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 Where Do the People in Charge of Your Vacation Go on Their Vacation? I haven’t written any blogs in 6 weeks – for a good reason. Doug and I finally took a much-needed VACATION! We loaded up the RV and have been visiting friends and family in Ohio, Tennessee, and Florida. We had a great time. Plus we picked Doug’s youngest nephew up in Florida. He will be helping finish some waterlines and fencing projects here at the Double Circle.
When you have dogs, horses, cattle, and barn cats, it is hard to take a break away from the ranch. With Bill and Amy here, we could relax and do a little traveling. They took good care of the critters and ranch while we were gone.
Vacations are nice and we certainly deserved one. But I tell you what – it sure was good to cross the cattle guard and be back at the Double Circle! Home again.
 Merry Xmas and Happy New Year!
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our friends out in internet land. Hope you have a great holiday—whether it be Hanukah, Kwanza, or just winter solstice. For us it is Christmas- a special day to be grateful for all of God’s gifts.
Hope the season finds all of you in good health and good spirit!
MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR
Double Circle Ranch
 Ranch Scenery Clouds Around Mountain Craig Sponholtz has had to change the dates for our April 2012 erosion control workshop. It will be April 20, 21, and 22 this spring. Everything else is the same – great erosion control instruction, good conservation work, free (including the food and camping), beautiful worksite, fun people – AND it will be on Earth Day. Now that’s a good way to celebrate Earth Day!
 Tom Whetten Gets Close-Up with the Longhorns Tom Whetten is coming back to Double Circle Ranch April 17th – 20th for another one of his excellent Ranch Photography Workshops. He is an excellent instructor and a world-renowned photographer. Plus he is lots of fun. So – if you are interested in learning new techniques to get the most out of your camera, come join us this spring. You won’t be disappointed.
Tom travels worldwide doing photography tours. One of his favorite tours is African Photo Safari trips. We feel kind of special that Tom considers Double Circle Ranch as a good place for his workshops. Of course there IS a lot to take pictures of at this ranch. We have beautiful scenery and diverse wildlife. But what really sets us apart is that we also have a crusty old chuckwagon cook with a pair of mules pulling an authentic chuckwagon, cowboys, and lots of big-horned Texas Longhorn steers. You can take photos here that look like they were from the 1860’s. Plus you get quality one-on-one instruction on all kinds of camera use. Personally, I can barely use the pocket digital camera we have. So I will stick to bringing the steers in to be used as models – that I can do.
Check out further details and sign up on our Nature and Ranch Photography Workshop program page and Tom’s website WildlifePhotoTour.com for more info.
 Throwin a Cattle Drive Together If you ever wanted to drive Texas Longhorns across open country, listen up. We have set our 2012 cattle drive dates. Our Spring cattle drive will be April 30th to May 5th. The cattle will be moved to a pasture with good spring annuals that need to be utilized the first part of May. The last day is a pretty good mountain climb while the earlier days are easier country. Keep in mind that easier doesn’t have anything to do with easy as in flat, arena riding! The nights of the 30th and 4th will be spent in our walltents at headquarters and the middle three days are spent on the trail, sleeping out at night, and eating at the chuckwagon. This is a real western experience- not a pampered trip. Hope for good weather cause we ride rain or shine.
Fall cattle drive is set for September 15th-20th. It is different country – more on the north sections of the ranch, but the setup is the same. Bill will be driving the chuckwagon and doing his good dutch oven cooking. We will be at headquarters the first and last night and on the trail the middle three nights. September is usually good weather – but we go regardless.
Both cattle drives are limited to 6 guests maximum. Riding experience is helpful since we will be driving 225 Texas Longhorns in a variety of country. But you can always hitch a ride on the chuckwagon if you get too saddle sore. The buckboard is probably harder than a saddle though. Either way – horse or mule pulled wagon – the cattle drive is a piece of the Old West. Check it out on our 5-Day Cattle Drive program page.
 Riding Fence in the Tall Pines We have a new ranch hand intern. Aerin is here from sunny California to learn a little about ranching and check out a different lifestyle. He is still on the vertical learning curve. One thing he learned very quickly is that horseback riding lessons in an arena are not the same as riding in wide open and frequently ROUGH country. And to be honest, we did kind of throw him right into hard things. Aerin has been riding to high, backcountry fences clearing trails to get pack mules through. That involves crossing some really steep canyons and dodging a lot of low branches in route. Plus our cattle are in a pretty rough pasture now and have to be moved across an extremely steep canyon to fresh feed every day because the dirt tank is dry on the best feed area and the only water source is south of the good grass.
Where Aerin is riding is country that our guests never see up close and personal – unless they are experienced riders and have a true sense of adventure. We have plenty of easier country for the bulk of our guests to ride. But the cattle are in rough country and going to be moved to even rougher country in a week or so. Fences and water have to be checked before the longhorns change pastures. In fact Aerin is out with Bill today – checking fence and water. Hopefully they’ll be back by supper.
Once the cattle are in their winter pasture, we have 4 miles of fencing to pack in on mules and drop off along our southern boundary fence. That involves riding and leading a pack animal or two every day until done. The trip out is a loaded pack trip too because the old wire and T-posts get hauled out and taken in for recycling. Aerin will be a packing expert before that job is done. Fortunately our cowboy Bill is already an experienced packer and can teach Aerin as he works.
