Homes on the Range
By Debra Cummings (2006)In a noisy age, a horseback trip into Alberta’s Rockies can be the perfect antidote, the very one that rocks you into a tranquil state.
“That’s certainly why some people join us,” says Ron Warner, outfitter, owner and CEO of Holiday on Horseback. “Take Pierre Trudeau for example . . . he came with us along with his three boys, when they were little, to escape the glare of his life. He was a great outdoorsman . . . a real pleasant man to be with.”
Based in Banff National Park, Warner has been behind the reins of this enormous operation since ’74, and has grown his herd of horses and mules to 325 plus expanded into many reaches of the park, and beyond. As have his guests that stretch from all over the States (40 per cent of his client base) to Australia, Britain, eastern Canada and, of course, Alberta (comprising 25 per cent).
Whether it’s a one hour trail ride on the skirts of Calgary or a full-blown six day horsepacking/tenting expedition in the Rockies, don’t think you can gallop around an Alberta Country Vacation. Try a trot, you’ll need to pace yourself due to the exhausting possibilities.
Almost equal to Warner’s longevity is Mac MaKenny’s Homeplace Ranch near Calgary. Set in the foothills of Alberta’s Rocky Mountains, there are no phones clattering in your rustic wood-panelled room, no TVs squawking at the long groaning board. Maps may indicate that Homeplace Ranch is only 45 minutes southwest of Calgary, but when you drive up the single gravel lane under a canopy of pine trees to a row of log cabin outbuildings, you could be catapulted back to the days of Little House on the Prairie.
“That’s because we’ve preserved all the original buildings from 1912,” says MaKenny who along with his wife Jayne, bought this ranch from the original homesteaders, some 30 years ago. “We’ve even got one building that was part of a Chinese laundry shop. It dates back to pre-1929 and was moved out here from Calgary on sleigh runners.”
History Lessons on the Trail
Besides the comforting history lesson you get when you poke around these higgledy piggledy, but charming, buildings-you learn more historical gems when you’re out on the trail with Mac, or one of his crew. You’ll hear about the squatters that opened a mine in this neck of the woods, just before WWI. In fact, on one of the trails down to the Old Champion Place, you’ll see old slag heaps and the arthritic bones of a mine. On other trails you’ll be regaled with tales of the First Nations people who traded moccasins for flour, right up until the ‘30s. Other rides, especially up West Ridge, take you high into the mountains where you can spy the snow-dusted peaks of Remus and Romulus, Bandit and Three Point.
“You can see 40 miles away, I bet,” says MaKenny, squinting under his cowboy hat at the eye-wringing sunlight.
Besides the riding skills you’ll get at the cozy 14 guest Homeplace Ranch, guests also experience a real working ranch so the entire holiday is authentic, there’s nothing gentrified about it (save the outdoor hot tub). Guests can participate in the daily workings of the ranch (home to 43 horses), purely ride, golf at nearby resorts, fish, take in a rodeo, or visit Banff and Calgary.
Customized Horsin’ Around
“We can customize a guest’s holiday in many ways,” says MaKenny, adding that most summer visitors stay 6.2 days and about 15 per cent don’t ride. “What typically happens is that in a family (30 per cent of their summer visitors), mom rides and dad will fish or golf. Or, sometimes, grandparents will pick up the tab and they might be past their riding careers.”
Although Mac is quick to point out that his eldest guest, who’d never ridden before, was in her ‘80s, and his youngest was seven.
Warner, who caters to more serious horseback riders, reports similar ranges, adding: “As long as they can ride 12 to 14 miles a day, and most can, they’re welcome – but they should be interested in wildlife. Most of our guests see elk, about 25 per cent spot a grizzly (that’s on a tent trip), and lots see wolf and cougar tracks.”
Some of Holiday on Horseback’s more popular trips are its Wilderness Women's Adventure Ride (a 5 day lodge excursion) led by Holly Wood, former regional director of public relations for the Fairmont Banff Springs and its six day Year of the Grizzly led by biologist Dr. Mike Gibeau, one of Canada’s foremost authorities on grizzly bears. Even apart from these blockbusters, the stable of trips remains vast: You’ve got lodge rides (fanning out from Sundance Lodge or Halfway Lodge) that run from overnights to six day trips. There are also morning breakfast rides along the base of Sulphur Mountain next to Banff townsite; covered wagon cook-outs; three hour loop rides; day rides and their new five hour Rundle Mountain Ride, that leaves from the barns in Banff.
Divided Business
“Our business really is divided,” explains Warner. “We’ve got the in-town (Banff) activities that people can just turn up for, and then we’ve got the backcountry destination-based trips that pretty much require pre-planning.”
This year’s roster for Adventure Expeditions includes trips that focus on tracking and monitoring wildlife, from grizzly bears to wolves. All Adventure Expedition trips include meals, guided services, and the use of a mule-train to cart in the necessary camping gear. These trips wind up a little more than their lodge stays, but both are surprisingly affordable. In fact when you compare their prices to most all-inclusive holidays, these horsepacking trips are a steal, averaging between $162 and $295 a day. No child or family discounts are provided but children are welcome as young as eight years of age. Their tent trips are the cheapest at $1236 for six days, during July and August of 2006.
Rhythm of the Rockies
Perhaps it’s the rhythm of these holidays that’s so enticing. Days usually begin with a hot, ranch-style breakfast. Then, if you’re with a Holiday on Horseback crew, everyone saddles up and heads high into the Rockies, following the burble of streams and grandeur of the peaks . . .“sights and images that haven’t changed in 100 years,” points out Warner. Along the way you might learn about the evolution of trapping and the fur trade in Canada or some anecdote about Bill Peyto or Erling Strom, two local legends who opened up the backcountry, that Warner knows so well. And the scenery around you changes as much as the tales. From meadows loaded with wildflowers to high open mountain passes to forested ridge walks, the pattern is as soothing as your mid-morning cuppa, served cowboy-style from somewhere deep on the trail. Later on, a leisurely lunch is served complete with time to snooze, fish or just poke around an area.
If you’re based at a country vacation property, you’ll soon realize that you don’t go to these places to get your family away from it all. Folks come here to get them into it. The lack of people means quiet time to teach the kids how to land a trout, spy on a coyote or raft down a mountain stream. At Homeplace Ranch, guests bed down in the main lodge or coach house (all are private rooms and have bathrooms) and everyone shares hearty meals, family style. Another unique aspect at Homeplace, which reinforces relationships of all sorts, is that every guest is given the reins of one specific horse for their entire stay.
“We want guests to get involved with one horse and to care for that horse every day,” says MaKenny, adding their herd of horses gives riders of all abilities a healthy selection.
Alberta’s ranches don’t promise high falutin’ apricot facials or sushi around a campfire, but the odds are your perfect, authentic, ranch stay awaits, ready to sweep you off your feet and into a saddle.
And after a day on the range remember, starlit evenings await when you and a posse of guests get to slink into a hammock or a hot tub and define how wild and woolly you want the West to truly be!
If this is roughing it, bring on more!
