Yaha Yahoo!

We haven’t been here enough this year, what with all the things that have been going on around Dogpound North this year it has been difficult to get in gear and get gone west. Monday morning we hooked up and just left.

Can’t imagine why we haven’t been here more this summer than we have but we had a great two nights and three days enjoying the peace and quiet. No cell or internet service and it is 50 miles back to the nearest traffic light. The Yaha Tinda is a ranch that is actually owned by the federal government and Parks Canada. They use it as a place to winter and train all the horses that work in our Mountain National Parks by the back country rangers. They have a campground on the ranch along Bighorn Creek that is used extensively by horse folk from all over Western Canada. It is also the place that Brenda and I got married just a few days less than 11 years ago so it has an especially special spot in our hearts.

Brenda took her first whirl at wheeling the LQ out west on Monday and did a pretty good job too, although she gets a little nervous when I close my eyes on the hills. Here are some of our fellow visitors on the road to the Yaha.

And a shot of our site, once we were set up.

Spring is a little late here on the Northern Ranges and it has been a wet year so the flowers were in full bloom which is a little surprising this late in the year.

Tuesday our good friend Wayne Ross joined us for a ride out west and although it was cut a little short by a loose shoe on my boy Blue

we still had time to set a spell by the river and enjoy some of Brenda’s great food.

This morning our neighbour in camp had a look at Blue’s shoe and a few minutes later he had it pulled off and reset as good as new.

Bob Woelk and his daughter Stacey were spending a few days out at the Yaha before they headed off to an endurance event north of here in Hinton on Friday, so they rode with us today after Bob got that shoe all fixed up.  I am thinking that their Arab endurance racers never had such a relaxing ride through the hills before but after we got back to camp they were heading out on another ride and I am sure the pace will be a lot quicker on that one. Thanks again Bob and good luck in that endurance race.

That’s Bob and Stacey up in front of Blue and I, notice all the flowers here on the ridge. The picture below is from one of my favourite lunch spots along this particular trail. Good place to set a spell and watch the world go by.

And below is Brenda with Eagle Pass in the background,

and then a shot in the trees so folks know it is not all mountain vista’s here in the West Country.