Trail riders follow in the hoof steps of their ancestors

By Shine Salt

NAVAJO TIMES

NAVAJO MOUNTAIN—Nothing can stop trail riders from traveling a few days or minutes to Navajo Mountain, even if it means having little water or food, being rained on or having to travel on a cliff of a mountain with their horse.

“We weren’t prepared for this trail ride,” smiled 14-year-old Alexander Litsui, who rode from Oljato, Utah. “We didn’t have enough water so we had to drink from a stream down the canyon and we had to use our saddle blanket to cover ourselves when it rained Friday night.”

In a fitting tribute to their hardy ancestors, hundreds of Diné, coming from all directions, joined the trail ride to Navajo Mountain for the Pioneer Day on Saturday. Most of the riders rode on Indian Route 16 and others, like the Litsui family, came from the canyon areas.

Alexander and his 9-year-old brother, Shane Litsui, both came on the trip with their father and uncle. Shane said he wanted to join the ride to view how the scenery looked, to feel the experience and to simply enjoy the ride.

The family later ran into another group Saturday morning called, the Dusty Trail Riders, who were preparing to trail up Paiute Mesa. The group started their journey from Narrow Canyon Friday morning.

The mesa is what Jimmie Black simply describes as "rough" and horses need to be experienced.

The cliff, as the riders described it, is very steep, rocky, slippery and at times, you have to walk and lead your horse up the mesa.

“It’s not hard for me because that’s the way I was brought up,” said Black, who’s the trail rider’s leader and who started the trail ride from their location to the event. “Ever since I was small my mom and my dad would say, go get the horses and I would go out there with my sisters. Find the horses and race them home.”

Adrienne Ruby laughed and said, “Jim goes on those extreme trails back there. I want to try that one of these days.”

Ruby, who’s the owner of Rez Vet, traveled for four days from Hard Rock, Ariz. to the Pioneer day. She said during these trail rides, you tend to meet tons of people who later becomes your friend.

“This is one of my favorite rides,” Ruby said. “Part of it is the rough country we come across. The country up here is just awesome.”

Ruby and along with her Wagon Wrecker crew took the old wagon roads starting at Hard Rock. The crew then rode to Big Mountain where they met riders who guided them through the area. Later they came to Cactus Valley where they stayed the night with the Blackrock family, who later decided to join the caravan.

The team traveled to Black’s home where they retrieved the wagon and headed to Navajo Mountain.

“We try to take the really old, old wagon roads that are not maintained very well,” Ruby laughed as she steered the wagon. “It took us hours to go over Big Mountain because it had been washed out from the rain, but that’s why we have the axes and shovels tied to the wagon.”

One may think you can see everything from inside a vehicle, but on a horse, you can take in the wilderness and scenery, said Ron R. Little, who rode about 30 miles to the event.

“With the old wagon roads, you wonder how many people came on it and these are places you would never ever see from the road,” Ruby said. “Yet at one time these places were the main roads and now they’re places we can barely find.”

While on the trails, Little said it’s just you and your horse with no technologies.

“One thing about horse riding is it’s a stress relief,” Little said. “If you work everyday and you want to do something, put yourself in a saddle and you’ll feel a good relief.”

You will never miss a historic area, maybe a place where Navajos once lived, an old well or wild animals hiding in the trees. For Black, it can sometimes be a mountain lion or a bobcat.

“They’re very shy animals and they stay up in the mountains,” Little said. “Sometimes when a living being is alone, the animal tries to get it.”

How you’ll know when you’re in the wild is when you see sheep corrals about nine feet tall to keep the mountain lions from jumping in, Ruby said.

“These types of trail rides discipline you to face challenges,” Black said.

During one trail ride, Little laughed and recalled having a small amount of water, so the group had to drink from a green pond where donkeys had been bathing.

Black suggests training your horse for tough trail rides by riding them on hills and over rocks, but you should also train yourself.

“Our forefathers rode horses and in their footsteps, we’d like to put ourselves back in there,” Little said. “I saw half of the riders were more young people and it’s good to see. You know that they’ll be able to carry on the tradition.”