Category: Current Info

Las Cienegas and the Historic Empire Ranch

I am an advocate for public lands, a self proclaimed spokeswoman for our National Forest Service and Parks and the people who work in the service of these government departments.

Recently Rosie and I discovered the Las Cienegas National Conservation and Historic Empire Ranch, 5 miles north of Sonoita, Arizona. An expansive landscape of desert grasslands, rolling hills dotted with mesquite trees, dry auroras lined with giant cottonwood trees, antelope, deer, raptors, land that gives you the feel of freedom. When we arrived a couple of weeks ago, I stepped out of Rosie’s truck and said, “ I feel like I’m on the African Savanna.” I have never been on the African Savanna but I have seen photos…this is what the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area felt like to me, exotic, breathtaking vistas, wind, sky and grass.


When I see the volumes of people striking out for a weekend camping expedition, when I read about the record breaking attendance Glacier Park, Yellowstone Park and Yosemite support each year and when I see the struggle between differing land use managements ie: motorized 4-wheeler, non motorized – horseback riders, hikers, bicyclist, hunters, the logging and mineral interest, all grabbing, all vying for a peace of open space, natural beauty, a place to “get away from it all… I think, “ We need more public lands.”

It is impressive what a group of strong minded determined people did in saving this ranch land and the ,ambience it embraces. www.empireranchfoundation.org.  From the website……

The Empire Ranch Foundation (ERF) was established as a private non-profit organization in 1997 to work with the BLM to develop private support to preserve the ranch buildings and enhance the educational and recreational opportunities it offers to the general public. In the time since, ERF and BLM have completed significant emergency repairs to the main ranch house and to major outbuildings at the headquarters. Major long term permanent repairs to the Ranch House and Adobe Haybarn are being specified and undertaken as funding permits, while interpretation and education programs and a Discovery Trail and other visitor enhancements…

Between BLM and the Empire Ranch foundation the Las Cienegas has managed to blend a working ranch, 4-wheelers, hikers, horseback riders and hunters on to this 42,000 acre conservation area. It is clean, does not have roads everywhere and retains a sense of being alone with the land. Rosie felt it deserved a generous donation. In a time when our public lands are being threatened we must all pitch in and help and not rely so heavily on the government to save these national treasures.

My hat is off to the BLM and the Empire Ranch Foundation…and its a big hat!

Patagonia

Is a quaint, charming artist’s town. The streets are open and lovely and the people friendly. As Rosie, Bella and I strolled the town on a sunny afternoon I noticed this sign. I never did meet any of the women from the group but Rhonda the woman on the ladder said they were very influential in the community. One-hundred years ladies!!! goodness by the looks of your town you are doing something right.
 

South by Southwest

It hardly seems like winter when the temperature is in the 70’s, nice. We are part of the winter migration called “snowbirds.” How remarkably easy travel becomes with a truck and trailer!

Recapping the past two weeks:

From Pie Town we dropped due south into the Gila National Forest. Jeanetta Sturgeon knew Annie George and Susan Dent (horse-gals) who own property just outside the forest boundary. Anne makes saddles, Susan’s a vet in Alaska. Annie provided us with water other wise it would have been impossible to have stayed where we did. We enjoyed one full week of lively conversation, sunshine, shared meals and trail rides with two new friends.

Rosie, her dog Bella and I toured the unique historical Silver City, joined the Gila Back-Country Horseman’s Christmas party at the Buckhorn Saloon and Opera House in Pin’os Altos (north of Silver City) and watched the Super Moon rise and brilliantly illuminate the sky.

As the weather turns cooler we head further south for Arizona looking for more canyons to explore, more sun and perhaps more new friends to warm us.

Pies in Pie Town, New Mexico

Pie Town, New Mexico and look at the PIES!. The Gathering Place is relatively new, it has been in business for two years.

The Pie Town Cafe and The Pie-O-neer Cafe were both closed today. I tied the horses outside on an old grey weathered wooden fence. Smiles greeted me from three women with white floured hands baking pies. I could not resist. “Blueberry please,” I said – after a breakfast burrito.

I sat next to a couple from Young, Az. They were off to look at petroglyphs near Socorro, NM.

It was like this in 2006 when I rode through. I think its the pies. Its like home and friendly and welcoming where people have time to sit down and have a cup of coffee and a piece of pie. No, Pie Town has not changed much, thank goodness!

P.S. The pie was spectacular like the vista’s of New Mexico

Early Suffragettes

Our hostess Jeanetta Sturgeon took Rosie and I for a drive to Datil 20 miles east of Pie Town and we came across this sign. I have read “No Life For A Lady.” Jeanetta’s grandparents had historical ties to this area. These women in my humble opinion define courageous.

Still Adventurous and Young at Heart

Last month I received this email:

Hello Bernice,

I am very interested to learn about your travels across the country on horseback.  I first heard about your story from my from my grandfather, Art Penzien.  We are from Michigan and he had read about your trip across the country when you passed through northern Michigan several years ago. (2014/15- 8000 mile ride)

Since that time he has asked anyone he has talked to if they know anything more about your journeys.  My grandpa celebrated his 98th birthday this summer.  You would not believe how many people he has shown the article of your trip through Michigan that he clipped out of the small northern Michigan newspaper.

