Socorro, NM

It is Thursday morning and I am in Socorro, NM. We are staying at the Fite Ranch at the north edge of the White Sands desert, about 15 miles southeast of Socorro. We rode three day in the desert and I slept on the ground or on the floor of a cattle trailer the two nights. It was a hot and grueling ride. I was worn out after each day's ride. Ali is doing fine and has actually gained weight back. He likes the alfalfa hay! We rode 22 miles the first day in the desert, 24 the second day, and 20 the third day. We have past the 200 mile marker towards Canada.

The view is beautiful along the way. We had mountains in all directions from us. We rode along the west fence of the White Sands Missile range for several miles, and then rode across a small corner of it. We could see clusters of missiles on turrets pointed at the sky. We travel on ranch roads that are rocky & sandy, dirt roads. The ranch we stayed at the first night about 40 miles east of T or C, NM on the Buckhorn Ranch, owned by Doug & Leslie Davis. They are wonderful hosts and have an oasis in the desert. They are opening up a Bed & Breakfast in the near future. It is a great place to stay and bring your horses! They light a campfire for us and Del Shields sang cowboy songs as the sun set with brilliant colors on the horizon. It can't get any better then this for a cowboy!!!
The second night we stayed at a cattle watering hole with a fence to tie our horses to. We rode out, after breakfast, at 7AM on Wednesday to ride as much as we could in the cool morning. We arrived at the Fite ranch at 1:30PM after traveling the full distance without stopping for lunch. We did water the horses 3 times along the way. We ate lunch in the saddle. We never found a shady place to stop.

Of the 41 riders that started out 17 made the desert trip. Crossing the desert was a great experience, I don't have to, need to, or want to do it again!

I want to thank the people that helped me get Ali in shape to travel: My vet Dr. Mitts and his staff at Holt Animal clinic, Russ Mac Lellen, whose shoes are still on Ali, and Doug Perry for his advice in getting Ali into top shape.



Thanks to the Econolodge Inn for allowing me to use their wifi.

Until next time everyone be safe.

Bud