Winter Range, a little better

We got up to see snow on the surrounding hills.  It was a chilly morning in the high 30s, I think it was 38.  But it was not raining so it immediately became a better day!  Today we had the first wave schedule so we started shooting at 8 AM.  Got all four stages done without putting on a raincoat.  It sure looked like impending rain occasionally.  Mud everywhere but it was not deep mud nor was it the super sticky stuff that they have in some places and times out here.
After shooting I wandered around the vendors but so many of them were closed.  Only 1/3 had opened today.  Can't blame them, not many cowboys stayed around to shop.  Most of them got off the line and were cold/wet and went home.  Some actually stayed home.
I went out again in the afternoon and checked them out more carefully.  Didn't buy anything,
This evening was a dinner of some fine Mexican food.  Then the side match awards.  I am quite surprised to get 3rd place in Sr. Traditional Plainsman!  I figured my shoulder would slow me down enough to take me out of awards.  Instead I moved up from the 4th I got the last 2 years.

The overcast days are great for getting the fire & smoke pictures from black powder shooters

Carlene caught this cool shot of me

Winter Range lives up to it's name!

Main Match, day 1.
It was a cold rainy day, and then it thundered and and then it Hailed!  Big 1/2 inch chunks.  Lots of them, enough to cover the ground.  They tell me this is not the worst weather WR has had.  There has been 3" of snow, lots more rain, colder, but this may be the first hail.  It will be 70 and dry again next week.  Today topped out at 43 degrees.  Well, it is the Arizona desert and anything is possible.  As luck would have it we were shooting when the hail hit.  As it got worse I called a halt to our shooting and got everyone inside.  We did have the fine fortune to be at a stage with a permanent building, so we had good cover right where we were.  The match shut down for about a half hour while we waited for the storm to pass and get a good six miles away.  The shooter and Range Officer were getting hit pretty good for a while.  I told them they were taking return fire!
Tomorrow it is supposed to rain for a while in the morning then clear off slowly.  We shoot at 8 AM tomorrow.  The afternoon wave will have better weather than we do.  Oh well.  The rain is pelting the camper as I write this.

Carlene stayed warm and dry in the camper today.  She did get out to walk Cal and take a few pictures of camp after the storm. 

Carlene's photos:

Winter Range, side event day

Andy:
I shot 4 stages of Warm-Up event this morning, that's regular stages for practice more than for score; 4 stages of Plainsman event this afternoon, that's using cap & ball pistols and single shot rifles; and then did a Posse Marshall walk-through of all 12 main match stages before the shooter appreciation dinner.  Then back to the trailer to clean a couple well dirtied pistols in preparation for tomorrow.  Winter Range shoots the main match in 3 waves each day.  Mine is the middle wave tomorrow (11 AM) for the first day, early Friday and late on Saturday.  It will be nice to not have to rush first thing in the morning.   I've been getting up at 5 or 6 for 5 days now.
The forecast is for rain tomorrow.  So bad that they have announced an allowance for rubber boots or other alternate footwear for all categories.  Apparently this place gets to be an especially mucky type of clay mud when it gets wet.  We've seen that stuff a few times on various western trips. Oh joy.  Come 2500 miles to shoot in a cold rain.  I can do that all summer in New England.

Carlene:

Cal and I took a drive to North Mountain Visitor Center for another day of hiking while the good weather holds.  There were several trails to pick from. I selected a four mile hike to Shaw Butte which was rated moderate to difficult. It was steep in a couple places with some loose gravel, but quite doable. We passed many others, hiking, biking, and with their dogs. There was a hummingbird perched on the tip of a branch that I checked with my binoculars, and I tried to ID it with my Audubon App. It did not appear to be a ruby-throated hummingbird. It's throat appeared black. This looks like a great place for birders as there seemed to be numerous birds flitting around. 

Lookout Mountain - yesterday's hike

from the summit of Shaw Butte

from Shaw Butte

Callahan checking out some activity in the bushes

Shaw Butte

Andy's pictures:

Shirttail Bess 

The Warbirds flyover

Winter Range, Wild Bunch 2

Andy:
Second Day of the Wild Bunch event.  Once again I shot my 5th and last stage of the day clean.  This 2 handed shooting is not all it's cracked up to be.  But in reality I think it's a matter of holding my right arm up so much.  I can lift it empty easier than I used to, so it's not any worse.  But I look forward to tomorrow when I go back to using my left hand for pistol shooting.  Eager to see if that really makes the difference.

The stages are fun and just the right amount of challenge.  There have been very few procedurals (penalties for shooting in the wrong order) on our posse.  That's a great sign that they are not overly complicated. 

This afternoon I went wandering among the vendors.  Lots to look at but I didn't buy much.  At least not yet. 

It was a sunny but quite cool day.  The multiple layers were nice.  We may be a long way south but it's still February.  Supposed to be back in the 70s next week. 

Carlene:
Cal and I drove to the trailhead on Lookout Mountain and hiked a nice loop trail overlooking miles of inhabited landscape.  We spotted a Gambel's Quail as it crossed the trail behind us.  In the saddle between Lookout and a lower promontory, I spotted a Red-tailed Hawk. As it flew slightly lower in elevation than me, it tilted its body and the sun brought out the red tail feathers. Another nice day outside.

Carlene's photos:

Lookout Mountain Trail

view from Lookout Mountain Trail

saddle before the summit

Andy's photos:

Winter Range, Wild Bunch 1

Today opened overcast with occasional sprinkles.  I had heard rain overnight so this was an improvement over that.  By 8 AM when we had the safety meeting before the shoot I left my raincoat in the camper, confident that it would not rain.  Too much.  I brought an umbrella just in case.  It did drop a few raindrops on us just to prove it could.
Wild Bunch is an event based on the movie of the same name, set in Mexico in 1913 and involving guys masquerading as US military troops.  Some of us dress the part of US Military as a result.  It also uses a 1911 45 auto pistol and 1897 pump shotgun.So I normally shoot the 1911 one handed, but since I can't lift it high enough to see the sights I shot it 2 handed.  I have  not shot Wild Bunch 2 handed in many years, so it was interesting to adapt.  Since we shoot a more stout ammo in this game and a lot more of it I did find it a bit more stressing on the shoulder.  Not too much though, going to do it all over again tomorrow for the second half of the match.

At one time we could see and hear the wild donkeys on the hillside way out in front of us.  I just heard another one as I am writing this, in fact that donkey reminded me to comment on them.

Carlene went out ... somewhere and did something. My plan for today was to explore a 36 mile gravel road in the Hells Canyon Wilderness and hike for several miles.  I drove to Morristown, found my turn and had driven ten miles when I came to a road closed sign.  Okay, so I turned around and decided to come in from the other end near the Lake Pleasant Recreation Area and drive to the closed area.  I drove to the other end, but I didn't get far when I noticed a few cars parked along side the road.  I pulled over to ponder my next move.  As I sat there eating my lunch, I noticed vehicle after vehicle passing by,  covered in red mud.  Then a motorcyclist decided to go through. A few minutes later he was back.  I didn't have a mud bog in mind so I found a trail at Lake Pleasant where Callahan and I could hike.  Perhaps another time.

Near Morristown start of a scenic drive

more great scenery

hiking the  Cottonwood Trail

Exserted Indian Paintbrush