snow on saguaros

Back last night from amazing 2 days riding with tough n wonderful mulie friends in the desert mountains near the border. It may be southern AZ but it's still February, and we got caught out in a blowing sleet/snowstorm about 6-7 miles from the remote outback RV camp.

Started out just windy & chilly, but shortly before reaching our lunch stop the sky darkened ominously and nearby hills began losing thier outline in an approaching whiteout.

As we came upon the high-country corrals and abandoned house that were to be our lunch stop, the wind picked up and somebody said "Hey, I feel rain." A minute or two later it was "Hey, it's sleet!" We all scrambled to tie our mules under trees and find a windbreak from the icy wetness pelting us. Then: "No, it's SNOW!" Sure enough, we were surrounded by the blowing white cloud we had seen floating over the mountains a half hour earlier. Biting wind and heavy, wet, spring snow.

We all huddled in the roofless shell of a house, ate lunch, joked about having to go out in the wind to find a place to crouch to answer nature's call, and generally stood around waiting hopefully for the storm to pass. It didn't. We realized there was nothing to be done but turn around and ride through it back home.

Everyone but me had the foresight to bring rain gear. They all donned slickers of various shapes and sizes. Luckily I was wearing an old down jacket, gloves and leather half-chaps on my lower legs that Annie (Bless you, girl!!) had just given me. So though my thighs got soaked and I was chilled to shivering, it really wasn't so bad. In fact, I enjoyed it. True! I live here, so I knew the storm would pass quickly and we were in no danger. Snow on the saguaros is a rare sight and incredibly beautiful. Once I could look up to see it, that is. We were riding directly into the wind. The flakes were covering my glasses so thick and fast that for the first hour or so, all I could do was pull my hat down low, stare at Butch's mane and hope the mule he was following was on the right path. One time I looked up, wiped my lenses and could see a line of 4 mule riders climbing a steep trail up the mountainside across from me, all of them hats down, covered in snow, hunched over in silence as thier steady mounts plowed into the swirling wind.

Sure enough, less than an hour from camp the sky cleared. Sun peeked out. Photo op!

By the time we got back it had all melted. Still cold, though. We were all very proud of our mules - not only did they do fabulous, going up and down those hills with stinging sleet and snow in thier faces - they all came back dry! Meaning, they are in good condition.

So that's my notes about the ride. The people I rode with deserve a whole blog entry of thier own, so I'll write about our visit next post. Too much to relay and too late at night now.

Happy trails, friends...