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 Wall Tent at the Double Circle Ranch Someone asked me about our four wall tents. They are large, canvas tents 14 by 16 feet. They are up on a raised deck that has a porch and private bath, hot and cold shower, and composting toilet. We put a canvas cover over the tents last month. It is about a foot above the tents and keeps the tent cooler in hot summer months.
Each tent has 4 oversized outfitter cots with mattress pads – very comfortable. There are 4 wooded rustic storage boxes and hanging racks for odds and ends. No electricity though. We are 30 miles from the closest electric pole. We use alternative energy – solar and wind for livestock water and in the two houses. Doug is looking at a small hydro power plant for our cabin. Technology for alternative energy and sustainable living just keeps improving. Don’t expect electric in the tents though. Having the natural darkness is part of the Double Circle experience. Besides, it is perfect for astronomy and star gazing – no light pollution!
 Inside of a Wall Tent  Wall Tent Deck at the Double Circle Ranch
We had a few raindrops—just a handful- along with a fierce wind. This has been the driest monsoon in 116 years according to news reports. And I believe it. Every dirt tank on the ranch is dry with the possible exception of a large spring fed tank about 11 miles from here which I haven’t ridden out to check. The grass crinkles under your feet when you walk- we are hoping for rain. All the ephemeral creeks are dry. Eagle Creek is still running and so are the smaller permanent waters and springs- but it is DRY.
Losing all the natural water in canyon pools and dirt tanks makes us dependent on our solar water pumping stations and about 30 miles of pipeline with water troughs. It makes herding our Texas Longhorns more critical. When you only have a few water sources in a pasture, it is easy to overgraze next to the water.
 Our Cattle Herding Dog - Belle Starr I go up every afternoon with Belle on a leash and walk steers over the canyon rims into bottoms to keep the cattle from tramping the water trough areas too much. It is about a 4 hour job, plus the time to get there and back, but good training for the pup and exercise for me. Yesterday Belle and I were moving steers down the steep slope, when I twisted my ankle and fell. Perfect time for Belle to lunge at a slow steer and pull me forward. I fell head first downhill and slid till I lodged against a tree and a cactus. I can tell you from experience that it is tricky for a plump, pushing 60 woman to get up when you are head down, feet up on a steep, rocky slope and wedged by a tree and cactus! All is well— I have a broken toe and several broken off cactus thorns—none of which would have happened if I had ridden a horse! Ranching life – got to love it!
 Wildlife Photographer Tom Whetten Tom Whetten and wife Gail were up for a visit last week. They had been on a photo shoot in Colorado. Tom took some fabulous photos of 2 bull elk fighting- really something to see. Check out his African Photo Safari and other photography tours at his Wildlife Photo Tour website. Tom will be teaching a wildlife photography workshop here next spring – haven’t set the dates yet – and it will be great! We have the Texas Longhorns, wildlife, horses, and scenery to use as subjects. Check out Tom’s picture standing in a herd of Longhorns. Thank goodness the cattle are gentle – could get really ugly otherwise.
Tom and Gail will be up next week too. We had to order a hot water heater, and Tom will haul it up. The ranch is remote enough that FedEx won’t deliver and UPS only runs once a week at tops. Plus Tom is bringing the materials up to build a bird/bat pond, splash area next to the tents. The bath along with plants and year-round bird feeders will attract a variety of birds. We have 127 species on our bird list now. Bob Luce will be conducting a birding tour here next April. I expect to add several more birds to the list then.
Wilma
 Ringtail Cat in Live Trap Another busy day at the Double Circle. Doug is building wildlife ramps to go on our water troughs. These allow critters to climb out when they get into the water. Unfortunately, we have an old trough without a ramp way out in a pasture. When I rode by it yesterday, there were three dead ringtail cats in it. Doug is carrying a ramp out to install today. I hate to see any wild animal suffer because of an oversight on our part. As part of our sustainable ranching practices, we develop and protect habitat for the native wildlife. This ranch has several Threatened and Endangered Species and listed Species of Concern. We do all we can to promote healthy wildlife populations. It must be working too – Grant said there were 9 bucks harvested off the USFS part of this ranch during the youth hunt last week. Elk season is coming up – I’ll let you know how that hunt does. We don’t hunt ourselves, but hunting is both a tradition and an important tool for controlling wildlife populations. Hunters— PLEASE close gates and leave no trace. Most of you do.
Wilma
Here is the newest member of our Texas Longhorn herd. This is Cochise  Cochise the Texas Longhorn .
He came from some of our old breeding stock that we sold to friends of ours. We switched to all steers instead of cow/calf pairs because of all the predators. With lion, wolves, coyotes, and bears all here, a new calf has a good chance of not surviving. In keeping with our conservation goals, we opted to change our herd rather than try and eliminate the predators who live on Double Circle Ranch.
