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 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.
Spring is almost here – and that means it is time for another wonderful Ranch Photography Workshop with Tom Whetten. Tom brings years of experience in photography of all types and years of instruction experience, which adds up to a winning combination. He can teach you how to get the most out of your camera gear, set up for difficult wildlife shots, and edit your pictures.
And at the Double Circle Ranch there are always plenty of photo subjects. We have wildlife and beautiful scenery plus big-horned, colorful Texas Longhorn steers, horses, mules, working cowboys, and an authentic chuckwagon. Practice your photography skills and learn new techniques – and have a ball doing it here at Double Circle Ranch. Sign up now for the April 17-20 Tom Whetten Ranch Photography Workshop. You’ll be glad you did.
2012 Ranch Photo Workshop Flyer
[product name=”Nature and Ranch Photography Workshop”]
 Derek Welds Pack Saddle Racks This winter is fairly warm and pretty well snow free here at the Double Circle. SO – it is time to build more fences. Our next funded project is about 4 miles of rebuild along our southern border with Tule Ranch. There is no road access to any part of the fence. Normally the horse trail would be snow covered, but now there is some green showing already. Early spring it looks like.
We have Ronson coming back from the San Carlos Apache reservation to our west to do the fence work. No one builds a better fence than our Apache neighbors. Wild Bill will be packing posts and wire in and packing the old wire out- quite a job. Doug and Derek built custom racks for our Decker pack saddles to haul all the materials. I expect the 2 mules, Kit and Kate, will be glad to get back to pulling the chuckwagon by the time all that material is moved. Fencing and packing are by far two of the hardest jobs on the ranch.
 Glamping at the Double Circle Ranch in Wall Tents We have signed Double Circle Ranch up on Glamping Hub. I never had heard of Glamping until I got a call from them wanting to list the ranch on GlampingHub.com.
I guess glamorous camping is the “in” thing now. It should bring us more ranch guests. Everyone who has come to Double Circle Ranch has had a ball. It is a real adventure here. We may not have the massages and spa treatments some of the glamping sites have, but we have the Real WEST complete with horses, longhorn cattle, wildlife, starry skies, and lots of room to explore or just relax. We offer a whole experience – not just a place to spend the night. Plus it doesn’t get much prettier than the Double Circle.
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