Beaver Creek Ranch, Alpine, AZ October 26, 2011

Every muscle in my body hurt as I packed up my SUV with my leather chaps, various boots and a suitcase with dirty laundry.  I’ve ridden on cattle round-ups which are slow and leisurely overall.  This is not so on a horse round-up.  We moved 50 head of horses from their summer home in Alpine to their winter home in Springville – about a 60 mile ride on the back of a fast moving horse.   

When I decided to go on this horse round-up, I started conditioning myself with simple yoga exercises.  Apparently, my conditioning regimen wasn’t effective because I’ve never hurt all over my whole body this badly.  Not even when I was bucked off of Spice.

Before I headed back to Safford, I placed, photographed and documented art piece #127 on the window ledge of an early 1900’s wooden, guest cabin on the Beaver Creek Ranch property.  The cabin appeared to be small and I wondered how a whole family could live between split log walls.  Of course with all those people huddled in that tiny vicinity – that was one way to keep warm during the cold, snowy winters in the White Mountains.

Before I drove away from the Beaver Creek Ranch, I thanked the owners, Bill and Caren for their hospitality.  Now the only other thing that I looked forward to being thankful for was the first appointment I could get with my chiropractor.  Ouch … Ouch … Ouch.          

       

 

 

                      

US 191 @ Red Hill Road, Alpine, AZ October 22, 2011

I quite enjoyed my drive on US 191 through the Apache National Forrest in the White Mountains on my way to Beaver Creek Ranch.  The Ponderosa Pine, Aspen and Fir at 8,000 ft. altitude were a nice change from the sage, cacti, palm trees and tumbleweeds I’m use to at 3,000 ft.   I’m still adusting to the fact that I now live in a state where such drastic climate zones are only hours apart.  Alpine (named after its “Swiss-like” quality) is a popular summer vacation spot for the staff, at the hospital, I work with to escape Safford’s sweltering heat.    

As soon as I made a left on to Red Hill Road, I noticed an abandoned, run down wooden cabin in an open field about 30 feet from the road.  The opposite side of the road was a sign dedicating the reintroduction of the Mexican Wolf to this area.

  I stopped my SUV and grabbed my art gear.  I placed, photographed and documented cowboy and indian found art piece #125 in the cabin right before the sun set.  Now it was time to get to the ranch before it was completely pitch dark.  I had no idea where I was or where I was going since I’ve never been here.  This definitely fell into the category of “an adventure.”