Camp Press and Reviews

East Meets West
Western Horseman Magazine
February 2007
by Kyle Partain
Photograph by Lourie Zipf

For 50 years, Elk Creek Ranch has introduced teenagers, most of them from "back East," to the Western lifestyle. Along the way, the family-run operation has created its share of horsemen and -women.

Wyoming's Elk Creek Ranch doesn't offer turndown service with chocolates on guests' pillows, exotic cuisine or even daily showers. Instead, staffers are just as likely to put rocks under mattresses, short-sheet the beds and pull other juvenile pranks just to keep things interesting.

But with a guest list limited to teenagers, such shenanigans are appreciated just as much as the luxuries offered at other dude ranches.

"This is way more fun than lying around getting served all the time,"says Hannah Espy, a Maine resident who's been a regular at Western dude ranches with her family.

Espy and other Elk Creek Ranch guests-called ranchers-spent several hours that same morning skinning tree trunks for a new cabin that staffers and ranchers planned to build before the end of the 2006 summer season.

"I always feel inspired to work when I'm here,"she says.

Having spent nearly four weeks in the Wyoming wilderness just outside Cody each of the past three years, Espy still struggles to define what makes the 50-year-old teen ranch so special. But time and again, she says the worst part is going home.

Such are the thoughts running through nearly every rancher's head at Elk Creek. Maybe it's the horseback riding, maybe it's the we're-in-this-together aspect inspired by daily work-crew sessions. Whatever the inspiration, ranchers and counselors alike have a hard time breaking away from the family-owned summer destination.

Purchased by two East Coast-based doctors and a furniture maker in the 1940s, the ranch originally served as a family retreat. Eventually, the Ridgway family became sole owners and used the ranch to entertain friends from the East. But by the late 1950s, it was clear the family needed to find a way for the ranch to support itself.

“The whole notion was to introduce Eastern kids to the West,” says Tina Moore, granddaughter of the ranch’s original owners. “We started with just a few kids that first summer [1956 or ’57—depending on who you ask]. Eventually, it grew to our current capacity of 30 kids. With the staff included, we never have more than 45 or 50 people here at one time. That’s a nice size group because it’s not too small and not too big.”

Tina and her sister, Debbie, attended the ranch as teens (when their parents Cliff and Betsy ran the ranch), worked their way to counselor status and now oversee the ranch as their own children approach the teenage years. The duo’s uncle, Hap Ridgway, his wife, Susan, and their four children also are heavily involved and own a home just down the road from the ranch.

“We’ve always wanted this to be a family-run operation,” Tina admits. “I guess that limits us sometimes in what we can do with the property because we all live other places and have regular jobs the rest of the year. But family is what Elk Creek is about, and we’re not willing to change that.” Family takes several different forms at Elk Creek. Descendants of the Ridgway family are, of course, abundant each summer. Ranchers often travel with brothers, sisters and cousins. And then there’s the “ranch family.”

“My first year, I got out of the van and immediately everyone was hugging me,” says Margaret Rogers, a New York City native who currently lives in London, England. The 2006 season was her second stay at Elk Creek. “My brother went to college with the Ridgway kids, and he told me about this place,” she says. “From the minute you get here, you’re part of the ranch family—even if you don’t know anyone.”

Sean Carpenter, a college freshman from New Hampshire, spent the last two summers at Elk Creek. As was the case with Margaret, he automatically felt a part of the ranch family. These days, he’s keeping his fingers crossed that he can return as a counselor in 2007.

“It’d be amazing to be able to keep coming back here,” he says. “We’re in our own little world here—but you can still call home if you want.”

Elk Creek’s world exists in Wyoming’s Sunlight Basin, where elevation varies from 6,000 feet on the valley floor to nearly 13,000 feet on the snow-capped peaks of the surrounding Beartooth and Northern Absaroka Mountains.

“I had no idea places like this even existed,” Carpenter points out.

The Shoshone National Forest makes up much of the surrounding land—providing limitless riding and hiking opportunities. Elk Creek ranchers take part in both activities, but there’s no doubt it’s the chance to get horseback that brings so many Eastern kids to a place they’d previously only imagined.

“I hadn’t ridden at all,” Carpenter says. “But there are a variety of horses here. They’ve got some calm, older horses that are great for beginners.”