I was wondering if there is any way I could get more information about your rides?  Do you have a book that chronicles your trips?  Are you going to be doing any speaking engagements in Michigan any time soon.  I would love to give him this for a Christmas gift this year and would be more then happy to donate to your rides for a gift for him.  Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you so much,
Jon Penzien

So I sent him my DVD, The Adventures of a Lady Long Rider – the first 10,000 miles.

And I received this:
“ I’m sure my grandpa will enjoy that. (my DVD)  I’m looking forward to your book coming out.  Hopefully we can get my grandpa to one of the stops on your book tour.  He has a lot of questions for you.

Thanks again,

Jon Penzien
Art Pensien is 98 years old this year

Art Penzien was born to a farming family in Macomb Township, MI in 1919.  He is a retired meter reader for Consumers Power in Michigan.  He was married to Irma Reis and they had three sons, Herb, Tom and Jerry.  He still lives in Macomb, MI to this day.  Even at the age of 98 he is still very active.  The loves spending time with his family especially his grandchildren and great grandchildren.  He still plays euchre every Friday with a group of friends.  In 2015 a friend from Marquette, MI sent him a copy of the Marquette newspaper which contained a story of Lady Long Rider passing through the upper peninsula of Michigan, and he has been very interested in her travels ever since.

THEN I received this photo! I asked him if he would mind sharing HIS story on my website and Facebook page. I knew you’d all enjoy it.Perhaps I’ll do a book signing in his Michigan town and personally hand deliver a book, “In My Own Skin – Becoming a Lady Long Rider – coming out this spring.

When I rode through Pie Town in 2006 from the west 2500 miles or so into a 5000 mile ride, a snow storm came raging in from the east stopping me dead in my tracks.  While snow piled up in Pie Town I stayed warm in a tar-paper shack, with a million dollar view. I stayed 7 days.
The tar paper shack is now gone, new business have opened, many shacks have disappeared. I won’t tell you much more about the ride in 2006 because my week in Pie Town became a chapter in my book, you’ll be able to read about it.

The town has not changed that much. It’s a town about PIES now that’s a good thing, lots of pies. Its just off the Continental Divide Trail and hosts hikers working their way up and down the roughed trail.  Travelers racing by on Hwy 60 slow down when they see “Pies Ahead.”

Days are warm and sunny but last night the temperature dropped to 12 degrees, Rosie says with a smile, “We’re going further south.”

Knowing where you are going and how best to get there is a good thing.

Or Why I love my Benchmark Maps.

Benchmark Maps sponsor my rides – atlas@benchmarkmaps.com

Today I received new maps for New Mexico and California, I already had a Benchmark Arizona Map book for this ride. Now you must understand these are not just any old map books. The Benchmark State by State Road and Recreation Atlas minutely details each state with back roads, forest service roads, 4-wheeler roads, trails, even power-line roads and much, much more.

The pages have light color back grounds that makes for easy reading. I look at my maps morning noon and night, over meals, on the back of my horse, over a cup of coffee. When stepping up to a stranger asking for direction my Benchmark Map book is in my hand.

Without my Benchmark Map I feel lost. Each book has a large U.S. highway map then a regional map then recreational maps of the state followed by landscape maps full of information that keeps me awake nights looking, looking, looking, and usually discovering, “Ah there – that way will work, we can take this back road and connect up with that one.” Most of my rides are recorded on Benchmark Maps – complete with dates, campsites, people I stayed with and comments about weather and terrain.

Why no GPS? Many of you can understand when I say, “I want to feel the book and I can SEE where I will be going in relation to where I am.” Then I mark the route and plan, always planning another route. But also accepting the fact that it can be changed.

Each book contains information about the state, climate, attractions, notable towns, campgrounds and RV parks, Tribal Lands, National Parks and Monuments. I read and study each page with interest. These maps are as much a part of my rides as my Tucker Saddle.

IF you take a road trip, don’t leave without a Benchmark Road and Recreation Atlas. And when you return with stains from coffee and juice spills and tears from reading and rereading a page, with pen marks and phone #’s, you’ll look again at your trip, at your adventure refreshing those memories with ohhs and ahhs that no GPS can record.

Happy Trails

Last weeks ride thru

SanLorenso Canyon

Travels with Rosie

I have never done this. Traveled with truck and trailer. I have picked up rides to avoid a bridge crossing, a dangerous intersection or treacherous traffic situation. But actually traveling with the horses in a truck and trailer like normal people do, no, I have never done this. It takes the edge off. The risk, the uncertainty is minimized and I can carry so darn much stuff!!

The nice red truck and big trailer belong to Rosie Rollins, a spry 76 year old equestrian rider of many, many years. Once an ICU nurse, once a biologist for the Department of Agriculture, Rosie now mostly travels. You can read more about her in an earlier posting (July 2017)and in her book “Adventures on Horseback.”

