T Cross Ranch

We received this letter from a young guest in 2006. After visiting the ranch that summer, he wrote about his T Cross adventure in school–and sent the story to his favorite cowboy.

“After a few great days at the ranch, on Wednesday we went to the corral to prepare for a three day/two night pack trip into the Washakie wilderness. I packed only what I needed: warm clothes, an extra t shirt, and a pair of jeans, for all of the clothes and supplies that we would bring were carried on the backs of two pack horses and one mule.

We left the corral at 8:30 for a nine mile ride to a place called Five Pockets. Our guide was the lead wrangler, Gregg, and our helper was a wrangler named Tiffany. On the way we stopped for lunch in a large meadow with an abandoned miner’s cabin on one end. We went through a thick pine forest that was dark and filled with many mule deer that walked along with our horses.

Suddenly, we came out of the forest into Five Pockets, an enormous meadow with 11,000-foot mountains still covered in snow. There was an abundance of red, yellow, blue, and purple wild flowers next to the same river that went by the ranch. The mountains were like spearhead points, it almost felt like I was in a shark’s mouth surrounded by hundreds of its razor sharp teeth.

As we walked further up the open meadow we saw our campsite. The camp was located on the edge of the meadow with surrounding trees. There was a tarp stretched in between two trees with a portable stove beneath the tarp. There were tents, which had been brought up at the beginning of the summer with warm sleeping bags for the cold nights. We tied our horses and unpacked our three pack horses. My brother, Dad, and I walked out of the camp to explore the meadow. The river was even colder in Five Pockets than by the ranch. My brother and I sat down looking at all the beautiful mountains surrounding us. We were all in complete amazement of the incredible beauty of this wilderness valley.

We were needed at the camp site to help graze horses. Since there were no fences, the horses had two leather bands around their front legs connected by a leather buckle, called hobbled. Hobbles made it so the horse could not travel too far while grazing. The mule was tied to a tree by its back leg and the last horse had a cowbell around its neck, so the wranglers could find the horses if out of sight.

I found it amazing the way the horse got around with the hobbles. They extended their front legs high and forward. After they had their front legs planted, their back legs followed, but in more of a low two beat. We put the cowbell on my sister’s horse, Queenie. This turned out to be a big mistake because after she gave a good look back at us, Queenie started to walk away. I suggested that we go catch her, but my Dad said, “No, she will not go anywhere.”

As soon as he said that after taking one last look back at us, Queenie started to canter home. When all of the other horses with hobbles saw Queenie run away, they started to follow. They looked like giant preying mantis and were falling all over the place, because hobbled horses are not meant to go fast.

Gregg, the wrangler cowboy, quickly tacked up his horse and immediately galloped off on his beautiful palomino, Apollo, into the sunset, just like in the movies. As we watched him disappear across the meadow, we heard a great clash of thunder and felt the first raindrops of the giant squall that was ahead of us. It poured buckets and the surrounding cliffs were lit up by the terrific strikes of lightning.

When the rain stopped it became extremely cold and we put on all of the layers we had packed. Gregg finally came back, soaked from head to toe. After finally warming up and a good meal, we sat around the campfire and Gregg told us stories about his earlier life. He was in the Navy, had seen the past nine nuclear test by the U.S., and was invited into the CIA, but turned them down so he could raise a family. It was strange hearing these words from this 65-year-old cowboy. This is a perfect example of why people should never judge someone by a first impression because who could of guessed what extraordinary things Gregg has done in his life.

Thinking about my trip on the ride back to the ranch, I realized what an amazing adventure I was on. At T Cross I enjoyed the simplicity and the timeless traditions. I made new friends, and went on long rides to beautiful destinations. I sat around a campfire in the wilderness with a cowboy telling stories. I had seen stunning land features, from rivers, enormous snow-capped mountains, and green meadows filled with wild flowers. I have lived on a farm all of my life and seen nature and beauty, but nothing compared to T Cross and the Washakie wilderness.”