Equestrian Travel Destinations | High Wild and Lonesome Horseback Adventures (WY)

High Wild and Lonesome Horseback Adventures (WY)

Wyoming

In Depth

Fly into Jackson Hole, Wyoming and join Bobbi % 26 Mike Wade in 2008 for their 9th season of good Horses, no fences, wide-open spaces, and FUN!

Girls Ride Out!: Every now and again, a woman needs to be free from the responsibilities of caring for and meeting the needs of others for awhile, to focus on her own well-being and pursue some of her own dreams. Today, women have the means and the time to make those dreams become a reality and for the Cowgirl at heart, there is nothing better for her soul than the whisper of a summer wind on her skin and the unique feel of a good saddle Horse under her, as he lopes across the open range of Wyoming with other women who share those same desires. What women really want is to shed off the piled-up stress of daily life, eat great food, enjoy a good drink, to engage with other women in lots of laughter and to breathe deep of fresh, desert air. Peace and quiet alone, and sincere, quality time with friends both old and new will help you gain a perspective that may have been lost for awhile, as you ride stirrup to stirrup with other Cowgirls of the sage.

Active Rides on Good Horses: High Wild % 26 Lonesome horseback adventures are not to be confused with dull “nose to tail” trail rides. A lifetime of outfitting experience has taught us that you will appreciate riding gentle, energetic, savvy Quarter Horses from the remuda. The rides are safe and controlled, yet physically active. Where practical, riders ride abreast and extended gaits such as the lope are favored, when and where appropriate.

Open-Range horsemanship philosophies and methods are practiced and taught throughout the week. The instruction is not formal, but ongoing, practical application whenever you are around the saddle Horses. You will be a much more confident and knowledgeable horsewoman at the conclusion of your horseback experience.

Away From the Crowds: One of the greatest benefits that you will enjoy when you choose a High Wild % 26 Lonesome horseback riding vacation is the intimate, exclusive experience that is not often found with guest ranches, pack outfits, working ranches or other trail rides where 12-50 riders are common. A smaller group means more personal attention, more privacy and more individual space. You won’t get lost in a crowd at High Wild % 26 Lonesome; group size is limited to 8 enthusiastic riders per week.

Home on the Range: You will live out on the trail in a full-amenity, vehicle-supported, wilderness-style camp. Sleep out under the stars or in a roomy, weather-proof canvas tent. A thick foam pad under your bedroll, plus the pure Wyoming air, promises you a good nights’ sleep. Wash off the trail dust at the end of the days’ ride in a hot shower or take a refreshing dip in the cool waters of the river just a step away from your tent door.

The Cowboy kitchen is the heart of the camp, where your camp cook uses Dutch ovens over an open fire to serve you hearty, western-style meals. Settle into your camp easy chair, pour yourself a cup of steaming hot Cowboy coffee and enjoy a varied menu with fresh meats, crisp salads, homemade biscuits and breads, and, if you still have room, desserts made from scratch.

At nightfall, take your favorite beverage and join the crew around the campfire. Enjoy old-time and contemporary western music and poetry, and maybe a few good stories from your wranglers. Some of these tales might even be true!

Wide Open Spaces: When you to ride with High Wild % 26 Lonesome, you will be horseback in the midst of the wide-open spaces of Wyoming, with 100-mile vistas stretching between the horizons. Ride along the Continental Divide as it crosses the Red Desert or into the Honeycombs badlands wilderness of the Great Divide Basin. Find yourself along the banks of the Sweetwater River as it winds its way like a ribbon of refreshment through the high, cool desert.

This tall and uncut Country is the home of the true western perspective. Cowboys, wild horses, historic trails, and ancient Native American campsites are still a part of this landscape. The fences are few and far between, "civilization" is a long way off and the freedom to ride is limited only by your desire.

Ride with the Wades: You are personally invited to join Mike and Bobbi Wade, and our teenage daughters Emily and Amanda, for the ninth season of this unique horseback experience. You have our word that you will go home with a fresh perspective and a renewed sense of self. So get ready to pull your cinch, catch a stirrup and ride with High Wild % 26 Lonesome!

