I finally did it!
For the last four years I have wanted to take Santannah up Mount Baldy in the White Mountains of Arizona.
Ken Glasco,a friend of mine, organizes a Mount Baldy ride each spring and fall. It seemed that every time the ride was scheduled something prevented me from being able to do the ride. This year I was determined nothing was going to get in the way. I was going to ride Mount Baldy.
I invited my friend Mary Morrow and her Arabian gelding Cali. Mary is an endurance rider. Cali was recently honored as a decade horse meaning Mary and Cali have been competing in endurance for ten years doing 50 mile races. I have been riding with Mary for the last couple of years,not endurance racing, she and Cali have really helped Santannah and I become a better team.
I want to say that our Mount Baldy ride was by far the most beautiful ride Santannah and I have ever done. The scenery reminded me of Pine Valley,Utah. I spent time there in my youth, camping and enjoying our Wadsworth family reunions.
We were not able to make it to the top of Mount Baldy due to the deadfall that had not yet been cleared. We rode over and around downed trees in our pursuit of the summit. Then we encountered the tree that could not be passed. There was no way around or over. Mary said,"I haven't taught my horse to crawl yet!" We turned back slightly disappointed yet elated that we could ride back through the green,grassy meadow alongside the Little Colorado river. I'm told that Baldy's unpredictability is part of the experience. You have a small window of opportunity to try and conquer the mountain. April you may have snow. May can be windy. June can be dry and the forest could actually be closed due to fire hazard. July and August you might have thunderstorms that would keep you off the mountain.
Would I be willing to give it another try? Absolutely!
Mary and I decided we needed a good breakfast so we headed to Wal-Mart for donuts and milk! A little sugar goes a long way LOL.
At the Mount Baldy West Trail #94 getting ready to ride. Top picture is Ken's horse Polk. Lower picture is my horse Santannah and Mary's horse Cali on the right.
Every time we stopped our horses couldn't wait to graze on the grass that is hard to find at home in the desert.
Mary
Ken
Beautiful right?
I love this picture. I was taking pictures of Ken and Santannah decided to join Ken and Polk.
The pictures confirm that we had a great ride!
