Back to the Beginning

Way back in August 2001, yep, just before the world changed, Brenda and I got married out in one of our favourite places on the planet. The Yaha Tinda ranch is a little piece of heaven about an hour and half west of our place here at Dogpound North.

Here we are back at the spot and I think the horses are checking for footprints from our wedding.

And the actual day

Long time readers will have seen this landscape many times as we have made a pilgrimage back to this spot on at least one occasion every year since.

I stumbled on this video, now these guys are probably not heading for Nashville but the pictures are beautiful and we too are forever Yaha Tinda Bound.

This year because of the floods we decided rather than camp right on the ranch we would stay at the Eagle Creek campground right on the east ranch boundary and ride in. We found a beautiful spot there right along the Red Deer River and enjoyed 5 beautiful days roaming the ranch and surrounding countryside.

The view downstream

And a look upstream

And here is a panorama of the view from our campfire

The first day we just took a ride over to the Bighorn camp to see how the repairs from the flood were coming along, a lot of changes there this year.

For those who have been here before this is the centre site down by the river, Bighorn creek has made it a creek bottom property now.

Once we checked out the camp we headed up to the spot we got married at then on up to Eagle Lookout for a look around the countryside.

Upriver from Eagle Lookout

For those who have been here, Dave and Sherry, you will notice the big swing to the north the river has made in the meadows east of the Bighorn Camp. The circle that was carved into the grass by folks "round penning" their horses is gone, probably somewhere out where you can see the gravel bar now.

Day two we just took a short ride up to Eagle Lake and although I didn't get a good photo, the water level is so high that the trail around the south side of the lake is under water, a couple of feet at least. We went in on the trail on the north side of the meadows from Eagle Creek and when we came out the same way we discovered a new trail heading off a little more northerly than the other. We have dubbed this the "Knee Knocker" cause the fellow who pioneered it must have been riding a pretty skinny horse as ours were just able to fit between a lot of the trees. We needed to exercise extreme caution to make sure Brenda's bad knees were intact when we got through those spots. It eventually came out on the old seismic line that headed NE from Walker's old camp and although we headed up there the next day we couldn't find a way across to the Poplar Bluff trail without some major bushwhacking. And with those aforementioned bad knees that is not in the cards.

Day Three we headed over the Hump out of Eagle Camp and did a little exploration east of Eagle Creek before heading around the Poplar Bluff, High Trail in our camp, trail. This is one of our favourite rides and the vista's are stunning.

And this from our lunch stop for the day

The view above is one of my favourites on the planet. It is always hard to leave this spot, no matter what the weather or season.

Day Four we just headed up river through the meadows checking out the changes along the riverbed up to the top crossing to Hidden Falls. I think a fellow could find his way across there but you would have to make your way through a lot of driftwood to do it. From there we headed north bushwhacking our way through what Brenda calls the soft trees, Pine and Spruce, and hit the meadows right about where the old telegraph line went through. We followed the meadow back down and stumbled on a new elk trap just as we got to the big meadow southwest of the ranch. For a lot of our readers some of this will mean nothing but for some others I am hoping I am painting a picture that brings you back to the ranch.

And this brings us to today, another beautiful day, but one we knew had to come. We had to pack up and head home today. Our rig needs some attention from our friends at Allandale Industries, and we have to drop it off tomorrow morning early to get those things looked after. God willing and the creeks don't rise we will be back on the trails soon, after a little resupply stop and some repairs.

For the Google Earth fans amongst our readers here is a view of our tracks on this trip.

Light Blue or Cyan is Day 1, Dark Blue for Day 2, Red is Day 3, and Magenta is Day 4.

This was our sunset view last night from our campfire

Up Sh%&% Creek

Well actually it was the Sheep River and we took our horses along with us. Down west of Turner Valley here in Alberta there is an Equestrian Campground called Sandy McNabb. Over the years we have spent a few great days there and for some years early in the Millenium we would be there for Thanksgiving. It is paved all the way out so we can take the Motorhome and the bumper pull. Since we were there last they have rebuilt the stable/tie stalls and run power to every site. As well as a new dump station just across the road.

Site #18 a favorite of ours

because unlike most of the sites you can actually see the tie stalls from #18.

The Sheep River was one of the Alberta rivers that was wreaking havoc on the downstream residents during the June floods and there was evidence of it's exuberance even up here in the hills.

A lot of rubble and trees moved around and left high and dry above the river

 The weather for the most part was pretty cooperative except for one day when it was showering off and on all day. I took the horses for a short ride that day.

The first day we took a spin up the Death Valley trail until it connected with the Windy Point trail and we took that back down to the Sheep River and followed it back into camp.

Some meadows along the Death Valley trail

And these fellows were up above us on the Windy Point trail. Not sure whether that is their shepherd or what on the skyline

And here is an overlook right where the Windy Point and Sheep trails intersect.

A view from a ledge along the Sheep River. Lots of flowers out there.

 Another day we headed back out on the Foran Grade trail which climbs a ridge that has pretty nice views of the front range of the Rockies on most days, but on this day they were obscured by clouds hanging on the peaks.

That grassy slope is where we spotted the Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep on an earlier day

The mountains with cloud covered peaks
 

As well as mountains you get a pretty good view of the Calgary downtown skyline from here although it is probably at least 35 miles away the way the raven fly's. Actually raven's kinda wander their way across the landscape. Rumour has it that bees fly in a straight line but that would be a little long to haul a big load of honey making ingredients across the countryside, so let's just say Google calls it 34 miles.

Calgary skyline from the Foran Grade trail

Another benefit, well maybe a benefit, is that from up here you can check your phone messages and Brenda was able to update her Facebook Fans

It's always nice to let folks see what we are seeing.