Added to the usual, easy-going dude string are a handful of Arabian horses that keep things interesting—providing more-experienced horsemen with their own challenges. “One of the best parts is that we have foals to work with almost every year,” says counselor Josh Stanley, a former high-school tennis player in Memphis, Tennessee. Stanley’s family now calls a Dripping Springs, Texas, ranch home.

“We work with them for most of the summer,” he says. “And we’ve usually got two or three 2-year-olds that we do a lot of groundwork on.”

Work-crew sessions are a daily occurrence at Elk Creek. Through the years, ranchers and counselors have constructed new cabins, moved existing ones, repaired fence, irrigated pasture and performed other essential ranch chores. Which begs the question, “Why would a teenager come here to spend three and a half weeks working?”

“It’s a great question,” says Moore. “And it’s one we hear a lot. We feel like we offer kids a chance to challenge themselves physically, emotionally and intellectually, all at the same time. And what we’re doing isn’t made up. If we’re building a fence today, it’s because the old one fell down and this has to be done. We’re not just moving logs from one place to another and back again for the sake of physical activity.

“I think the kids sense that these are real jobs that need to be done, and there’s a certain amount of pride that goes with getting those jobs done.”

There’s no doubt Elk Creek caters to a wealthy, privileged clientele. Stanley even jokes about having to teach some of them to “run a mop.” But show up on any given day and you’ll see those same kids happily working away in the post-breakfast hours.

“I’ve always felt comfortable during work-crew,” Rogers says. “But at the same time, they’re pushing you to do more than you think you can do. But if you fall down, there’s always someone there to pick you up. It’s relaxed, yet intense at the same time. It’s hard to explain.”

Of course, not all ranchers are so happy to be toiling away under the summer sun. “I had an attitude about it at first,” says Bugni. “But it’s not stressful or crazy work. And when I got started, I realized that I liked staying busy and getting things done. It’s good to be able to step back at the end of the day and see what you’ve accomplished.” The work crews are heavily supervised when ranchers first arrive, but as time passes the groups become more independent. Camp organizers take pride in the fact that ranchers learn to recognize the tasks at hand and tackle them head-on.

“These projects really help bring the kids together, too,” says Debbie Moore. “Giving them a common goal really cements that bond between the kids.”

Because the Elk Creek Ranch area has been hit hard by drought in recent years, ranchers are allowed showers just once every three days. But because everyone’s in the same boat, a little dirt is easily overlooked.

“That’s definitely the worst part,” says Jennifer Vernick, a rancher from Massachusetts. “That takes a little getting used to.”

Two boys’ and two girls’ cabins, in addition to a counselors’ cabin and residences for the ranch cook and owners, make up the bulk of the Elk Creek buildings. Rancher cabins consist of nothing more than large rooms with a half-dozen bunk beds and a small bathroom. Ranchers quickly realize that their cell phones won’t work here. The computers on the grounds are generally hidden from the ranchers’ view, but allow parents to reach the ranch via e-mail.

Each day begins with breakfast and is followed by work crew, lunch, trail rides or hikes, dinner and entertainment.

“I’d come here just for the trail rides,” says Stanley. “In Texas, we’ve got a hundred acres, and we’re surrounded on all four sides. Here, there are 2.3 million acres of national forest land to ride. We don’t have cows to work here, but the rides are amazing—especially if you’re from the flat country and tired of dodging cactus all day.

“The bottom line is most of the kids who come here want to come back. In some way, they all have a good time.”

These days, it’s not unusual for ranchers to be second-generation Elk Creek guests. And, as if echoing Stanley’s comments, many plan on their own children becoming part of the Elk Creek tradition.

“There’s no doubt my kids are coming here someday,” says Rogers. “They don’t have a choice. And I’m already sure they’re going to love it.”

At the end of each of the ranch’s two summer sessions—one beginning in late June, the other in late July—ranchers have their choice of participating in a fourday pack trip or a four-day hiking trip. Regardless of their choice, the trips are often the highlight of the summer.

“To spend four days in the mountains is just amazing,” says Stanley.

Rogers remembers waking up to snow one morning during the 2005 pack trip. “This is definitely one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen,” she says.

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