As soon as the ranch owner got back to us about the German Shepherd, which she explained belonged to a woman who lived at a cabin on-site full time, grandma Connie and I ventured outside together to get a lay of the land. I had my camera pack slung over one shoulder, and my tripod pack slung over the other. We left Toby with grandpa Lyle just in case the German Shepherd, that was said to be friendly, made his reappearance, and started walking towards the east, where the pasture and river access were said to be located. But before we explored the wilderness, my grandma wanted to meet the owner of the ranch, who was just pulling up next to the Xterra in a lifted F-150 with a winch mounted to its grill.
As soon as the truck parked, two people and two (much friendlier-looking) dogs jumped out of the truck at once. The woman who was driving didn’t look much older than me, and she called out to us, “Hello there! You must be grandma and granddaughter!”
“Yes!” my grandma Connie nodded, reaching out to shake the ranch owner’s hand, “Nice to meet you finally. What a beautiful place you’ve got here.”
“Aw, thank you.” the woman smiled, “I’m just here with my tech guy setting up the internet in our largest cabin, so you guys should have connection after all!”
“Oh, how neat.” grandma said, “Not that we really need it. Maya insisted we got as remote as we could to get away.”
“Yeah, that’s what most guests say when they come here.” the owner answered as she reached out to shake my hand, “And I’d say you came to the right place to get away. We’re blessed with fifty acres of land that backs into thousands of acres of public land, all of which you’re more than welcome to explore.”
I reached a closed fist out towards one of the mutts that came to say hello, while the ranch owner continued, “Across the road are the stairs to access the river. We have about an acre of land down there for guests to enjoy. During the summer and fall, people come here to fly fish all the time. But right now, the waters are extremely violent due to all the snow and rain we’ve been getting this year, so be careful but don’t be afraid to go down there.”
The woman then turned to pasture behind us and began, “In the summer and fall, we keep horses and run an all-inclusive dude ranch here. But in the winter and spring, we keep the horses on their winter and springtime pastures and allow guests to access all fifty acres. If you follow that tractor trail through those orange gates, it’ll take you all the way down to a spruce grove where we have picnic tables set up near a creek. We also have a hunting shed and a shooting range for hunters to use in the fall. Again, you’re more than welcome to explore all of it. Just beware of the mud.”
“How fun!” my grandma clapped her hands together.
“Yeah, this place sure is beautiful.” I muttered as I gazed over the whole eastern horizon.
“Oh, it is.” the ranch owner agreed, “My grandparents had very good reasons to come here from Wyoming way back when. In fact, in the hogan labeled ‘the saloon’, we have several booklets in there explaining the story of the Elk River Guest Ranch, along with a bar, board games, and cable TV. The TV is also hooked up to a Roku with access to Netflix and some other channels if you’d like.”
“You’ve just got a little bit of everything.” I chuckled.
“Yes we do!” the ranch owner laughed, “I’ll leave you guys to explore it for yourselves and make this place your home. Once again, thank you so much for staying here and don’t hesitate to reach out if you need anything… I’ll make sure the German Shepherd stays on his leash while y’all are here.”