Rosie came unexpectedly walking up to my front porch this summer and introduced herself as a “short lady long rider.” “I’ve been following your rides for years,” Rosie said. “I happened to be in the area and thought I’d look you up, I hope I’m not intruding.” We became friends immediately.

Rosie began doing short rides (100 to 300 miles) with her horses in 1964. She’s probably accumulated more miles than yours truly. I asked her if she’d like to go south this winter and ride. “I’ll provide the horses, you the truck and trailer.” (She retired her last horse in June of 2017) She’s a very good rider, light for Liska Pearl, they are a perfect match. So here we are, traveling with truck and trailer. I sleep in my tent, Rosie has comfortable horse-trailer accommodations. Spirit and Liska have never had it so good.

My old 69 Ford miraculously pulled Liska and Spirit in my two horse-trailer 700 miles to Montpelier, Idaho. (south of Idaho Falls) Bitter winter winds and cold weather chased us south. It snowed 12 inches at my cabin two days after I left.

November 1st Arrived in Montpelier, stayed at the fairgrounds, had covered stalls, good thing as it snowed and rained while I waited for Rosie who arrived on the 4th.

I met Elaine Zeyer in 2009 when I rode through Montpelier on my 6000 mile ride – we’ve been friends ever since. She once again did what she did in 2009, she fed me. Wonderfully home-cooked food poured from her kitchen and then she sent a load of this years dried fruits and veggies with me. Good to see her again. She has my truck and trailer at her place. This time Elaine shared many of her friends and family with me while I waited for Rosie traveling with her golden lab/ridge-back dog Bella from Nebraska to rendezvous with me in Montpelier, Idaho.
Thank you Elaine.

Each night the Milky-way clearly stretches across the sky from horizon to horizon. I love this country, but then I say that often. I say that even though this spacious desert country is daunting, merciless and presented me with some of the most difficult riding I’ve ever ridden. The red rock plateau’s, mesa’s and striking rock formations make one ooh and aah. The highway stretches out into eternity and I wonder, how in Gods name did I ever ride this country as I did from 2005 to 2009? There is so little water. Grass? What grass? And I rode single horse rides! Claire Dog walked, I walked, Honor, Pride and Essie walked 100’s of miles in this vast, dry, cracked desert country.

Oh but I do love this country. I love the nights without bugs, without wind camped in sagebrush scented air, so still and clean it sinks deep into the lungs and I toss back my head and visually pull the stars to my chest wrapping my arms tightly around them. Lights rest on the horizon like stars that have fallen from the sky. The muffled sounds of car and truck traffic mingles with coyotes song.

For the past nine years I have traveled northern routes bountiful with water, grass and campsites. Easy riding in comparison to these early routes and years. Those first few rides were lean, hard rides. If I had five dollars in my pocket I considered myself rich. I am reflective, even somber as I look out across land and roads that quite honestly look impossible to me now. “How ever did I do it?” I wonder, gazing out the window as Rosie, Bella and I drive smoothly and swiftly in the comfort of her new red Chevrolet pickup. “Why did I have to do it?” I ask myself. No answer. To many memories running through my head just now. Coming back through this country has sparked unexpected emotions that toss and turn in my head.
But tonight camped on a route I rode in 2008, a mile off Interstate 25 south of Belen, NM.,I tell you it is paradise to me. North of me is an oasis, the Kiva RV and Horse Motel owned by Diane and Bob Wiltshire. In 2008 Diane and Bob invited me, Claire Dog, Essie Pearl and Honor in for the night. I remember being so deeply grateful as the horses were put in corrals, fed and watered and I slept, really slept for the first time in many nights. It’s one of the prettiest, well kept Horse Motels I have seen. But now Rosie, (who has known Diane and Bob for 4 years,) Bella, the horses and I are camped on BLM land just south of Bob and Diane’s business, Rosie and Bella in her trailer me in my tent. The horses in a portable fence. We have water and hay that I bought at a “Hay Vendor” in Gallop, NM a few days ago. The horses have apples and salt and Source Micro-nutrients and a little alfalfa and a little oats and they are like two pets that are spoiled and I love them for their curious want-to-be near me attitude, always nickering, always needing something.

Rosie is calling this her “Canyon Ride” as she would like to see several canyons that she’s not ridden. So far we have taken 4 short rides. One in Nevada just out on BLM land where we’d camped for the night, one around McPhee Reservoir in Delores, NM, one at Boggy Draw (near Delores) and one along Delores Canyon. Next week we ride San Lorenso Canyon with Diane and her friends. My sister MaryAnn is coming from Edgewood, NM for a visit tomorrow.

We will continue south with Bella in the lead, Rosie ahead of me on Liska Pearl who is gaining experience and strength. Bringing up the rear are two seasoned travelers who know one another very well, Montana Spirit and yours truly.

Happy Trails, Bernice