My normal day is filled from sun up to sun down with endless tasks: Feed the horses, clean the cabins, rake the leaves, harvest, can the harvest, feed the horses, watch our grandchildren, drive the shuttle, breakfast, lunch, dinner for our many guests...well you get the idea.  Life is full of little payback moments though.  They all add up to a joyous, happy, and well lived life.  Today, as I often do, I took a few moments of solitude after getting everyone off on the river.  It was barely light. River mist filled the cold air that frosted my breath.  The river felt cold as I waded out even though I was in waders.  Once I was standing in my desired space I cast my line across the river and watched as it slowly swung across the current, cutting it's own path through the water.  I looked up at the mountains, trees, and clouds of this beautiful place I am blessed to call home and peace filled my soul.  Fifteen or so casts later all of a sudden my line squeals with delight as my rod bends toward the water.  Twenty-five minutes later after much jumping, diving, and tail walking I am holding a 22" adult steelhead and gently removing the hook from his mouth.  I bend over and cradle him in the water letting him take the initiative to swim away.  He flips his tail at me as he rushes away and once again I am left in the glorious peaceful solitude of the river.

While our primary target audience at Marble Mountain Ranch is families traveling with kids, we often have clients seeking a serene spot sans the distraction of young-uns.  For us, the answer is simple: come when the kids are in school.

After September first, it seems that most of the schools are in full swing. Our ranch guest population, by default, now turns into a more adult crowd.  The guest profile now is composed of couples, solo travelers, and groups of women/men traveling for a common purpose. 

One of our popular Fall offerings at Marble Mountain Ranch is our Bed and Breakfast Cooking Retreat .  This event  emphasizes the culinary experience here and is ideal for couples  or women's travel.  The Fall season also coincides with the prime fly fishing season and one fun variation of the "couples travel" theme is to mix daily fly fishing for steelhead trout and upscale dining and wine pairings in the evening.


Groups of women/girls traveling is a growing travel trend and has been a common theme at Marble Mountain Ranch.  The emphasis  for these groups has been on the horses, with group trail rides, and on team rafting or the dining experience...and getting crazy at times.  Yes, we call these "GURLS" groups. 

Solo women travelers also will find the dude ranch experience to be a safe and rewarding option.  Here you can mix adventure with an outdoor venue that is comfortably managed for solo traveling. 

The opportunity to enjoy spectacular Fall colors, serene mountain settings, horseback trail riding, fly fishing, and rafting without the intrusion of children makes this the ideal time to plan for your girls outing or that romantic get-away you are dreaming of.

See you this next Fall!   Doug

My favorite things...
    Family, friends and flowers are my favorite things. 

Saturday I got to spend the morning with Taylor hiking along the Klamath river and teaching her to cast.  We had lots of fun, saw a huge salmon (didn't catch it), followed some bear prints, and collected rocks. 

I am looking forward to lots of family time and time with friends this coming week for Thanksgiving and am very grateful for family, friends, and flowers in my life.  

Heidi

All things Pear…from Heidi at the Marble Mountain Ranch kitchens

 Most of the fall is usually fishy, with fishermen coming and going for our steelhead fly fishing trips , or nutty, with walnuts and pecans dropping both nuts and leaves faster than I can pick them up.  However,  today all things centered around Pears at our family ranch.  Although we did not have much of a pear harvest from our own trees this year, due to odd spring/summer weather, we were blessed to be able to obtain pears from our church farm in Medford Oregon.  Today I woke up with the daunting task of figuring out what to do with 120 pounds of pears after having already processed about 60 pounds of Bartlett pears.  Today I was working with Comice, D’anjou, and Bosc pears.  My counters are now covered with beautiful jars of pickled pears, pear honey, and pear mincemeat.  We enjoyed the pear mincemeat with our pork tenderloin tonight and smothered our corn bread in pear honey. YUM!  Hope you are all having a marvelous fall.  It’s a glorious time of year filled with lots of color and the harvests of the season. 

Here is a another of  my "what's in the refrigerator"  blog entries, title Autumn Pear Torte

Autumn Pear Torte

Ingredients

    * 2 1/2 cups flour

    * 8 oz. (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into 1 inch lengths

    * 1/4 cup sugar

    * 1/8 tsp. salt

    * 1 egg yolk

    * 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

    * 2 tsp. water

    * 1/3 cup fine breadcrumbs (or ground almonds)

    * 6 ripe (d’Anjou or Comice) pears

    * 1/2 cup sugar

    * 4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) butter, cut into 1 inch lengths

    * 1 1/4 cup blanched or unblanched almonds

    * 1 egg

    * 1 tsp. flour

    * 1/2 cup heavy cream

    * 8 oz. mascarpone

Instructions

To make the pastry, put the flour, butter, sugar, and salt in a food

processor, and process until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. In a small bowl or measuring cup, mix together the egg yolk, with the vanilla and water. With the machine running, pour in this mixture and process until the dough just comes together. Press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of a 10 inch springform pan and chill until needed.

