Muleshoe Ranch Country

DISCOVER Muleshoe Ranch Country

By the third day of our four-day trek, we're all riding pretty loose in the saddle, feeling a lo a lot freer to look around, relax, and take in the scenery. Wrangler Karen Powers rides lead; her assistant Gordon Webb trails at the back of our eight-horse string plodding into Hot Springs Canyon in the southwest foothills of the Galiuro Mountains of southern Arizona. My mount, a Mexican import with the unlikely name Buddy, is a 20-something-year-old palomino. Wrangler Powers picked Buddy out of the herd as a match for my greenhorn riding ability. "He's pretty easygoing," she says. "You may have to kick pretty hard just to get him moving." I cannot guess Buddy's Spanish name, but for the better part of four days he became my good old compañero - easygoing, indeed, but also surefooted and strong, and, most important, docile. I groomed Buddy this morning, massaging and loosening dust and grime with a stiff currycomb then brushing his coat to a high gloss. I think heliked it. Karen says the ritual helps bond horse and rider. I look at it as payback for Buddy's hauling me around, mile after mile.

(LEFT) Saguaros, willows, and cottonwoods highlight the San Pedro River near Cascabel, the headquarters location of author Tom Dollar's four-day trail ride. (ABOVE) Vicki Bakker, from Boxford, Massachusetts, scans for birds along the river, a major north-south flyway.

Ahead of me, Martin Bakker, a first-time horseback rider, turns in the saddle, points toward the ground, and asks, “Tom, do you know the name of those yellow flowers?” “Yeah,” I answer, “that's paperflower or paperdaisy.” “Kind of resembles brittlebush, doesn't it?” Martin asks.

“Sort of,” I answer.

That's the way it has been going from our first trail ride two days ago. Although they have vacationed often in Arizona, Martin and his wife, Vicki, residents of Boxford, Massachusetts, bring a fresh curiosity to the country we ride through. Here, the eastern fringe of the Sonoran Desert merges with the Chihuahuan Desert, and our headquarters ranch, the Redington Land & Cattle Co., owned by Don Steinman and Barbara Litton, is situated at Cascabel along the San Pedro River. The river is a major flyway for birds migrating north and south. The result is an incredibly rich mingling of plants and animals.

Admired objects in nature implies respect, bestowing a value beyond “thing.” It's the beginning of the impulse to preserve and protect the natural.

So when I'm in the company of others similarly disposed, I know I've met fellow nature lovers. There are a lot of us nature lovers on this trip, cosponsored by the Redington ranch and The Nature Conservancy's Muleshoe Ranch Preserve, north of the Redington spread, and our capacity for naming things is stretched to the limit.

Gentle rains last fall and through the winter helped produce a prodigious spring wildflower bloom. Hillsides are carpeted with owl clover, desert chicory, Mexican gold poppy, and Arizona lupine. Yellow clumps of desert marigold, paperdaisy, and desert dandelion line the trail. And blue phacelia and lovely purple-blue parish larkspur sprout among the tangled stems of low-growing bushes.

Our recitation seems endless: range ratany, yellow skyrocket, mariposa lily, crowfoot daisy, Indian paintbrush, cliff fendlerbush, rainbow cactus, claret cup hedgehog cactus, purple mat. We are constantly discovering new ones. “Karen!” I yell. “What’s the name of this small yellow blossom?” “Oh, that’s fetid marigold,” she answers. “And this one over here that you asked about before, that’s Arizona jewel flower. It took me a long time to find it in the field guide.” As we move farther into Hot Springs Canyon, now on the Muleshoe preserve, the walls close, becoming steeper and higher. Endangered native fishes inhabit these waters, so to avoid disturbing them we keep our horses away from the creek. Ahead we spot several large cottonwoods on the bank, a perfect lunch spot. Dismounting, we tether our horses and remove pommel bags stuffed with sandwiches, cool drinks, fruit, and cookies. Overhead, a zone-tailed hawk circles, scolding distressfully. Can its nest be nearby? Searching the upper branches of the tallest cottonwood, we spot the nest, a loose assemblage of sticks. The hawk circles for several minutes, then moves off.

The zone-tailed hawk is just one of many raptors seen during days of riding, hiking, and wildlife observing. On the second day out, our host, Don Steinman, trailered the horses from his ranch at Cascabel on the San Pedro River side of the Galiuros all the way around to the 49,000-acre Muleshoe Ranch Preserve in the southeastern foothills of the range. There Russell Hooten, preserve manager and naturalist, led a ride along the Scenic Vista Trail.

Sky-island mountain ranges the Rincons, Santa Catalinas, Pinalenos, and Galiuros loomed in every direction. Periodically, Hooten stopped to point out flora, fauna, and other features of the region. Here and there we saw a few saguaro cactuses, but only a few. We were riding along the eastern margin of their range. From the vantage point of high ridges above Muleshoe headquarters, we surveyed two perennial streams running through the preserve, Bass and Hot Springs creeks.

