Up through the Goosewing Creek Valley in the Gros Ventre National Forest on our ride up to Soda Lake
Day 6 opened up with a 4 hour trail ride to Soda Lake. Our Wrangler on this ride was James. He was a very interesting young man from New Hampshire who pretty much grew up on the back of a horse. Besides narrating the sights and sounds along our ride he also filled us in on much of his life's ups and downs. A very colorful life I might add. Here are some of the pictures on our way up to and around Soda Lake in the Gros Ventre National Forest.
Cindy getting Dixie ready for our ride up to Soda Lake
Soda Lake
James and Cindy during our lunch at Soda Lake
The remainder of the day was filled with some more pool time, hot tub, and yet another beautiful sunset over the Tetons as seen from the Goosewing Ranch.
Day 5 was an off day from horseback riding. We decided to take advantage of the Utility Vehicle (aka All Terrain Vehicles [ATV]) provided to each cabin. We took an off-road ride from the Ranch at 7,400 feet up to Gunsight Pass, which is at elevation 9,437 feet. The views were outstanding. Here is Cindy on our way out from the Ranch.
Here are a few pictures and some video from about half way up the mountain.
At the top of the mountain we were busy using the binoculars to view the adjacent mountain peaks and spot animals down below, but as it turned out about 75 yards away in a grove of young evergreens their was a bull moose preparing a place to lie down for a while. We did not get to see a full view of the animal, but it was exciting non-the-less. Here is some photos from the Pass.
Moving back down the mountain we recognized one of the available trail ride destinations called Cowboy Cabin. We did not pick this one, but we were able to drive to it using the UTV. A group of guests from the Ranch were there.
The remainder of the day was driving the UTV around the Ranch and the Gros Ventre River. Chris got in some Fly fishing, with one Cutthroat Trout caught!
If yesterday's ride wasn't enough fun we decided to be adventurous (imagine that) and signed up for a six-hour breakfast ride up Goosewing Creek (see above) into the mountains southwest of the Ranch with views of the Tetons and back down Tepee Creek. We were down at the Horse Barn by 6:00 am with breakfast burritos already on the BBQ warming up and cowboy coffee being poured. It was really good! Our horses (Dixie for Cindy and Gillette for Chris) were already saddled and ready to go. Our Wrangler today was Katy. Cindy and I were the only guests on this ride. The rest of the riders wimped out! Katy really took good care of us. Here is Chris crossing the Gros Ventre River just outside of the Ranch. That's correct he has a fleece on and its 23 July!
Below is a view looking almost due east back towards the Ranch on our way out.
Hunter's cabin on the way up Goosewing Creek
Here we are at the top of the mountain with a view of the Tetons over our shoulders. Approximate altitude at this point is 9,500 feet.
The next two pictures is us at our highest altitude at 9,562 feet. The cliffs here were amazing and yes a little scary on top of a horse.
Heading down the mountain and towards Tepee Creek and back to the Ranch.
View of Ranch from about 8,000 feet above in the Gros Ventre National Forest.
The mountain along the side of the trail was really steep here. Not a great trail ride for anyone afraid of heights!
Chris crossing back across the Gros Ventre River on the way back to the barn. The horses and riders were really tired!
After a long 18 mile ride, a good soak in the hot tub, and great dinner out on the porch, this is what closed out our magnificent day!
We are back in Maryland now and have full access to the internet so I will be posting updates when time permits. When we got to the Goosewing Ranch. Cindy and I did not waste anytime learning about the horses that we would be riding and passed our basic riding 101. On our first full day we signed up for a four hour ride that would take us up to Prospect Mountain. Our Wrangler's name was Jillian. We rode along with Katy (Lead Wrangler at the Ranch). She was just along for the ride, but I suspect she was doing a check ride for Jillian since she had only been at the Ranch for a couple of weeks. We also rode with Logan (Ranch Hand) and Amet (Ranch Cook from Russia). Both were on their day off and just wanted to get a ride in. Here are a few pictures from that ride.
Jillian (left) was our lead Wrangler on this ride and Katy rode along with us. Katy is the Lead Wrangle for the Ranch.
Cindy & Chris posing on Prospect Mountain, Gros Ventre National Forest, Wyoming.
Here is one more picture looking down from Prospect Mountain towards the Ranch.
Hello blog readers. The last few days out here at the Ranch have been very limited to Internet access. They only have satellite service here and only allowed so much bandwidth and X amount of gigabytes of data each day. Once the usage is used up it does not reset until midnight. I've had better success just sending posts on FaceBook. You can find updates and pictures there.
Here are some photos from day 1. Flying into Jackson Hole. Spectacular!
Taggart and Bradley Lake hike. This was a 5.65 mile loop trail with fantastic views of the Tetons. Michelle suggested this trail as she hiked it back in November.
Hard to believe that we are only 1 day and a wake up before we leave for Wyoming! Our bags and backpacks have been mentally packed for weeks. It's reality time and pretty much everything is ready to go. The General Manager at the Ranch has emailed us about three times in the last few weeks getting us all excited; suggesting items to remember; and if we need transportation from Jackson Hole. Just being a great host and we aren't even there. This is gearing up to be an epic trip. Next post should be Day 1...so stay tuned!
When we got to the Goosewing Ranch. Cindy and I did not waste anytime learning about the horses that we would be riding and passed our basic riding 101. On our first full day we signed up for a four hour 