Once we got down off the Grade we headed down to cross the Sheep River and the rain from the day before had muddied it up a little so it was nice to see another group crossing to give us an idea that all was well on the regular crossing. Many of the traditional crossings were changed, for the worse, by the floods this year.

Wink and Brenda crossing here

The crossing here was pretty good but the crossing where we came back over to the north side of the river was a little deeper. Water was kind of halfway up Wink's body on that crossing, so maybe our friend Bill, and Fred from down there at Benson would be getting a little wet, and because we were not so sure about that crossing I was paying attention to business and not gawking around taking pictures.

This ride was a test of sorts for Willow also, she has been on light duty since she hurt herself last November on the Beaver Creek ride in Arizona so I was interested to see if she could take the rough country. She seemed fine so she has probably earned herself a spot in the trailer heading south in the fall.

That said Wink threw a hissy fit on our last day there and while we were saddling up she kicked the stuffing out of Willow and got in a couple of solid hits that left Willow a little sore so rather than leave them in a tie stall overnight we loaded up and headed for Dogpound North where she would be able to move around and keep any swelling at bay. Now a week or so later she seems fine and the cuts and scrapes are all healing.

On another front the home reno's here at Dogpound North are getting close to being done, just a little work on the grout and some painting and all will be well again. Oh yeah, two bathrooms later we also got the gas range installed that started all this renovation stuff. Seems like it sure would have been cheaper just to use a Coleman stove than all this but Brenda will be happy.

We have passed the halfway mark on our time here in Alberta and I am working on a project so that we are able to monitor what is happening back here at Dogpound North while we are enjoying the company of our friends in the desert this winter. I call that fair warning Arizona, we are coming back!

Across the Border

The past few days we were down in the Cypress Hills in South-Eastern Alberta and South-Western Saskatchewan with our friends Ken and Verna Pohl to do a little riding, see some new country, and tell some tall tales around the campfire. It had been a long time since I had been down here, 50 odd years, and the others were first timers so we had a great time exploring new trails and enjoying new vistas.

Fields of Flowers

The country was beautiful and every meadow we rode through was carpeted in flowers. While we were there we thought we should look at a little real estate but I think the fixer upper below was a little to much for Brenda.

Symons-Noble cabin

We headed down some hills

And we headed up a few

And then from time to time we stopped to check the map and take a few photos.

Checking out the trail map

Brenda, Verna and Ken with Bullet in the background overlooking Battle Creek

The view from the old Patrol cabin

Here Ken and Verna are looking back down at the Historic Reesor Ranch, our rigs are to the left of Ken

Brenda crossing from Alberta into Saskatchewan on the Trans-Canada Trail

And back over to Alberta again

As well as enjoying excellent weather and great company we were treated to some spectacular sunsets every evening.

Sunset over the pasture

And although all good things have to come to an end we will certainly not scratch this place off our list of places we need to go. There is a lot more country to explore here.

Those red roofs in the background are the Reesor Ranch overlooking the prairies of the Palliser Triangle to the north

For now we have headed home to get a few repairs done on our motorhome and our ponies have a date with their farrier to receive all new pedicures so we are ready for our next adventure.

For those of our readers who like a little look at where we rode.

Enjoying Summer

We got back from the Hummingbird and lo and behold the Calgary Stampede was in full swing. The catch phrase this year was Stampede 101, Come Hell or High Water, and although we had the high water this year, the Stampede went off without a hitch. Oh yah, a few big concerts had to be cancelled when the Saddledome filled with water but other than that things went along pretty well.

The folks at the Stampede put together a T-Shirt with that logo on it and at last count had sold 150,000 of them raising approximately $2.1 million for flood relief. The city had a good time and like the mayor said "you might not see Calgary at its prettiest, but you will sure see it at its best." Neighbours were helping neighbours and although it will be a long time till things are back to normal, things are getting done.

We took a spin down to the grounds with Kashton and his parents. Always great to see an old familar place through the eyes of a child. He loved the rides and getting him off was a job in itself. If he had his way he would have just stayed driving the cars and riding the rollercoaster while his Dad ran and got more tickets.

Kash and his Mom on the Merry Go-Round

Grandma and Kash riding

Kash loved these cars although he was not to sure about sharing it with this little girl

He thought maybe she should ride in the back!

Rollercoaster, Kash and Ved in second car

Brenda and I and that tree behind us was actually a person on stilts, imagine what your horse would do when a tree starting talking to them.

It was a great day at the Calgary Stampede's 101st edition.

Then this week I headed over to the Dogpound Rodeo grounds to enjoy our local rodeo, it has been running for 107 years and is still a local must do in this area. Seems like everyone in the country is there and a lot of them are participating. Me I participated in the pie eating and took a few pictures.

Hard to believe but this guy stayed on this bull till the horn

Our granddaughter,  Madison, in the orange shirt, but luckily the piglet was captured and taken home by some other youngster.

Local girl, Shelby Cummings, has been doing this rodeo since she was 9 years old.

And here she is starting the next generation of trick riders.

The Wild Rose drill team another local group.

The Dogpound Rodeo is always a fun time and well attended even though it always runs on the Wednesday after the Calgary Stampede show ends.

Today Brenda was off to Chestermere to keep an eye on Kashton while his mother was off selling houses or something, and Wink and I had a date with the Brand Inspector up in Olds to get that out of the way for our upcoming ride across the provincial border, and our trip south next fall. We are off with some friends to ride along the Alberta-Sask border. It isn't the mountains but it should be pretty nice as it was a famous American's, Sitting Bull's, summer home when things got a little hot down around the Little Big Horn. Who knew, he might have been the first snowbird. More on that after we return.