found a place at the RV Park, but there are no signs, but they did have water and electric. A kind man showed us where the park was named Ron Brown. The town itself is really hard pressed. The store and restaurant have been closed over a year. The bar is only open once in awhile. We have been high lining the horses between the camper and horse trailer at our stops. There was a roping arena we maybe could of used a ¼ mile away, but wanted to keep the horses close. Everyone that we met was very pleasant and helpful. Rocky and Larry even exchanged military stories with a vet named Woody, who gave them each a beer. It was Paul’s 63 birthday.
Will update the days 3 and 4, next time.
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