Cowboys and Poison Ivy

So, I awake by a cattle gate to MOOS and horse making thier horse sounds, old rusty metal gates slamming together in the breeze or by the bodies of animals scratching.

 I slept so well last night  even as the sounds of long off karoke filled my ears with “My Humps”, “Baby Got Back”, “Shook Me All Night Long” and many other classics guttlered by the late night drunken cowboys and cowgirls.

Sorta the mating call of the American Idol wannabe.  Wish I could have been there…and if I would have walked my lazy ass about 5 more mintues I would have came up on the party.  The way the hills here were set up it sounded like it was on the far side of a MTN, yet it was right around the corner at SMOKE RISE RESORT AND RANCH  http://www.smokeriseranch.com/

I walk through free range horses, painted mares and big beautiful work animals and approach the office which the Buckeye trail runs directly beside.

I pull off the pack and start up a conversation with a real Ohio Cowboy who informs me that “Cowboys aint just from Texas” with a thick Ohioian draw and a smile.  We chat about the ranch and he wraps up a cattle rope and makes his way to a stall filled with saddled horses.

I grab a coke from the machine (A sweet deal at .50) and suck down the cool syrupy goodness and look at a clock to see its only 7:45 in the morning.  Not having  cell service doenst allow me to know what time it is, as I have choosen to not carry a watch this trip and depend on the phone to keep track of date and time…and sometimes days.  A lot earlier then I thought, which is good, as it made me start sooner.

Another Cowby comes out of the office as I fill my water bottles, he has thick gray hair, leather chaps, heavy work gloves, a cattle rope, a big old hat and a Texas…errr….Ohio Smile and yet another accent you couldn’t mistake for anything other then a genuine cowby.

His name is Lynn.  The owner and operator of this along with his Family for the last 15 years.  He instantly shows me hospitality by offering me a shower in the Camp shower house down by the stables and training arena.  He also tels me to make myself at home and to come on down and watch the work they do.  He is busy so we don’t have a lot of time to chat as he is about to give a calf roping clinic to a buch of guests at the ranch.

Remember the movie “CITY SLICKERS”? its sorta like that and I guess he would be Curly if Curly was pleasant and hospitible.

I go down to the “rodear” the true Spanish word that Rodeo derived from.  It was when the cowboys of the Spanish lineage considered their life to be an art, and not as brutal and forceful as “British” or american cowboys did.  The word we know as rodeo came into play later.Lynn explians to me what they are doing, they have faux cattle set up for practice and they ‘slickers’, some of them regulars and some of them first timers, all rope and practice various styles of lassoing and captruing runaway cattle.Lynn seems to be able to direct and capture with every throw, and the crowd seems to enjoy what they are learning.  I wish I had a horse and a rope so I could get out there with them.  He also seems to look at the horses as they move to real cattle and the horses seem to understand his every word and gesture and to obey…amazing talent with those animals.  I also learned that this place was featured on WIFESWAP at some point.After a couple of hours of this they break for lunch and I grab my shower.I pack my stuff and prepare to say goodbye and thanks for the hospitality and Lynn, quick as anything, hands me a hamburger and insists I stick around for the evening and hang out with them.I sit for about 2 hours as Lynn and the guests return to the clinic and chat with the landscaper, fence bulider, all around ranch hand Paul who has been at the Ranch Pre-Lynn, and have a beer and some water.  My legs are twitching and I must go.Sure, it seems funny to me, but I am ready to go hike.

So I do, and its hot…I run out of water right before dark and hate it that I ddint stay…I almost can hear the Cowboy karoke as I go to sleep in the deep thick poison Oak and Ivy and overgrown trial where I am now…