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paddle and saddleJun 16, 2009
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the dudes
the German cowboy
the photographing cowboy
Hartmut has been doing a lot of sight seeing on his national park tour, but it was time for him to have some western experiences as well. So we headed to Gardiner just outside the north entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Even though we only drove through about one quarter of the park, this took us over two hours. My but this park is huge.
At the Slip and Slide Ranch we joined two other groups for grilled hamburgers before getting on horseback for a two hour ride through the ranch property and into the national forest. The rancher who lead the tour rode in the back of our group most of the time, because our ride was really lead by his two daughters aged about four and seven. They were so cute sitting on their small horses with their pink cowboy boots, proudly taking us on tour. The rancher used to hire two high school kids to help him herd the dudes around, so his children are saving him some money and having a wonderful time. Our horses occasionally were less than cooperative, but those little girls perched high up on theirs rode circles around us. The ride took us high above the river valley and made us appreciate the fact that we were riding rather than hiking. After our mule ride experience in the Grand Canyon we felt far more competent even though we never went faster than an amble. And Hartmut certainly looked professional in his new cowboy hat.
Then we headed into town for a raft ride on the Yellowstone River. This river is full of snow melt and about 45º. With all the rain we’ve been enduring, the river was high and flowing fast. If we had rafted in street clothes it would have been a miserable experience. But the rafting company had us put on bathing suits, topped with wet suits, topped with fleece, topped with rain jackets. We also wore wet suit type booties. When the water broke over our heads we could feel that it was cold, but all the layers kept us warm and happy. Some brave souls leapt into the water and swam a bit, but we were content with the splashes. At times the waves grew wild and exciting and at others we calmed floated and admired the scenery.
