Beaver Creek Guest Ranch - Horse Training Clinics

Guests can hike or bike in any direction from Beaver Creek. The scenery is spectacular and the wildflowers abundant. You'll likely see deer, elk, bighorn sheep, wild turkey, coyote, eagles, osprey and many other species of wildlife. The White Mountains are a fisherman's paradise with over 680 miles of water ways and 34 sparkling cold water lakes rippled by a variety of trout, bass, and other fish. Nearby Lee Valley Reservoir boasts the Arctic Grayling trout, introduced in 1940 from Alaska, and known for their fighting spirit. The area streams carry the native Apache trout, found nowhere else in the world. "Tassel-eared squirrels, poker-faced but exuding emotion with voice and tail, tell you insistently what you already know: that never has there been so rare a day, or so rich a solitude to spend it in" (Aldo Leopold). Each week a wildlife specialist, with the Mexican Gray Wolf reintroduction program, gives an informative and interesting presentation.

Our indoor heated pool keeps the UV rays in check. You'll also enjoy our sauna, jacuzzi, workout room and massage therapist. Kids and adults love playing in Beaver Creek, fishing for crawdads or just exploring, as it meanders through the valley.

Bird Watchers Field Week August 21 - 29 2010

MAJOR AUDUBON BIRDING EVENT! COME COOL OFF YOUR FEATHERS!

Beaver Creek Guest Ranch, south of Alpine Arizona, working with the White Mountain Audubon Society is hosting a BIRD WATCHERS FIELD WEEK for members of the Audubon Society, August 21st to 29th of this year. Card holding Audubon members can stay at the ranch with a fifty percent discount ($50 per person per night-discount rate) including meals. Participate in activities and presentations about Owls and Hawks, Raptors, the Mexican Grey Wolf reintroduction, Humming Bird banding, film showing of Lords of Nature, beginning and advanced bird watching and much more, all presented by world class wildlife professionals. Local area field trips include forest/creek hikes, a cookout on the Blue River and Wildcat Canyon Bird Watch for starters. Late August is when the mountain is at it's best. Lush colorful foliage and an abundance of wildlife and birds. The last half of the summer is the best time for meteor showers as well. You can use the regular ranch reservation form and write in the discounted rate. The deposit is $25 per person for each night of reserved stay. We'll be putting some more details on and an actual itinerary shortly. Please email us with any questions you might have.

• Pick up trail maps at lodge for local bird watching walks and hikes of various lengths and types of terrain.
• HUMMING BIRD BANDING NOTE: The best time to see banding is from 6:15 to 7:15. Lasts for four hours, but after the first hour there is less chance to see Humming Birds banded.
• $50 per night per person, meals, bag lunches for hikers included. All events and presentations, pool, Jacuzzi, Sauna included.
• Horse back riding is available for $30 per two hours.
• Meals at ranch with guests: Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner $6, $8, and $10 respectively. Bag lunch for hikers $8. NOTIFY kitchen of plans to attend or need for bag lunch by the meal time before.
• RV accommodations within a half mile of the ranch $15 per day includes septic hook up, no water (available at ranch), no electric.
• MAPS –Available at the lodge - RV Parking Area, Local Bird Walks, Alpine Area, Ranch General Area.

SPEAKER/PRESENTERS

Chris Bangnoli – Interagency Program Field Team Leader, Mexican Gray Wolf Reintroduction Program Arizona Game & Fish Department.

Mary Ellen Bittorf – President, White Mountain Audubon since 1995; Member Audubon Arizona Council Board; Co-Founder and Board member of the White Mountain Nature Center; President of the Pinetop Lions Club; Participant in Community Service for 40 years including the Incorporation of Pinetop-Lakeside.

Miles Gilbert – Author and cultural resources specialist (a non-excavating archaeologist) with the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service. He has been an active bird watcher since 1968. Publications include Mammalian Osteology, Avian Osteology, Getting a Stand (an anthology of buffalo hunter autobiographies), and The Encyclopedia of Buffalo Hunters and Skinners, an article in 2009 on John James Audubon, Naturalist and Hunter along with 50+ articles in refereed journals in anthropology.

Dan Groebner – Pinetop Region Non-game Specialist for Arizona Game and Fish Department since 1996; faculty member, Northland Pioneer College. Participated in pioneering and major wolf studies and programs since the 80’s, worked under Aldo Leopold’s only female graduate student, Dr. Fran Hamerstrom, and Dr. L. David Mech on wolves in northern Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan. Produces a wide range of presentations on technology and wildlife.

Harold Hester – Director of Birdlife Botswana, a BirdLife International Partner Designate. Birdlife International is a global conservation federation with a worldwide network of over 100 partner organizations that includes the National Audubon Society. BirdLife International Partnership forms the leading authority in the world on the status of birds, their habitats and the issues and problems affecting bird life.

Don Hoffman – Retired Wild Life Ranger

Brenda Jensen – Conservation Education Coordinator and Certified Interpretive Guide with Apache Sitgreaves National Forest, Alpine Ranger District.

Shawna Nelson – Wildlife Biologist, Environmental Educator, has worked with the Dept. of Energy, Arizona Game and Fish, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, and The Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, and has trained numerous type of raptors.

Lloyd Pentecost – Photographer, for the White Mountain Nature Center, Member of the Board, White Mountain Audubon Society

Linda White Trifaro – Wildlife Biologist on the Alpine Ranger District since 1998, working wildlife surveys that include Mexican spotted owl, Northern goshawk and Southwestern willow flycatcher. Since 2006, she and her husband, Dr. Mitchel White, the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest Ecologist, have been banding hummingbirds in Alpine, AZ as part of the international Hummingbird Monitoring Network (HMN). They trained under Dr. Susan Wethington, Master Bander, who is the Executive Director for the HMN and Coordinator for the Western Hummingbird Partnership.

Questions, answers, details, assistance, volunteers, moral support, call Lloyd at 928-242-9212 emediaoyd@mac.com

Please write or email us to make a reservation