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[RC] Our Tall Pines Ride, Part 1 - MagnumsmomI'm sure there are those of you out there who think that all we have in NM is high desert, rocks and scorpions. Not true. We also have Tall Pines. This was one of the most beautiful and difficult rides I've done so far and that includes both Castle Rock and the Eastern High Sierra Classic. This was one of the best marked trails I've ever seen. While there are a few key turns you don't want to miss (unless you'd rather ride into town and have a beer), they were all extremely well marked and easy to follow. Camp is located in the Gila National Forest amoung many Tall Pines, which are great for your high line. I was very spoiled as my usually allergic and non-crew hubby joined us for this ride. Crew! I'm spoiled! Our cattle dog Jasper rounded out the entire family outing. We loaded up and headed out only 1/2 hour late on Saturday morning. The ride was on Sunday so we had all day to make the 300 mile trip to ridecamp. I am without a trailer right now, but my neighbor Jack kindly loaned us his 1981 steel Circle J 20ft gooseneck stock trailer. This is quite a bit of trailer for one horse, two people and a dog, but we were camping in it. After my old 10 ft slant load 2 horse bp it was like bringing along a whole condo! We stopped at our favorite rest area down by Socorro, which is about 2 hours south to offer water and take a break. We met up with a Japanese gentleman who couldn't believe the size of our rig. He and his Japanese / American friend fed Blue carrots and took pictures so he could prove that he had actually bagged a large american rig. I didn't have the heart (or the translation) to try to explain to him that our rig was by far not the largest or fanciest out there. :) Not wanting to risk 152, a twisty road between Truth or Consequences and Silver City, we continued south on I25 and then cut west through Hatch. Hatch is a small community along the Rio Grande which is famous for their chili growing fields. Hatch are the best chilis to be found. Labor Day weekend is the Hatch Chili Festival Weekend and we did get caught in a bit of traffic trying to get through. That was OK though since we stopped and picked up a bushel of fresh chili on the way home. From Hatch we continued west towards Deming where we would pick up 180 and head north into Silver City. The miles flew by and, with one more rest area stop / water break, we were heading through the old mining towns Hurley, Bayard and Silver City. At one we stopped to top off the diesel and bag 2 blocks of ice for the weekend. Our last leg of the trip found us skirting Silver City and heading up 15 into the Gila National forest. One of the first road signs we saw said "Not recommended for trailers over 20 ft." Knowing that Randy Eiland and his 4 horse LQ Sundowner were surely ahead of us I didn't worry very much, even though the center line disappeared about the same point. We wound our way up through the forest, letting cars pass where I could pull over, and shortly started to see pink ribbons here and there. Sure enough camp was just ahead, up and down a dirt / rock road. Rigs were parked here and there, especially since we arived fairly late, at around 4:30-ish or 5pm. Ride management kindly helped us back into our spot which was very close to the main vetting area. There were many round stock tanks full of water, more than enough for the number of 55 and 25 mile riders. continued... =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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