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 Cowgirl Erin and Blackie the Horse We had a great visit and lots of saddle time with our new friend Erin from Ohio. Erin and I rode everyday- sometimes in rough, brushy country moving cattle to fresh grass. She is absolutely a natural cattle handler. The first ride I left her moving about 100 head of Texas longhorns by herself while I made a circle to gather some strays. I figured I would have to help regather her cattle- but she took them all to water and met me with the original 100 head plus a few she picked up in route. That doesn’t happen often on someone’s first cattle gather experience.
Erin rides well too. That is surely a big plus on this big a ranch. There is no way to work the Double Circle other than horseback. She and Blackie made a good team. Blackie is one of those good horses who has to be ridden easy. He can’t tolerate heavy handed or rough riders. To watch Erin and Blackie loping down a dirt trail, you would assume they had been a working team for years. They sure made a good team and got the job done.
I hope we will see Erin again. We all enjoyed her company – and appreciated the help she was.
 Cowgirl Erin rides Blackie the Horse
 Participants at the April 2012 Erosion Workshop I have been so busy gathering cattle that I completely overlooked writing about our April 20, 22, and 23 Erosion Control Workshop. I sure don’t want to forget the workshop! These workshops funded by Arizona Water Protection Fund Commission have been doing an incredible job on the Double Circle Ranch. The structures built by volunteers under the tutelage of Craig Sponholtz of Dryland Solutions, Inc. are slowing erosion by slowing runoff and water flow. So we reduce sediment into Eagle Creek, protect wildlife dependent on the water, promote forage growth, and save valuable top soil. We have over 120 erosion control structures now thanks to many hours of volunteer labor.
Craig is an excellent instructor. Everyone learns a lot. But it is the people who come here as volunteers who really make the big difference. We always make new friends and get to welcome old friends back at these workshops. And we have a lot of fun in the process. Plus thanks to Ed and Edie we eat like kings – no one goes hungry for sure. Also, a great big thanks to the AWPF Commission for their foresight and assistance and double thanks to all the folks who work so hard here to preserve the land and water. You can’t find better people anywhere.
 Wild Turkeys Crossing Eagle Creek It must be a good year for turkeys. It seems everywhere I ride and even in my yard there are the familiar sounds of gobbling toms. They are really strutting. I have been seeing lone toms and groups of up to 15 turkeys. I like to listen to the turkeys and watch them.
I believe youth turkey season is coming soon. I hope some of the big toms live to mate and keep the population growing – both for future hunters and folks like me who just enjoy watching all the critters on Double Circle Ranch.
 Hummingbirds Feast at Feeder in Snowstorm It is April 14th – Spring by the calendar. But these hummingbirds at the cabin must be wondering whether winter returned. We woke up to snow showers and it has been snowing all day. The ground is still warm enough to melt the snow – but it sure looks and feels like winter, not spring. We’ll just build another fire and wait ’til the temperatures get back into the 60′s tomorrow. It is supposed to get almost 80 in two days. It had better get started because that is about a 50 degree difference. Meantime I’ll just keep the bird feeders full. Those little hummingbirds are tougher than they look.
 April 2012 Snowstorm
 A Pool on Eagle Creek We had a few cancellations for our April 20, 21, and 22 erosion control workshop. So email and sign on up. You won’t find a better deal anywhere. You get free instruction from Craig Sponholtz of Dryland Solutions, Inc. This is hands-on training designed to teach you skills you can apply on your own land. Arizona Water Protection Fund is funding the whole show. So you get free camping on beautiful Eagle Creek, free meals, and free training – can’t beat that!
We only have a few openings – so put your name on the list. You can be proud of helping preserve Eagle Creek and of learning good conservation practices to use in your area.
 Bill and Amy Emrick and their Kids Well, we are losing our cowboy. Bill got a really good job offer managing a feedlot in Texas. It was one of those deals you can’t turn down. Plus the kids can go to school. Here on Eagle Creek, homeschooling is the only option. I think the children miss having other kids to play with. I understand why he needs to move to Texas.
Bill is finishing a fence material packing project before he leaves. We appreciate that. So – good luck and best wishes to Bill, Amy, and kids. Hope Texas suits you.
