|
A click of a light-switch brought total toe-stubbing darkness to our bedroom. A quick look through the window revealed a bazillion stars—glistening and twinkling like diamonds mixed with chips of ice—in the clear mountain air of the Big Horns. The darkness seemed to enhance the silence surrounding our log cabin on the Klondike Ranch located on Crazy Woman Creek about 20 kilometers south of Buffalo, Wyoming, USA.
I snuggled down under the quilt and against the warmth of my wife and reveled in the quietness. In this 1920s cabin, we were far removed from our usual nightly sounds of street traffic, diesel-driven lorries on a nearby motorway, and noisy banging hydraulics of early rising trash collectors. We awoke, just as the sky to the east started to glow with light purple and then pink, to almost the same silence.
 |
| Turkey pic by Mike Gordon |
A tom turkey gobbled as he brought his hens off a cottonwood tree perch and some bigger animal—probably a mule deer—snorted from the brush near the creek.
“We’ll be late for breakfast if you don’t get a move on,” my wife admonished.
I turned from the window and the view of the craggy, snow-covered peaks of the Big Horn Mountains stretching 3,000 meters into the cirrus-streaked sky. We would have time to hike into and explore those mountains later.
Breakfast, in a common dining room, starts on the dot at seven. You fill your plate with eggs, bacon, and pancakes smothered in maple or blueberry syrup, grab a mug of steaming coffee or tea and settle in at the table to eat with the family and crew. This is a working 10,000 acre cattle ranch and the crew is headed out to feed and work the cattle and horses. You are invited to go along and help from the back of a horse (or maybe, a four-wheeler or pick-up truck depending on the chore) or you can choose to do your own thing on some other part of the ranch if you don’t want to be a cowboy at just that moment.
Outside of cowboying, popular choices include hiking and photography. Even more popular choices are hunting ( in season and with the proper permits) and fishing. Every working member of the ranch possesses an intimate knowledge of the lay of the land and the subtle movement of the animals so appropriate strategies can be worked out for the hunt. The same applies if you are after the native brown or rainbow trout. A guide will help you find the right place to exercise your rod and reel. Besides all the knowledge you get from working with a guide, there is one other advantage…the guide just might be the cook filling in as a part-time guide. Mike Gordon, a graduate of the Baltimore International Culinary Institute, fills the position of ranch cook and is an avid hunter and guide. Talk about the best of both worlds. He can take you to the game and then prepare a feast if you are successful.
John Tass, the ranch owner’s son and foreman, said it best, “Mike can make mud taste good.” No dissenting vote here.
But, if you want to be a cowboy and get lots of riding time in then Klondike Ranch from May to October is perfect for you. Contact Angie, John’s wife, at http://www.klondikeranch.com/ and she will help set up the perfect holiday and answer all your questions.
 |
| John Tass and Barbie |
The owner, Richard Tass, described a couple of riding opportunities, “ We partner with six other local ranches to move about 900 head of cattle up the mountain to our summer grazing on June 25th of each year and then bring them back off the mountain on September 25th. It’s a three day trip one way.” The mountain Richard is talking about is the Big Horn Mountain Range and the summer graze is a 16 kilometer by 16 kilometer block of Forest Service land right smack dab on top of it.
On these cattle drives, just like in the movies, your evening meal will be eaten around the campfire. When it is time to turn in for the night, you have the choice of sleeping under the stars or in a 12-bed mobile bunkhouse. However, if your visit to the Klondike does not coincide with the cattle drives, take heart…there are lots of riding opportunities on the ranch. A number of guests enjoy an evening ride after supper. One of the beauties of riding at the Klondike versus your “typical” dude ranch is that riding here is not “nose to tail” single file style. One of the reasons for this, according to John, the Klondike is a working cattle ranch and it is critical that the horses remain working horses and not trained to trail after each other.
“We’ve had all experience levels of riders on the ranch,” Angie said, “from no riding experience at all to great riders. But, regardless, I have a Monday morning class to get everybody up to speed and used to the horse they will ride.” That made me feel a little better because I am not just a non-rider—I’m afraid of horses.
One of the ranch hands made me feel even better. Ladd Hooks, a hand from down Texas way and a seven-year ranch employee, said, “You don’t have anything to worry about it if you let the horse do its job.”
Great. That takes the responsibility out of my hands. I could concentrate on holding on. Well, now that I’ve had seven seconds to think about it, I think I’ll stick to other non-horse activities like working from the back of a truck or doing some fishing and photography. As John said, “We believe in ‘get to’, not ‘have to’ here on the ranch. A guest doesn’t have to do anything but they get to do a lot. It is their choice.”
At the time of our visit, late April, snow was still possible. The cattle and horses have to be fed until the range grass grows strong and nutritious enough for the livestock to graze. Richard and John figured that would happen sometime in early May. So, on that day, we were part of the feeding crew hauling and dispensing hay from the back of a trailer.
 |
| Horses on the Klondike |
We rolled back to the ranch yard just in time for a lunch of home-made (ranch-made??) corn chowder and toasted roast beef on rye sandwiches with horseradish sauce on the side, followed by a choice of freshly prepared apple or pecan pie.
After lunch, John volunteered to take us into the mountains in one of the ranch’s four wheeled drive vehicles. We specifically wanted to see Crazy Woman Canyon. Those that have seen the 1972 Robert Redford movie “Jeremiah Johnson” will remember the crazy woman. Supposedly, a family moves into the canyon and the husband and children are killed by Indians which drives the woman crazy. The Indians respected the insane and left her alone. Another legend, and one that is perhaps closer to the truth, according to John Tass, is that a trader lived in the canyon and he had developed a trading relationship with the Sioux. He went back east and brought home a wife. During one trading session, whiskey was consumed in quantity and, following an argument, the Indians killed the trader. His wife, witnessing this, went mad. Here the ending has a couple of solutions. One legend says she committed suicide by jumping from the cliffs. Another refers to her wandering through the canyon being fed by the Indian women until she just disappeared. Speculation is she died from exposure or an animal attack. As in most legends, the truth doesn’t really matter…it is a great story no matter which way you lean. The canyon in all its wildness is a must see when you visit the ranch.
Six o’clock rolled around and the sun was not very far from the western horizon when we gathered around the table for a sumptuous supper meal. Conversations developed about range conditions, what we had seen that day, and the plans for the next as we enjoyed a main course of antelope steak—a gift to the ranch from a previous guest after a successful hunt. After the meal, we moved to the lodge’s lounge for fresh coffee or tea and some stories told by Richard about the early history of the ranch. He cleared his throat and pointed to two wampum belts on display under a glass-topped coffee table.
 |
| Buck pic by Mike Gordon |
The exquisitely beaded belts were payment to his grandfather by some traveling Dakota Sioux for camping privileges along the creek. For the history buff, Richard’s wife Patty is the historian in the family. She conducts tours and speaks at length on the history of Klondike Ranch and also about the colorful history of Johnson County.
If you’ve ever dreamed of being a cowboy on a working ranch or if you are looking for a place to rest, relax and escape the daily grind, check out Klondike Ranch. On the other hand, if you want to hunt and/or fish, regardless of the game you’re after, alone or with all your mates, Klondike Ranch is still the choice. You and yours will be treated like members of the family. Contact them at http://www.klondikeranch.com/, or by telephone at 307-684-5216, or by mail at Klondike Ranch, 386 Crazy Woman Canyon Road, Buffalo, Wyoming, USA 82834.
Copyright © 2009 rogerlowe
| 