Meanwhile, peel, halve, and core the pears. Spread the breadcrumbs over the bottom of the prepared tart shell, and arrange the pears all over the bottom with the rounded side out. You may need to cut some of the pears to fit in the shell.

To make the filling, put the sugar, butter, almonds, whole egg, flour in the food processor and process until smooth. Cover the pears with the almond mixture. Bake in a preheated 375 degree oven until golden brown, approx. 1 hour. Let rest for an hour before serving (This torte will keep in the fridge for a week). Serve with lightly sweetened whipped cream mixed with mascarpone.  Serves 8

 

This year we are starting an new program of Bed and Breakfast culinary retreats .   The pear torte will be highlighted on one of our upcoming classes.    We hope you can join us!~  Heidi Cole

When Peter, our eldest son, left San Francisco and his career path of law to return home, I doubt he thought about the possibility of his running  horse camps at Marble Mountain Ranch.   Of all our activity offerings here on the ranch, horses are his least favorite.   He loves the whitewater, enjoys the guiding for fly fishermen, and the shooting, and the background raising of his two daughters in the old-school nuclear family setting.  Oh yea, the gardening suits him well also. horse camps

Are youlooking for a great get away for this Memorial Day?  Come enjoy thesplendor of the Klamath Corridor in its springtime beauty.  At thistime of year we have both the Klamath and the California Salmonavailable to meet all levels of rafting abilities.  The canyons aregreen and lush and wild flowers are everywhere.  Spring snow melt makesthe California Salmon one of the Northwest's premier spring runs.  Ifyou are not up for the Class IV –V drops of the Cal Salmon join us onthe Main Klamath in the afternoons and take the mornings to enjoy somebeautiful spring trail riding, shooting on the range or hiking.  Asalways Marble Mountain Ranch has something for everyone!

3 night / 4 Day Cal Salmon Package –  $ 810.00/person
3 nights private lodging
2 days on the California Salmon
Monday morning trail ride and Shooting Range
All meals from dinner Friday night thru lunch on Monday

3 night / 4 day Klamath River Package - $810.00/person
3 nights private lodging
2 afternoons on the Wild and Scenic Klamath River
3 mornings trail rides and shooting range
All meals from dinner Friday night thru lunch on Monday

Marble Mountain Ranch is far removed from any connection to municipal services such as electrical power, drinking water, and septic disposal.   If we want these services, we have to create them.  When we came to the ranch in 1994 I recall the paradigm shift in my thinking as I came to realize that throwing on a light switch did not necessarily mean that the light would glow.  I previously always took it for granted that the water spigot would flow freely every time I opened the valve.

We regularly have natural events here that make me realize just how exposed we are by living in the human condition.  Our forests are endemic to fires, the rivers regularly flood, the roads slip off the mountain, the mountains slip to the rivers, and on - and - on.  A few weeks ago we had a 6.5 magnitude earthquake 10 miles off the coast from Eureka and the North part of the state was well shaken.  However, decades of following our civic leaders in construction practices utilizing the uniform building code, and the grace of God helped us to survive this one without any fatalities and with relatively small increments of damage.  Just as I was feeling smug about how in control and self reliant we are here, we got word about the quake in Haiti. Now my heart bleeds for a nation broken.

I am not really sure where I am going with this blog entry, other than to say my heart hurts and that  I commit to be as self reliant and prepared for emergency as I possibly can be.    I suppose this is the point, now that I have arrived:  There is little I can do as an individual for a distant nation, but there is much I can do as an individual for preparing myself,  my immediate family and for being at the ready for service to my home community. 

We do in fact, already open our doors to host firefighters during those Summers that we are called to battle forest fires in the area.   We have opened our doors to neighbors with riparian homes threatened by floods.   We continue to live as much in a self reliant and prepared fashion as we are capable of doing.   Still, my thanks go to those who are dirtying their hands and growing their hearts while in service to the souls of our neighbor nation - Haiti.

I think that self reliance and preparedness goes beyond having the physical infrastructure to survive a natural catastrophe or personal life trauma.  I think it connects to emotional stability, and generally optimistic views of reality.  It means more than fiscal preparedness or owning deep savings accounts.  It means having a full memory bank of good life moments while navigating the vicissitudes of our lives. 

