Colorado's High Lonesome Ranch by Tom Keer originally printed in Colorado Stratos

Colorado's The HiUhloneso Ran Exactlyaswild asyou u)ant,

By TomKeer Cf nooze buttons are seldom hit on alarm \ V clocksduring the Fall at The High Lonesome Ranch.

Many times the alarm clocks continue to ring and there is no one there to listen to them. \tVitha castand blast aheadof me,I'm too excitedto sleep.

As I drive from my cabin to the main lodge I passthrough multiple valleys and alpine mesa mountains. Scattered throughout them were wild horses, elk, mule deer, and pheasant,all supervisedby the bald eaglesflp"g above.TheL0minute drive to the log ranch headquarterstakes me a half hour,mostly becauseI cant drive more than a few feet without stoppingto look around.As I pulled up in front of the authentic, pioneerhomestead,completewith a long porch,hitching post, and tin roof, I wonder what john Waynewould think of this place.

I'mdizzl with anticipationasto whatAunt Linda hasin store for this moming's breakfastand bide my time nursing a cup of High Lonesome'sspecial-blendof roastedcoffee.Sometimes her Southem heritagewill shine with biscuits and Savy. Other times, she gives carbohydratesthe no4 with the range being French toast, bluebeny pancakes,homemade muffins and pasfries,all made from scratch.Or maybe scrambledeggswith her homemadesals4a sideof toastand sausage.Ifs bestto eat every bite. Not only is every morsel delicious, but also the calorieswill get bumed up throughout the ld.I get thrown a pleasantcunreball: we're hqf The d

kenneled up and ready to hunt. The Arnold's recently movedon to the ranchto overseethe dramaticallyexpanded hunting dog program. A new 46-dogkennel was built and English pointers joined the labs and pointing labs. With over300squa-re miles of leased and deededland, thesedogs are well conditionedand have seenmorethan their fair-share of birds.

Todaywill be both legsof a castand blast for me.We'll begin with a morning hunt followed by * aftemoon fish. The cool mornings make for good scentingconditions and the dogs dont overheatin the earlyseason.And it works well for fishing too. After a cool evening the trout may be a bit lazy in the momings,but after the sun haswarmed them up they'll whack hoppersand Stimulatorsall aftemoon.

As I headoutsideto meetmy guideI watch a co{porategroup that is milling around the conferencecenter.Th"y look very seriousthis moming but I dont feel too bad for them asI listen to the ranch conciergeshoreup their aftemoonplans.

"So we'll vwapup around noon and then break out into our aftemoonactivities.Sixwill shoot claysand then hunt, four will flyfish, five will horsebackride, and the restwill play a round of golf;' Flmmm, a mixed bag.I wished I had worked for a company like theirs.

After breakfastI headto the FiveStand.Targetpresentationis mostly along the lines of what I'll seein the field, from right to left and left to right crossingshots,to those quartering away.

Thereare a few fun variationsto keep me on my toes,like the

high incoming targets and the springing teal. A flurry was added this year to simulate a high-driven shoot, and the clays fly fast and furious. There are two walking shooting courses, a Pheasant and a Quail Walk Up as well. If you're missing more clays than you'd care to, the guides are all NSCA Level L certified shooting instructors and give geat pointers. The clays are addicting and while I would be happy buming through a case of shells, (particularly on the fluny) I get the choice to stay and break more claysor to go hunt birds.That's an easyone and so down the long road I go.

A seriesof coverts adjoin the creek bottom. On one side of the creek are wheat and rye fields, and across the road is a sage and oak-brush flat. They are two totally different types of cover, and the guide decides to run a pointing lab. The dog casts back and forthu back and forthu and then locks up.

"I wonder what's under his nose?"

"Looks like a covey from the way he's looking."

Sure enough, it was a covey of quail that got up at our feet and flew in all directions. Unless you see a running bird there is no telling what is under the dog's nose. It might be a pheasant, chukkar or Hungarian partridge, and scaled and Gambel's quail. Sometimes a single rooster flushes, other times a part of Huns, and still others a covey of Gambel's. I'm glad I brought plenty of shells.

If I headed back for lunch, Aunt Linda would have served up homemade tomato soup, a grilled buffalo burger with blue cheese,and lettuce and tomatoes from the ranch garden. Many of the fruits and vegetables come from a track of land not far from the kitchen, and the produce can not get any fresher. I'm still firll from her wonderful breakfast and was more interested in fishing, so I eat a big fat sandwich with chips and some freshly baked chocolate chip cookies on the truck's tailgate. So much for cutting calories.

There is a spring creek that connects a series of ponds

together and createsone of the most interesting shallow water sight fishing scenarios I've ever seen in 35 years of fly fishing.

The ponds are shallow and natural with brookie, brown, rainbow and cuttbow trout cruising along weed beds, channels and blow down. In many instances you can pick the fish you want to cast to. If you've got the right fly you'll catch'em up...unless another trout is quicker on the draw and gets to your fly first.

That happened when I stood in a recessalong the bank. The kidney shaped pool was about three feet deep perfectly clea(, and cold. I kept watching an enormous trout move in and around a log sipping small mayflies off the water's surface. I waited for him to finish his counter-clockwise circle and dropped my Goddard Caddis four feet ahead of his path. He saw it and started to swim more quickly, moving what looked to be 4 or 5 pounds of brown trout with him. I did not see the bogey in the perimeter, and alas, a L2-inch rainbow sprinted to intercept the fly. I could only laugh. I repeated this progam all aftemoon.

After a quick shower it was cocktail time. We began with a wine tasting with a selection of Cabs, Zins, and Merlots. There are several vineyards in the Grand Junction area,each of which offers wine tastings, vineyard tours, and even gape stomping during the Harvest.

Dinner at the ranch is a casual affau, but just try and tell that to your taste buds. Renowned Texas chef Doug Atkinson is at the helm in the evenings, bringing 20 years of culinary mastery and innovative contemporary ranch cuisine to the table.You'll find sensational dishes like a wood-fired cowboy rib eye with red Chile steak butter or an oak-roasted pheasant breast with habanero-peach chutney. He often chooses to grill outdoors where guests can watch, tak, and participate as they sip local wines and stargaze.

After dinner I head back to my cabin get ready for tomorrow.

In the morning I'll head to Meeker to fish the K-T ranch and the White River. The K-T is a High Lonesome Properly which includes 6.1 miles of owned and leased water and three spring creeks.And the day after that I'll hunt for the moming and the afternoon. After that it'll be time to make the short drive to Grand Junction's Walker Field Airport. That time will come, but it is not now. Right now I've got to get some sleep. I've got a moming meeting with a big brown trout and I cant wait. The High Lonesome Ranch in DeBeque, Colorado can be reached at970.283.9420or atzuuttn.thehighlonesomeranch.com.

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