Monday, we made the transition from the Gate House at Bear Paw Ranch to Rio Lobo Cabin at Double E Ranch. Both have wifi, landline phones, kitchen, living room, bedroom, bathroom, cable TV and air conditioning. Gate House had a gas grill, Rio Lobo has a charcoal grill. But Rio Lobo is probably more than twice the square footage, has two air conditioning units, screen doors front and back (in addition to screens in windows) to allow cross breezes and a dishwasher. And there are numerous western ranch and cowboy artifacts in Rio Lobo.
Bear Paw Ranch is 3.5 miles from the center of Gila on paved road except for the last couple hundred yards when you turn off Turkey Creek Road (NM Route 153) into the ranch. It is in a wide, flat valley on one side of the Gila River. This screen print shows Bear Paw Ranch. There are some trees and shade around the two ponds; unless walking early in the day or late in the evening, it can be pretty hot. The Duck Pond is the lower of the two ponds. The Gila River is on the upper left corner. The paved road is on the right hand side of the map. The Gate House is just below and to the right of the words Maldonado Canyon.
Double E Ranch is 3.5 miles from the center of Gila, but except for the first hundred yards, it is all dirt road that climbs up and down and curves around. The ranch is on Bear Creek (a tributary of the Gila River) and it is a much narrower valley. Rio Lobo Cabin is the building with the brown roof, one building below the red Google Maps marker. There are many more buildings here in the center of the ranch and while this satellite view does not show it, to the right is where the Beaver Creek riparian area is and where there are many huge trees, especially the cottonwood trees.
This map shows the Double E Ranch from further out. You can see how the trees are along Bear Creek that runs top to bottom a little right of center. The start of the trail we hiked Thursday is at the bottom to the right of the word Google. The road that turns right at Agave Cabin then left towards the top is the start of where we hiked Friday along the riparian area on the creek.
On Thursday, we decided to hike the Double E trail that goes across Bear Creek (dry where we crossed, as the limited flow further upstream goes underground before it reaches the trail) and up the east side of the valley.
As we climbed up the hillside, we could look back down at the lush riparian area.
The higher we went, the more of the Bear Creek valley we could see. I zoomed in to see the Casitas de Gila on the adjacent ranch - they have five casitas (cabins) to rent plus an art gallery. Their nightly prices are two to three times the rate here at Double E Ranch.
The next two photos are looking back at Double E Ranch, with the second one zooming in on the main house where the owners live and Rio Lobo Cabin to the left - that large window is our kitchen window, from which we look out over the sink to the horses in the corral behind our cabin.
On Thursday, we hiked around Bear Creek - much flatter and more riparian than going up the hillside on Wednesday. You can see the hillsides in the distance.
We had seen huge cottonwood trees before and there are many here along Beaver Creek, but this one is the biggest I have ever seen.
Like most ranches and farms, the Double E Ranch has a surfeit of equipment. We saw many tractors, a bulldozer, ATVs and more. These two trucks had license plates from 1953.
And we saw a Jaguar with a Double E license plate.
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