La Vereda – The ghosts of Joaquin’s vaqueros, watching the trail from the ridge along Camino del Diablo. Starting in September, on the 15th of each month, the horse runs left Point of Timber, and Marsh’s ranch a day or two later. If they had a hundred head they would be fat. At each Estacion, approximately every thirty miles, they’d pick up more herd. These were Joaquin’s vaqueros, his ‘gang’, many, from birth, who knew the trade, the trails and the profits from running horses. But most of all, one must consider that they loved what they did. They loved horses, and the moonlight and the fireflies, and dancing with the senoritas. We’re headed for Mocho Valley, south of Livermore, where La Vereda crosses the San Antonio Valley. Mocho, the cuttoff one, was crew chief of two prominent Stations at this northern leg of the trail. I’ll post a map soon enough to mark them, but for now, the light is fading and I’ll be lucky to make it over Vasco Road before sundown.

One of the more amazing modern experiences, like riding through a sound tunnel over Vasco Road, its eighty five miles per hour of non-stop woosh, even on a Saturday, cars flying by, no place to pull over, giant windmills on the slopes. I vow to return at a future date, but I make it as far as the city limits, passing the Vasco Caves, outcrops just to the west, a known outlaw hangout, and Brushy Peak, to the east, both landmark on the trail. From Brushy Peak you can see for miles, and smoke signals were used to let the Stations further up the pass know when the drove had made it that far. I’m not going to climb that peak on this trip, but I do some recon, and would love to return to photograph the windmills, they are surreal. I pull into the Vasco Watershed reserve and the gate is closed for the night. A few minutes later a Sheriff pulls up and waits. He looks like he wants to go home. I’m ready to call it in as well. We’ll pick up the trail in the morning, following Mocho Creek. up Mines Rd, and to the next Estacion on the trail – La Vereda del Monte.