FRIDAY FUN AT MULE DAYS

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This was a full day at the Fairgrounds in Bishop watching and photographing mule activities. We were at the stalls by 0745 with Amy up at 0800 for English Drassage. Tina was to call out the commands while Amy rode in the ring. In case you are not familiar with Dressage, around the ring are various letters. The rider is to ride to a letter doing a specific gait and on the correct lead. For us not really into the finer points, we just watch and photograph and hope that the mule and rider do the right thing. Prior to that I was able to watch briefly the steer roping going on the main arena.

A great class was the Farm Class. There were about a dozen to 15 mule drawn farming tools shown and then there were explanations of the tools and their approximate ages. They all dated to the EARLY 20^th Century, with a few going back to the late 1800’s. Some of the people

had never fully demonstrated or knew how to adjust working parts but the Judge was quite knowledgeable and got them all working. There were mowers, seeders, as well as disc machines used for making furrows, and digging up the earth.

During the mid-day lull in activities, we walked down to Schat's Bakery to fill several orders from neighbors for loaves of bread. We also treated ourselves to one of their delicious chocolate croissant which we will eat tomorrow morning. Right across the street in the Municipal Park we wandered about at the craft fair. There are always wonderful things to look at, and perhaps buy. We did not succumb to the

temptations this year.

This is the end of our Mule Days adventures for this year. It was lots of fun and enjoyable time. The weather was most cooperative with the highs only into the mid-80’s. It was quite windy at times but it was bearable. 

Calf Roping >>>

Western Reining >>

Barrel Racing >>>

Farm Class>>>

Western Pleasure Class >>

Tina, Amy, and Support Staff >>>

 Driving Class >>

 

ROCK CREEK LAKE - Thursdsay 23 May

Things were slow this morning and then there would be an even quieter afternoon so we slept in a bit. Then we had breakfast at the Country Kitchen in Big Pine. It was a typical roadside cafe and we just had the two egg breakfast which did include hash browns and toast. Afterwards we talked with another guest at the Big Pine Motel who was in the area to photograph butterflies in the Owen Valley area. He had photographed a couple of butterflies that frequent this area, but also got photos of a butterfly that he believes has never  been seen in this area.

We drove up to Rock Creek Lake and parked at a hiking trail head. The wind was very strong so we opted to take a trail that would take us to Diane Lake and Kenneth Lake. We started at 9000 ft. and climbed to a little over 10K ft. It was good to get out and get a hike in. I did feel the altitude a bit at times. George did not seem to have any issues with the altitude which was a good sign in preparation for his hiking the North Kaibab Trail starting next month. After our hike we were going to have lunch at the Rock Creek Lake Store which is known for its pies, and Hungarian mushroom soup.. Regrettably we werea day early, so no lunch there. Lunch was at Tom's Place Cafe at the junction of the Rock Creek Road, and U.S. 395. We split a BLT and had plenty to eat. Tom's Place has been in existance since 1917.

The afternoon was spent relaxing in the shade of the cottonwoods by our tack room/stall.  The wind picked up in the afternoon and it remained comfortably cool until about 1830. That is when the sun began its decent behind the Sierras. As we were only wearing shorts we noticed the drop in temperature. We did bundle up with a jacket and vest while eating Indian Frybread Tacos. I was shivering as I ate. It was well worth it as the tacos were DDDelicious.

Wednesday, May 22

Today we were off early as Tina had a class at 0800. We arrived about 0745 to learn that she had "scratched" from the class because her mule, IMA, had
come up lame early in the morning. Hoping that it is only a transient situation, they passed on today's class and gave her treatment to reduce swelling, etc.
We did support Amy in her dressage class as well as her various hunter classes which are English jumping classes.

In the afternoon there were driving classes which I did not watch as I knew only slightly some of the competitors. These classes can be fun but a little does go a long way when sitting on metal bleachers in the full sunlight.

It was a pleasant day in Bishop though the wind picked up in the afternoon which made for times of blowing dust, etc. Temperature wise it was very pleasant
sitting in the shade of the cottonwood trees that are around the barn area.

Following are pictures of dressage riding classes and the jumping classes.

OFF TO BISHOP--

We were on the road by 0405 this morning. The reason for the EARLY hour was to be ahead of the morning commute traffic around Rte. 60 and I-10 in Riverside County. We succeeded and had a very easy drive up to Bishop. The route takes you North on I-15 to the junction with US 395. This highway takes you North along the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range. Usually there is quite a bit of snow on the peaks but this year there was very little. We really did not see any snow until we reached Lone Pine and there was scant snow around Mt. Whitney, the tallest mountain in California at 14,000+ft. The snow pack was about 40% below normal or average this year. California is already in a droit situation, and has had about two hundred more forest fires than normal for this time of year.

The day started out with some high cloudiness which persisted until mid-day. We did see a brilliant sundog which was quite brilliant as we were merging with Rte. 395. Regrettably there was no place to turn off for a photo op. A sundog occurs 22˚ from the sun and is a result of bending of the sun rays and the light passes through ice crystals. This one was quite brilliant but did not last long enough for us to get off the highway and photograph it.

This afternoon we watched mules in a couple of driving classes. One of our friends came away with a First, Third, and Fourth in three classes. Amy has a beautiful mule and they did very well. I will post pictures tomorrow.

We went to dinner at a very good Mexican Restaurant, Amigos, in Bishop. The special tonight was baby lobster enchiladas. They were delicious. We found this restaurant a few years back and usually go to dinner here a minimum of two times in the five or six days we are in town.

Off to bed. My daughter has a dressage class tomorrow at o 0800, and I am to be there to photograph the event. There will also be English jumping classes which are also fun to photograph.

BISHOP MULE DAYS 2013

What and Where??

Mule Days in Bishop, California is a week of activity with the MULE taking center stage. The mules are showcased in all Western Classes, as well as English Classes. Then there are the packing contests, driving contests, comedy classes, Americana classes, and rodeo classes (barrel racing, chariot racing, roping, etc.

This year will be the 44th meeting. I have been going for 15 years. I missed four due to travel, etc. I was introduced to it
when my daughter started competing with her mule in 1998. It is a fun family event though I am just the unofficial photographer for Tina and her friends.

Come along for the ride and enjoy the fun ---

(Theses are from 2009, to wet your appetite for some this year)