Yearly Archives: 2021

Hill Top Sunday Morning

Pony Pie on a hill (Caldwell County, NC / western NC)

Sunday greetings from high above the Shoe Box Canyon. Yesterday, my wife Julia and I rode to the top of the mountain behind our cabin. I thought you’d enjoy some photos of the ride.

Julia rode her pony Pie. I rode my mule Cracker. From the clearing high above the cabin, we just looked out over the Brushy Mountains to our South. We listened to the “chimp pang” call… Continue reading

Wagon Riding in the Sandhills of North Carolina

How many different ways can you combine horses, mules, donkeys, wagons and carts? Last weekend, I attended the wedding of my friends Kenny and Myla Tyndal in the Sandhills of North Carolina. Talk about a whole lotta pine trees, crazy knots and ways to fix a wagon with a beer can.

The wedding wagon train. Those are Kenny’s mules Thelma (L) and Louise (R). Somehow I ended up driving his wagon while he and his new wife Myla and the… Continue reading

Springing Toward Summer

Saddles on our porch: I rode the one on the left from Atlantic to Pacific oceans and the one on the right from here in western North Carolina to Idaho

Happy Easter Sunday to you. The leaves are darkening up, the mules are getting shiny and Snookie is panting in the dirt under the back porch. My wife Julia just posted a beautiful essay on spring moving ahead toward summer here up the Shoebox Canyon. Read the full story, with… Continue reading

Weekend Plans

Want to attend a Dog Hair Cutting Festival with my wife Julia and me this weekend? How about a Mule Ride. You might get a good one. You may not. Fun like Russian roulette!

Hey, how about a ride on a humpbacked mule. Nice! (Skye Pincock Evans photo)

You can tell Julia and I have a little too much time on our hands this weekend. She wrote an invitation to our neighbor P to join us for any or none… Continue reading

Steve Edwards of Queen Valley Mule Ranch and I Talk Mule Rambling, Saddles and Hoof Boots

Steve Edwards and I talk mules saddles, hoof boots and forage on the hoof (Click on the photo to stream the video).

Had a great online chat today with Steve Edwards about some of my long distance rides. Steve is the owner of Queen Valley Mule Ranch. In addition to be being a great saddle maker (I used one of his saddles on my latest mule voyage) he sure knows his mule. A few of the topics we… Continue reading

Sign up for the Newsletter

Out there on the road. A scene from the upcoming book “Two Mules to Triumph”. (Sue Wadell photo)

Just sign up below, and I’ll let you know when the new “Two Mules to Triumph” book comes out. No, the mules and I won’t sell your info, and I won’t pester you with a bunch of emails. I’m too busy editing!


 


Trouble signing up? No biggie. Just leave me a note where it says Leave a Reply… Continue reading

What Mule Cracker Taught me at Leatherwood Mule Days

You can ride a mule 2,300 miles through America and still bomb the trail class.

Imperfection Exhibit #1: mules Polly, Brick and Cracker with me at Leatherwood Mule Days. I dressed up hoping to win the Best Dressed Man award. I didn’t win but got to be the parade Grand Marshal instead.

This weekend, my wife Julia and I attended Leatherwood Mule Days in Ferguson, North Carolina, about half an hour from our farm. It was a reminder of how… Continue reading

Wall Tent Mule Ramble Weekend

Julia riding up Mount Zion Road (western outside Ferguson, North Carolina)

Howdy Monday. We had stormy weather here at headquarters last week. Our wall tent got flooded and so did our lower pasture. A shallow ditch in front of the wall tent should keep things dry up the road and the sun will do the rest. Still, we’re having some beautiful weather. Days have been in the mid-seventies and lows have dipped into the upper thirties. We got a frost… Continue reading

Buck and Smile

Buck. And. Smile! (Leatherwood / Ferguson, NC) (photo by Skye Pincock Evans)

Sometimes, life throws a little buck your way. The best reaction is to stay balanced and grin. The photo above is of Brick sneaking in a little heels-up action at last week’s Ty Evan’s clinic at Leatherwood in Ferguson, NC. She did great and we learned a lot. I guess she’s recovered from her 2,300 mile walk from our farm in western North Carolina to Idaho.

Great big… Continue reading

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