Just after dawn on our fourth and last day, Mark Apel joins us to lead a bird-watching hike along the San Pedro. Russ Hooten’s predecessor as Muleshoe manager, Mark now lives in Cascabel, where he consults as a biologist when he is not producing handmade guitars and lutes in the workshop of his small adobe home. As we walk the lane across grassy fields toward big cottonwoods lining the San Pedro's main channel, Mark stops. “Listen,” he says. “Hear that high-pitched call? That’s a gray hawk. There's a couple nesting down here; if we're lucky we'll see one.” Mark explains that this particular area along the San Pedro River is a classic riparian zone. We approach across a broad grassland, enter a dense mesquite bosque, then arrive onto the river's upper terrace where young cottonwoods grow. Farther down we discover strands of sediment-rich silt deposited by spring floods. These are ideal seedbeds, and already thousands of willow and cottonwood seedlings have sprouted. Along the main channel, we find the older trees, whose big trunks and deep roots protect them from the ravages of flooding. The San Pedro is a major migratory path, and, seasonally, more than half the species of birds found in North America can be observed on the river. Our morning walk does not disappoint. From time to time, Mark interrupts his narrative to harken to the song of a Bell's vireo, vermilion flycatcher, or Bewick's wren or to follow the flight of white-throated swifts and barn swallows dipping and wheeling for insects over the river. Back at the ranch, waiting for our horses to be saddled for our final ride, we're at ease, shaded by enormous Arizona ash trees. Bellicose hummingbirds vie for position around nectar feeders. Hooded orioles, black phoebes, Gila woodpeckers, cardinals, Inca doves, and other birds fill the air with song. Glancing up, I spot a large raptor soaring overhead. “What’s that?” I call out. Martin Bakker peers skyward. “Looks like an osprey,” he says. “No, can’t be,” Mark Apel responds, grabbing his binoculars. Then, “By golly, I think you’re right. It is an osprey.” “Expect the unexpected,” one among us had said the first day out. The osprey was unexpected.

Muleshoe Ranch Country

But our rarest find comes late in the morning. After four days of riding, we're all a bit nonchalant about the splendid burgeoning of spring wildflowers. Besides, the wind is up, and we've pulled our hats low to protect our eyes from blowing dust. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, just at the edge of the trail, I discern movement. Looking down, I see a Gila monster scrambling desperately on short legs to climb a steep embankment.

Gila monsters spend a lot of time underground, so sightings are rare. This one is small, perhaps one and a half feet long, and its coloration is paler than most I've seen. Where others are orange, this one is a beautiful pale pink with dark brown blotches. The Gila monster sighting puts a cap on our nature-lover's weekend.

We return to the ranch for lunch at shaded picnic tables. The night before, Jim Sober from Willcox strummed his guitar, told stories, and sang cowboy songs around the campfire where the rest of us sat on hay bales. Jim and his son J.R. had ridden with us that day and stayed on for a chicken barbecue. Other than the bird-watching, horseback riding, and all the other great outdoor stuff, Jim's pickin' and singin' was the sole entertainment provided by ranch owners Steinman and Litton.

It is not a dude ranch. The Redington Land & Cattle Co. at Cascabel is a working ranch that accepts guests an important distinction. Although there is one small bed-and-breakfast guest house on the premises, most ranch visitors sleep in the bunkhouse; dine at picnic tables lighted by lanterns on simple fare cooked over an open fire; and share a shower, washroom, and outdoor privy with other guests. On some horse trips, guests sleep on bedrolls under the stars or in tents and are served chuckwagon meals.

ranch that accepts guests an important distinction. Although there is one small bed-and-breakfast guest house on the premises, most ranch visitors sleep in the bunkhouse; dine at picnic tables lighted by lanterns on simple fare cooked over an open fire; and share a shower, washroom, and outdoor privy with other guests. On some horse trips, guests sleep on bedrolls under the stars or in tents and are served chuckwagon meals.

Observing nature on horseback was a first-time experience for many of us. Speaking for myself, I loved surveying the natural scene from 10 feet up on old Buddy's back. But after four or five hours in the saddle, it felt real good to get down and walk or try to.

Additional Reading: To find out more about places to go and things to see, we recommend Travel Arizona: The Back Roads. The guide takes you on 20 motor tours showcasing the diversity of the state's geography, including treks to desert wonderlands, wooded uplands, and spectacular canyons. The 136-page softcover book ($10.95 plus shipping and handling) also features full-color photographs and easy-toread maps. To order, telephone toll-free (800) 543-5432. In the Phoenix area or outside the U.S., call (602) 258-1000.

WHEN YOU GO

For more about the Redington Land and Cattle Company's weekend horseback rides, roundups, nature walks, jeep tours, and barbecues, contact the Cascabel outfit at HC 1 Box 730, Benson, AZ 85602; (520) 212-5555.

For more about The Nature Conservancy's Muleshoe Ranch Preserve, write or call Muleshoe Ranch Headquarters, Ranch Route 1, Box 1542, Willcox, AZ 85643; (520) 586-7072.

For general visitors information on the area, contact the Benson/San Pedro Valley Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 2255, Benson, AZ 85602; (520) 586-2842; and the Willcox Chamber of Commerce and Agriculture, 1500 N. Circle I Road, Willcox, AZ 85643; (520) 384-2272.