The past Saturday, October 2, the fourth annual Mt. Taylor Vintage Bronco Round-up was held, starting at The Fire and Ice Park on Santa Fe Avenue in Grants. N.M., again sponsored by Roger and Evelyn Siegmann. Here, enthusiasts of some of the near half-century old Ford fourwheel drive sport vehicles would start the yearly trek over the majestic Mount Taylor seen waiting in the background dressed in a new white blanket of snow. The previous 2 days of rain and a couple of inches of fresh snow along with unplanned last minute scheduled changes and vehicle hiccups reduced the entourage to two families, appropriately dressed for the cool weather that may be encountered.
A nice new surprise was added this year to promote and kick off the tour by Grants/Cibola Chamber of Commerce, as their associate Megan Montoya was on hand to present a gift card from the Chamber for yummy Pizza-9 food, awarded for her "Chamber’s Choice” of the vintage iron steeds. From there, Megan helped with picture taking at the Neon drive-thru before sending the aged cayuses “down the trail”. After a small wait to see if any late strays would wander in, we decided to mosey along.
We trotted on to the Village of Milan City Hall for group pictures with the “Carrot Harvest” [now Rockin’ 66 Express] in the background and we discussed the history of the harvest as I recalled it in the 60’s. We then re-saddled and spurred the ponies toward the village of San Mateo where we noticed a Continental Divide Electric Co-op Red Bolt tent in the San Mateo Fire Department parking lot. We stopped there and were greeted by CDEC Board Member Lloyd Ortega and his brother Charles who is the San Mateo Volunteer Fire Department Fire Chief. We worked together in mining years ago. We discussed the Bronco Round-up and took pictures, before heading through the beautiful village that was adorned in the start of fall colors.
We drove to near the entrance gate of the Mt. Taylor Mine and assembled for pictures with the mine’s headframe in the background. We talked about past mining experiences and miners of past that worked here some thousands of feet below the surface mining uranium. The sun was in mid-sky and warmed us as we thought of those people.
We now reigned in the steeds and headed towards the top from the backside where we encountered super deep ruts washed into the road near Spudpatch, causing the need for occasional use of low gears and four-wheel drive to keep “all fours on the ground”. We encountered snow patches as we approached the La Mosca Peak. The roads were mostly melted, or wind-blown clear with occasional drifts about 4” deep in shaded areas. At the summit we paused to view the distant mountains and watched towards the Sandia Mountains for balloons aloft at the Albuquerque International Balloon Festival but saw none.
Games normally played during the day were minimal due to limited players. The saddle bags of goodies are on hand for next year’s round-up including prizes from our local O’Reilly Auto Parts, Gurley Ford in Gallup, N.M., Toms Off Road in Medford Oregon, and a new supporter, Papa Cotton’s Diecast and Collectibles. Lunches were enjoyed in La Mosca Canyon, where the annual Mt. Taylor Winter Quadrathlon run-ski transition is located. There we talked of plans for next year’s vintage Bronco round-up.
The afternoon sun was warming us as we enjoyed the slow mosey down the trail towards the home corral while viewing the beauty of the fall color changes of the trees; the reds and bright yellows and light greens were awesome.
Yee- ha! Giddy –up, Giddy –up!