Cochise was delivered and put in the pens at our barn – and he got pretty aggressive. You couldn’t walk into the pens without the danger of being charged. Grant and I cut 2 gentle steers out of the herd and drove them about 5 miles on horseback back to the barn to keep Cochise company. It worked, he gentled right down. The steer had never been alone and was just scared.
We do cull any steers that are mean. We do team building exercises and cattle drives where guests gather and move the steers- cannot have a chargey steer – especially one with horns! Besides, I am out riding until dark usually 5-6 days a week. No one would miss me until after sunset and then it would be too dark to find me till daybreak. No mean animals here—steers, dogs, horses, or husbands.
Cochise is available in our Sponsor-a-Steer program.
Our Cattle Herding Dog - Belle Starr Here is our new puppy – before and after getting run over by eight horses! This is Belle Starr the Outlaw (very appropriate name) – Belle for short. She is a tri-colored border collie and joins our other cowdogs Katie – a border collie/McNabb cross from Holders ranch, and Copper – a red border collie we picked up at the pound just before being put down. Unfortunately, they had already euthanized 8 of Copper’s pups.
Belle is quite the character – smart as a whip and totally fearless (hence run over by horses). The only thing that has ever scared her is our Momma barn cat. The cat – Spud – had new kittens and attacked Belle in the barnyard. She chased Belle and actually rolled her over several times until Doug hit Spud with a rock and rescued the pup. Belle got to chasing horses and got tromped on by eight head. She was lucky to survive with only a broken leg. Fortunately horse trainer Grant Mitchell works here and is quite good at patching up man and beast. He cast her up and she runs on 3 legs just fine. We have used Grant’s wilderness first aid training on horses, Texas Longhorns, Belle and me (dislocated shoulder and cracked scapula). It saved a 5 hour trip to town and a vet/doctor bill.
 Belle Starr the Outlaw Herding Dog with Cast We have high hopes that Belle will make a good herding dog. We herd our cattle daily as part of our conservation and sustainable ranching practices. With pastures ranging from 500 to 6,000 acres, a good dog is a valued partner. Now if she would just settle down enough to listen to training!
Wilma
 Graham County Historical Society History buffs – Graham County has chosen Double Circle Ranch for their annual fieldtrip. They will be carpooling up from Safford, AZ, bringing a picnic lunch, and having a lecture and stories about the Double Circle in its glory days on October 24th. So – join the Graham County Historical Society and come up to Eagle Creek for a real treat. Hal Herbert- county historian- will be telling tales of this historic piece of the American West. Outlaws, renegade Indians, massacres, cattle rustling, fearless lawmen – it all happened right here. Trip is free for GCHS members – bring your own lunch. Come eat under the big cottonwoods where Geronimo fled the San Carlos reservation, look over range where George Stevens built up his herds of over 30,000 cattle, and read the headstones of rustlers and cowboys on Double Circle Ranch. Better yet – stay over with us. Doug and I have 4 wall tents with cots and baths for rent. There is an awful lot of fascinating things to do and see here – book a tent and stay and visit with us. You won’t be disappointed! Gotta go move cattle.
An extended weekend birding workshop with internationally acclaimed birder Robert Luce. Join us to explore the over 135 bird species already documented here at the ranch, and help us add some new ones!
Start Date: 2009-08-27
End Date: 2009-08-30
The Double Circle Ranch is an off-grid sustainable working cattle and horse ranch in southeastern Arizona. We are known internationally for providing custom eco-vacations designed around your personal interests and goals, exceptional riding experiences, and top-of-the-line horse training.
You may choose to enjoy the wildlife and scenery from the back of a good ranch horse, join in the daily cattle work with our Texas Longhorn steers, fish a mountain creek, explore the ancient Indian ruins…it’s up to you. If it’s a learning vacation you’re after, we’re sure to have something of interest for just about everyone, with programs ranging from wilderness tracking and backcountry medicine to Apache lore and low-stress cattle handling. At the Double Circle Ranch, your choices are many, and rest assured, your experience will be unique!
A typical ranch vacation at the Double Circles will find you immersed in hands-on training your first day here, learning the skills you will need in the field. Map and compass reading, basic wilderness first aid, horsemanship techniques, cattle herding, the works! If you are looking for a place where you can really experience life on the range as it was a good century or more ago, surrounded by Texas Longhorn steers and horses, the Double Circle Ranch is where you want to be. We’ll teach you what you need to know first, and then off you’ll go on one of our horses.
Come experience the Double Circles for yourself! Experience a piece of the great American West, and take home memories and new skills that will last a lifetime.
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