Chip John's Ranch

Riding in the desert really isn't that much fun, but you just need to keep looking for interesting things to keep your mind off the heat. It is also difficult to take pictures while riding a horse so if I am ever able to get some pictures online you may see what I mean. Miles and miles of sand with sage, tumbleweed, yucca, greasewood and musceet with HUGE thorns - all dried up due to lack of rain since last summer. They only have 7 inches annual rainfall.

So, now we are riding toward Chip John's ranch, or rather, on his ranch. He owns 350,000 acres, or some crazy number of acres. He earned his fortune by selling beef to Arby's and Burger King. Now he owns one quarter of Dona Ana County, the largest county in New Mexico. We will be camping two nights on his ranch.

The life style of a New Mexican rancher is very different from the life any of us are familiar with. They often own thousands of acres because it takes 300 acres to feed one cow. If you own thousands of acres you do not run to town on a whim. Trips to town are planned. They live and work from home, many miles from town on miles of dusty, county roads that all look alike. Some of those roads are marked and some are not, but you must know landmarks to find your way around.

One day I was not riding because I had work to do for an upcoming dinner. They asked if I would drive a shuttle vehicle to pick up riders. I was happy to until I found out they meant I would also find my own way from the ranch into the maze of county roads to the waiting hot weary riders. They would still be waiting there today if they had relied on my navigating skills in that dry, sandy wilderness without a guide. Did I mention that it's dusty here?

I think Chip enjoyed the company and we appreciated his hospitality for our horses and ourselves.