Aerin has had the “luck” to draw some other hard jobs. Yesterday he and Bill got to wade a frosty creek to fix a water-gap. Plus now is the time for getting in firewood. Aerin is having plenty of chainsaw and ax time. Aerin will get plenty of practice at rolling up old wire, patching fences, cleaning tack, knocking mud off horses, and helping Bill or Doug shoe. Plus we picked up a load of hay. 76 – 120-lb. bales to hand load and unload is a big task. Never a dull moment at the Double Circle.
Through it all Aerin has been a champ. He has never complained – even after getting dusted off his horse in a canyon. He is right there when Doug needs a hand with pipelines or a vehicle. He always has his horses fed early and ready to go. He even helps me cook – a rare thing on this ranch. And – Aerin is the only intern we have had who researched and read about low-stress herding and ranching before he came. He is doing well and on his way to making a hand.
 Aerin Fusing Range Pipe in the Backcountry
 Wilma and Don Edwards at Tombstone Cowboy Music Festival Doug and I took a two day break and went to the Cowboy Music Festival in Tombstone. What great music! The weather didn’t cooperate but the show went on regardless of wind gusts and cold temperatures. All day Saturday and Sunday had performers on outside stages all around town, and they were all first-rate musicians. Friday and Saturday evenings featured Don Edwards as the main performer. He sure does put on a good concert – we went to both nights.
Cowboy music is like poetry in song. It tells stories of cattle, horses, wrecks, adventures, and life in the saddle. Cowboy music tells of the old days and the present times, hard work and rollicking play, stormy days and clear starry nights, and of joy and heartache. You can’t get better music. You sure don’t get the same feel from pop or rap music!
Plus Doug and I got to visit with Don Edwards and his wife Kathy. They are just great, down-to-earth folks working to preserve in song a way of life intrinsic to the American West. Don is allowing us use some of his songs on our soon-to-be done (subject to moving cattle, fixing fence, packing supplies, etc.) photo gallery on our website. Check it out when we have it done – one of the songs Don performs is about the Double Circle Ranch. Naturally that song will be the one playing on the website. You can hear more of his music and his great guitar picking skills on his website www.DonEdwardsMusic.com.
If you like cowboy music, keep your eye out for Tombstone’s next festival. Doug and I will be there for sure. You can’t get better music!
 Tombstone Taxis - Wild West Wagons  Live Cowboy music in downtown Tombstone
 Erosion Control Workshop Group Photo October 2011 October’s erosion control workshop was a big success – again. It is amazing how much 30 sets of hands can accomplish with a good instructor’s guidance. This time we repaired a breached dirt tank by constructing multiple Zuni bowls separated by rock laydowns. Plus we worked on the gullies formed by the breached tank and also on gullies in side drainages. Craig Sponholtz of Dryland Solutions, Inc. did a teaching tour of earlier erosion structures built on Double Circle Ranch and explained the hows and whys to new folks while the old hands were working on the new structures. Now we need the dirt tank to fill with rainwater so we can see how well everything works.
So – thanks to all our volunteers both old and new, good friends who worked so hard all weekend. A special thanks goes to our cowboy Bill Emrick for keeping the Dutch ovens going and everyone fed from the chuckwagon. And last but certainly not least THANKS to Arizona Water Protection Fund Commission for funding this project on Double Circle Ranch. The benefits to water quality will show here and everywhere else that our volunteers take their new erosion control skills.
By the way, contact us if you want to attend one of the free erosion control workshops. Next one is in April 2012. Maybe we will see you then!
 Erosion Control Structure in the Making
 Cowboy Bill on Drivin' His Chuckwagon Double Circle Ranch now has a real, honest to goodness chuckwagon – brought here by Bill Emrick. Everything on it is authentic – from the Arbuckle coffee crates to the wheel tables. Bill cooks a pretty good fare out of this chuckwagon too – sourdough pancakes, vinegar pie, shut-up-and-eat-it stew, real cowboy coffee, and more.
Watching Bill drive the mules- Kate and Kit – and setting up the chuckwagon is like a page from the past. It fits right in with Double Circle Ranch and Eagle Creek where things are pretty much like they were 100 years ago. We still have no electric or phones, no daily mail delivery, no garbage collection. Plus no traffic jams (other than deer season), no crime, no houses within sight of each other, no noise pollution, no light pollution, or modern distractions.
What we do have is wide open space, unlimited vistas, Texas longhorn cattle, abundant and varied wildlife, good water, clean air, a few good neighbors that can be counted on and are spaced out by miles not city blocks, and good horses for transportation and cow work. A pretty darn good way of life by our standards!
 Cowboy Bill Emrick Rides By Double Circle Ranch is pleased to welcome Bill Emrick and his family to the ranch. Bill and his wife Amy, and kids Josie and Seth will be an important part of the ranch from now on. In Bill we have a good working cowboy, a farrier, a cowboy poet, a teamster, a dutch oven cook, a horse trainer, a western history buff and reenactment person, and a teacher who loves to share his knowledge. Combine all this with good morals and ethics, a sense of direction in the wilderness, and a large dose of common sense and you have what Doug and I need to help run the Double Circle.
So – welcome to the Emrick household! Sure hope you take to the Double Circle and stick around for years to come- no culls in this family.
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