About Your Hosts: Both of us were born and raised on small family ranches, third generation natives, in eastern Wyoming. There were the four kids in Mike's family, with a fifth younger brother coming along later; Bobbi’s family had four kids. For both of us, the ranches we lived on were a family operation, with no hired men to do the work. All of us grew up doing all the things that grown men did before the big ranches changed and became family ranches. We spent our youth working at trailing and branding cattle, training colts, riding and exploring the many natural and historic features of our home country. Bobbi lived on a couple of ranches along the banks of Rawhide Creek; one outfit was located at the site of the Rawhide Stage Station of the Cheyenne-Deadwood Stage Line. She grew up riding the “bronc” saddle she still uses, which also was used by her brother and his team of wild horse racers, to win the event at Cheyenne Frontier Days several years running.

Mike was raised on the open prairies, at a place called Prairie Center to be exact. He and his Cowboy buddies made many drives of cattle over 60 miles from the prairie to higher elevation summer pastures, riding young horses and camping at one of Wild Bill Hickok’s favorite spots along Rawhide Creek. Both our dads had worked for many years on different old-time ranches north of Lingle, Wyoming as Cowboys (I can remember that they still used the chuckwagon during branding in the spring, when I was only a year or so old, early '60's). They later both became ranchers on their own places, but they are still Cowboys more than anything else. So, we were raised in the true "Cowboy tradition" of eastern Wyoming, just a few miles from the Texas Trail and the Pony Express Trail.

We both worked cattle horseback from the time we were about 5 years old and put in long days Cowboyin’, building fence, haying, irrigating and feeding in the winter, around school and activities, while growing up. After graduating high school, Mike started guiding hunters in 1977, in the Teton Wilderness north of Jackson, and also worked extensively as a packer and horse wrangler during those years. He always had an intense interest in wildlife, guns, hunting, trapping, horses and wild country and we often said he had been born a hundred years later than he should have been. After we were married in 1979, we both spent the next 10% 2B years packing all over the Teton Wilderness and other areas of Wyoming, taking guests on pack trips and into hunting camps. Bobbi started as a cook's helper on pack trips and learned to pack mules that first year, then went with Mike back into a wilderness elk hunting camp, 56 miles horseback from the road and worked as camp cook and horse wrangler.

We chose outfitting as the industry to build our careers in, learning the trade from the ground up. After about 20 years or so of working for others and running our own hunting business, the time came to make a change that would bring us back closer to our heritage and High Wild % 26 Lonesome LLC was born.

Our long and varied career has taught us that the best approach to a successful and enjoyable horseback adventure vacation for all our guests requires a handful of simple, straightforward things. Those things are to provide an active, hands-on horseback experience for small groups of people, quality ranch-style Quarter Horses to ride, remote locations that put folks in the heart of the real “wide-open spaces” and a comfortable yet genuine Cowboy camp atmosphere. These features provide every guest with the individual attention they deserve and appreciate.

We have both lived a very adventurous life and in spite of coming from a background that was very isolated and sheltered from the mainstream, (or as we joke, we were raised "at the head of the creek") somewhere along the line we knew we wanted to share the best things about the Cowboy way, as we knew and believed them to be, with people who had a sincere interest in experiencing what for us is a life, and a very good life at that. It is our belief that High Wild % 26 Lonesome LLC is a genuine reflection of what we have lived and what we envision. There is always an open invitation to you to pull your cinch, catch a stirrup and ride for the high points with us across these wild, wide-open spaces we call home.

Activities

Natural Horsemanship, Pack Trips

Additional Activities

Women-Only Rides, Mixed Group Rides, Open Range, Field Clinics, Horseback Riding Lessons, Trail Riding, Western Riding

Accommodations

You will live out on the trail in a full-amenity, vehicle-supported, wilderness-style camp. Sleep out under the stars or in a roomy, weatherproof canvas tent. A thick foam pad under your bedroll, plus the pure Wyoming air, promises you a good night’s sleep. Wash off the trail dust at the end of the days’ ride in a hot shower. Sleeping bags available to borrow if you don't have one of your own.