 Friends and Ranch Helpers Bernice and Gene Thank goodness for friends! I have been by myself gathering Main Pasture for weeks now. Bill is packing fence materials into our Apache fence crews. Doug and Derek are putting the finishing touches on our new waterlines – so I have been the only cowboy available. I did steal Derek away from Doug one day to help me but he had to get back to all important water lines. And Main Pasture is our hardest to gather – particularly after the steers have been out scattered for miles all winter. Plus gates were left open – and that really adds to the difficulty. So far I have found steers in 5 of our pastures and on the ranch south of us.
But help arrived from Tucson. Gene and Bernice came up to the Double Circle and worked for several days helping to locate and bring in the wandering critters. We got quite a few head in while I had 2 extra riders. Bernice did get knocked off on a tree branch. There is a very limited time to look away for cattle while riding heavily wooded trails. But there is no better reminder to keep one eye on the trail than a close encounter with rocky ground and tree branches. I have been reminded that way myself a time or two. No injuries- so all is well.
 Cowgirl Friend Julie on Horseback After Gene and Bernice went back to Tucson, our friend Julie showed up to help. We didn’t have much luck on adding cattle to the next pasture, but we did gather 3 pastures where shed hunters or someone left gates open. Regathering seems to be an ongoing practice this year. But we covered a lot of beautiful country – some I had never seen before. And as always we had fun and enjoyed having each other’s company.
So, thanks to good friends, all but 25 steers are in the next pasture of our rotation. I know there are at least 5 head still in Main because Julie and I saw them but couldn’t get to them. After I locate that 5, it will be a matter of searching for fresh tracks until every steer is accounted for. Then I can start herding and gentling them down again and life will be easier. Meantime I guess I am just plain lucky to have this much wilderness to ride good horses in and look for wayward cattle.
Cowboying isn’t easy – but it has its own rewards – I wouldn’t want to do anything else! And -THANK GOODNESS FOR GOOD FRIENDS – makes life a little sweeter!
 Derek Using a Bench Grinder Derek, Doug’s younger nephew from Florida, came back to the Double Circle with us. He wants to learn different skills – so Doug put him right to work. In 10 days he has lots of tractor time running the front-end loader and grader blade, welded, used the band saw and grinder to make pack racks, changed a tractor tire, patched other tires, hooked and unhooked the horse trailer, hauled fencing materials to the end of the road (we’ll use horses and mules from there), fed stock, done some cooking, and repaired a broken waterline. Not bad for a few days on the ranch.
At 17 and being raised a city kid, Derek has a lot to learn. But at the rate he is learning and with his good attitude, he will be pretty darn handy in a short time. We are happy to have him here.
 The TFS Crew Testing the Erosion Structure - photo by Big Walrus We are doing the prep work for our next Erosion Control Workshop on April 20, 21, and 22. This is number 6 of our workshops put on by Craig Sponholtz and funded by the Arizona Water Protection Fund Commission. We have over 120 erosion control structures on the Double Circle Ranch now and hope to keep building more. Without the AWPF funding, we would not have been able to do nearly as much erosion work. We are very grateful for their support and the contributions made by the Forest Service and Greenlee County, it is important work. The erosion control structures save soil, keep the creek cleaner, provide habitat for wildlife, and increase plant diversity and vigor.
Plus it is just plain fun! We always meet the best people from all walks of life. We get to learn, play, and work all at the same time. And the price is right- FREE. You camp and we feed you. Craig teaches you skills you can use on your own backyards and property. This is the deal of the year! Come on out to the ranch and be prepared to sweat a little and laugh a lot in some of the prettiest and wildest country in the U.S. You will fall in love with Eagle Creek- a unique, remote little corner of the world. Sign up early—we always fill up.
 Repairing the Dump Trailer at the Ranch When you live as far from town as Doug and I do here at the Double Circle, you have to be able to repair, patch, substitute, and rig up a replacement for anything that breaks. Sometimes it takes more than the standard duct tape to fix something. Here is a picture of Doug repairing a broken hinge on our dump trailer. In order to hold everything in position, Doug chained the tractor to the trailer frame, pushed the box forward with the backhoe, and lined it up to weld. It looked like everything was going to hold, so Doug crawled under the trailer and welded the broken hinge. It worked- and it is a good thing since we use that dump trailer to haul rock for our Erosion Control Workshop this April 20, 21, and 22.
Doug is the mechanical side of our partnership. And I have become a master of recipe substitutions – anything to avoid the long drive to town. But when something breaks, I hand it to Doug. 99% of the time he can fix it! Amazing.
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