Last month a small group of riding friends got together for a fun weekend that my friend Kendra and I had planned back in August. We called it the Manzano Mountains Cowgirl Campout, and we had chosen to get together at Red Canyon Equestrian Campground for our special weekend. We chose Red Canyon because Kendra and I had first ridden the Red Canyon/Crest/Spruce Spring Trail Loop in July. At that time we had ridden the loop counter-clockwise and we thought it would be fun to do the loop clockwise. After our July Red Canyon ride several of our friends said they would love to ride Red Canyon with us, so we decided to plan a fun weekend just for us ladies to enjoy a weekend of camping and riding, all within an hour of our homes.
We got to Red Canyon Equestrian Campground, in the Cibola National Forest, and got our horses set up in the little corrals. My Apache mare settled right in and immediately started eating.
We had a wonderful campfire to gather around and cook on, but I also set up my portable propane stove outside of my tent trailer (It’s not a good idea to cook inside a tent trailer with bears in the area). Our friends brought their LQ horse trailers, so they were able to do some of their cooking inside if they wanted to.
My dear friend Colleen joined us with two of her horses, an older mare and a young filly. She wasn’t planning to do the all-day Red Canyon ride, but was going to ride her mare on some short trails around the campground ponying her filly to give her some trail experience. She was also looking forward to relaxing at the campsite, joining us for campfire meals and laughter. I was excited that Colleen was joining us as she is the friend was helped me in my horse search and buying Apache 3 years ago. I’m so thankful for my friend Colleen and I was excited to show her how far Apache and I have come since then!
And having my best buddy Kendra there that weekend was the icing on the cake! Oh and I also brought along my Dobbie Girl, although she was just there for the camping fun, and stayed in the horse trailer while we were riding up in the mountains and canyons.
On Saturday morning after breakfast, we saddled up and headed up through the campground to the trail head. I was glad there was still some autumn color to enjoy and it wasn’t cold. We picked the perfect weekend to do an autumn horse camping weekend.
There was a total of 5 of us riding on Saturday.
The route up Red Canyon was a steady climb all the way to the Crest, so we allowed our horses to rest whenever they needed to. The rest breaks gave us all time to talk, laugh and take photos.
The ascent up to the Rock Cave is extremely steep! Some of us dismounted and walked our horses up and others rode up.
Apache and I at the top of the ascent to Rock Cave, on the ledge in front of the cave.
My friend Melissa on her her gelding, Pal, in front of Rock Cave.
And we continued to climb….and let our hard-working horses rest when they needed to.
As we climbed higher, we saw more beautiful yellow-leafed aspens.
And soon we we entered the Manzano Mountain Wilderness.
Up, Up, Up….
We were all having so much fun together, just us ladies and our wonderful horses. My friend, Randi was all smiles.
After a couple miles we finally climbed out of Red Canyon and could see the canyon down below us.
The views across Red Canyon were gorgeous!
Melissa’s two trail dogs took advantage of our rest breaks, too.
Having the trail dogs along for the ride was also helpful in keeping away any bears or mountain lions.
We entered the Aspen Forest as we neared the Crest. Riding over a carpet of yellow aspen leaves.
Kendra and Randi on the mountainside below the Crest!
Apache mare enjoying a rest in a grassy spot beneath the Aspens.
Reaching this location milestone brought back memories of our July Red Canyon/Crest/Spruce Spring Trail Ride where we took almost the same photo. It looked much greener then and the Aspens were green, too.
We arrived on top of the Manzano Crest! Happy faces!
We all dismounted to enjoy a picnic on an open, grassy saddle along the Crest Trail.
Kendra relaxing and enjoying lunch with her Bailey Boy.
Randi and her sweet mare.
Apache mare enjoying some lunch, too.
I tied up Apache so I could find a tree to go potty and she kept her eye on me the entire time. It was very cute!
Me and my awesome, beautiful, smart trail horse, Apache mare!
Up next: Cowgirl Campout at Red Canyon ~ Part 2
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