Category Archives: Horseshoe Canyon Ranch

Knob Creek

Just got back from a long weekend at HCR.  Got a chance to catch up with good friends who for the most part I hadn’t seen in awhile.  Rick moved to Dallas, Mike jetted off to Prague for 5-weeks, Daron and Lori, like me and my wife, are consumed with parenthood and work and Lorne -well there is no good reason why I haven’t seen him or his wife Angela.

The weather ended up being a little colder than predicted so most mornings were spent eating breakfast playin’ music and taking hikes around the ranch.  We did actually climb a little Saturday afternoon.

Saturday night was the highlight of the entire weekend.  After dinner we spent the entire night sitting by the fire in the lodge listening to Grateful Dead, playing the mandolin and guitar, drinkin’ Scotch and Bourbon (this is starting to sound like the lyrics from a George Thorogood song I know) and watching Lorne parade around in a Cowboy hat.  Eric and Keith if you are out there – you were definitely in my thoughts and you were sorely missed.

It was great catching up and talking about all the challenges life happened to be throwing at us all. And while we all live separate lives, our challenges are not all that different…till next time.

Here are some pics from the weekend.

Rick

Rick

Mike

Mike

Lorne

Lorne

Daron, Lori & Andrew

Daron, Lori & Andrew

Cabin Fever

Dashed off to Arkansas this past weekend with the family. I had been traveling a lot lately and was in need of quality time with Alex and Caroline. Our friends Daron and Lori would be joining us on Friday along with their sons Duncan and Andrew.

We arrived late on Thursday night and spent most of Friday hiking near the Buffalo River. We made it back to HCR just in time to get a climb in before the sun went down. After that we hit our favorite spot in Jasper for dinner and then it was back to the cabin to meet up with some friends.

Saturday was a beautiful day, but not without its challenges…mainly with Alex having a bad day and not wanting to listen. Nothing like being at the crux of a climb only to hear your son screaming at the top of his lungs because he is not getting his way. In hindsight it really wasn’t that bad…can’t fault the kid for wanting to climb all the boulders in sight…at least I can’t.

We really only had one mishap when Alex fell off a small boulder onto his back. While this might seem cruel of me to say, I’m sorta glad he fell. We had been telling him all morning that he needed to tell an adult when he was going to climb and they needed to spot him, otherwise he could fall and hurt himself. (I should note he was wearing his helmet and the boulder was only three feet tall) Anyway, I think this fall got his attention and he was much better about making sure someone spotted him.

While my original intent was to take some climbing photos this weekend it just didn’t work out. I did however take some time to shoot some landscapes as well as family and friends enjoying the weekend. It feels great to get back to something that I enjoy so much. I have great memories from when I was taking photography classes in college. It offered a great balance to the course work in business school.

To see more images go here…

http://s270.photobucket.com/albums/jj117/Ranski/HCR%20March%2008/?albumview=slideshow

Horseshoe Canyon Ranch

First Encounter…

I happened upon HCR several years back. A friend and I were climbing at nearby Sam’s Throne and he said to me “Ranski, there is a place over by Jasper, Arkansas we need to go check out…I have been in touch with the owner and he might hook us up with a cabin for the night.” Not sure if Jer was telling the truth or lying to me just to get me to go with him. I after all was the one with the vehicle. If I recall the previous night had been a little on the wet side, so the thought of sleeping in a dry cabin certainly was appealing. On top of that the Arkansas Climbers Rendezvous was being held there that weekend – an event that is typically held at Sam’s Throne – and one that always has a great gear raffle. So after spending most of Saturday climbing at Sam’s we packed up our things and headed to HCR.

It was dark when we arrived, we had no idea as we descended into the canyon on the gravel road that we were surrounded by miles of sandstone bluffs. Our task at hand was to find the “barn” – hopefully in time to purchase some raffle tickets and win a sleeping bag or rope or even just a frisbee. After that Jer needed to track down Barry (the owner – affectionately referred to as “Wild Berry” by his kids) in order to negotiate a cabin for the night. My recollection is that Jer had gotten a small write-up on HCR in one of the climbing mags and was hoping this would be enough currency to get us in a comfy dry cabin for the night…as it turns out it was.

It wasn’t until the next morning when we walked out onto the porch that we fully realized how special this place was. There was a blanket of fog hanging just above the ground, but slowly the sun lit up the bluffs and the fog lifted revealing a grassy valley divided by a small stream, with boulders scattered everywhere. Horses and cattle ran free – it is after all a dude ranch. But more importantly we were surrounded on all sides by beautifully colored sandstone bluffs. Jer was like a puppy dog dancing around in the cabin tossing his cams in the air and chewing on on his draws eager to get outside and play…

For me the timing of the opening of HCR was perfect. I had just started to lead, mostly trad at Sam’s Throne. I’m a self proclaimed wuss when it comes to venturing too far past my last piece of pro and HCR now offered bolted routes, that some may say are too conservative in their spacing, but for me they are PERFECT.

Since that first trip I have lost count how many times I have been to HCR, but I can only imagine I will be going there for along time. It is a great place to bring family and friends – even those that aren’t interested in climbing find it to be a great place to relax, go for a hike or just read a book on the porch.

New Belgium Beer Photos


The Guys Trip
…the back story

A tradition of sorts, the “guys trip” is something that started for me many years ago, when I joined a friend and his father for a winter trip to RMNP for some winter camping and ice climbing. Over the years the trip expanded to include new friends that shared the same interest in the outdoors.

It wasn’t long before we decided to start venturing out to other destinations, such as Joshua Tree, Arkansas and other areas of Colorado, which included one very cold trip to Mt. Columbia for a winter summit attempt. (I’m sure there will be a future post about that trip…)

So what is the significance of the New Belgium photo? Well life has grabbed a hold of all of us and has taken us in many different directions – some have moved away, and for others their job and their family is demanding more of their time. All of this has made it difficult to come together for trips.

However, individually we still find time to venture out and pursue the things that we love. So again, what’s with the photo? Well, as with most great adventures a day is not complete until you sit around with your friends with a few cold ones and lie about your exploits for the day. Since we can’t be together on all our trips westylivin started sending a photo of a New Belgium beer in a setting that without words shares with all of us what the day was about and that he was thinking of us…not sure if that was truly his intent, but that is what it did for me.

So in the spirit of this, I took this photo on my last climbing trip to Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. Westylivin has now ventured into blogoshpere and has motivated me to do the same. So for the rest of you that have been apart of these trips, I challenge you to take a stab at blogging about your adventures…