OK< time to step off the soap box...Meanwhile, here are some views from  some good times at our home on the Klamath River:




Later, 
Doug

It seems that our past season has not only motivated movie producers to change life styles, but we have invaded the realm of teenage fashion trends!    This is a fun response from our last Thanksgiving e-mail blast that you might enjoy reading as well:

Hi guys,
Phil and I so want to do this, but Phil’s great-grandmother will be visiting over the holidays whom we never see.  She lives in Miami. So the families are all putting together a family party that weekend.  I was waiting to talk with Phil’s mom before I responded.
 
The ranch has provided the girls with such fond memories.  During their first week back at school they needed to write about their summers in class.  They both wrote pages and pages about their experiences at Marble Mountain.  We hope to make an annual visit out to visit you guys.  Also, I thought you’d appreciate this – I took Breanna to buy an outfit for school.  We walked around and around and she could’nt decide on any one thing.  I finally said:  “Why can’t you pick something?”  She said:  “Well I think the problem is I’m a cowgirl now, and I don’t really fit here J.”  She ended up with a plaid shirt and jeans…
 
We hope you are all well.  Please keep us in the loop with updates, and we haven’t forgotten about the photos.  Phil will send.
 
Hugs to the family…
Aly Ben-Joseph

Heidi and I felt an unusually close kinship to the Ben-Joseph family and we look forward to to many return visits.  As to the fashion trends, we suggest that Breanna visit our daughter Cierra in the forthcoming "Marble Mountain Ranch cowboy fashion walk" as the girls demonstrate the proper application of the cowboy boot in formal dining settings.  I particularly am fond of the fixed blade bone handled sheath knife as a strikingly daring fashion statement.   Oh, Breanna, also never under estimate the attention demanding qualities of the foot-Teva tan.   This is a sure sign that you are a tenured river runner.   The foot-Teva tan is also particularly effective as an attention getter in highlighting minimalist shoe styles at formal events.  Ya know, I think it also might be a good time to build a ranch retreat with an agenda  of "How to properly accessorize for a dude ranch holiday"    

On a closing note Breanna, let me highlight a couple of our favorite forward thinking fashion trend setters that you can aspire to  imitate in your dude ranch fashion aspirations.  Please pay special attention to the on-going development of their "Teva-tans" and we suggest less dependence on the plastic cup as a fashion accessory.


Well, gotta go find my plaid shirt and start the day.Doug

We have enjoyed reading the responses from a short e-mail blast we did to this years customers.  We simply wanted to say "hi" and to put the word out about a Thanksgiving program we are offering.  Everyone has responded back with wonderfully heart-felt thanks for the experiences that they had with us.  One response in particular was overwhelming.

The family I am talking about was a father (Hollywood producer for special effects on movies such as Spiderman, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc) and his sons.  Mom had to stay back to tend the newborn family addition.  Their visit with us was so profound, that he sold is current production, moved to Omaha, and changed lifestyles to more closely mirror what they found here!   I think you might find this interesting enough that I am going to post it in it's full form with the names removed:

Dear Cole's:
 
Thank you so much for your invitation to spend Thanksgiving with you, but we're going to have to pass this year.  You see much has happened since our visit, and a big part of it relates to you.  Our visit to Marble Mountain had a profound effect on the boys and me, and Erin and I decided to pack our bags and head back to the Midwest.  We're living in Omaha now and looking at several farms in the general area.
 
I sold the rights and screenplay to my project, which funded our decision, and I'm currently producing and directing a musical theater production in Omaha.  It's an original thing that I wrote based on the civil rights movement in Omaha, which was quite tumultuous - the damage created is still an intense problem that haunts the city.  Hopefully, I can build some bridges.  At least I feel it's God's work, so it's all good.
 
In any event, have a great holiday.  We'll be thinking of you.  It sounds fabulous.
 
All the Best,
John Doe

Sometimes I feel a bit like our business has a second calling in the Karma of the globe.  In addition to the obvious fiscal funding of our  "families Cole", the profit motive is intertwined with a welcome invitation to the world to enter our home and for a brief period experience the net result of the traditional nuclear family raised in a rural, work laden, God fearing, peace filled setting. 

As we serve our guests in the course of the week's activities, we are able to bond with new friends of every religion, race, creed, politic, and lifestyle.  It seems that the vast majority of our guests are joined by a common search for soul enriching experiences.  Sometimes these moments come at unexpected moments as we share our time together in clean recreation, relaxation, and soul sharing.  Over 40 years ago, I experienced a connection with my life calling when I leaned back on my guide raft in the morning and felt the warming rays of the sun as I waited for the rest of our guide team to finish rigging their boats.  I have spent much of my life recreating that very moment from my first year of guiding 

The growth and enrichment is not just uni-directional, but lightens the lives of the Cole family as well.  This last Summer, I saw our guest, Joan, and I new she was experiencing her version of that same moment as she watched her son playing in Rock Creek, and as she too was warmed by the sun.


 
We love our life together on the ranch, we hope you can join us in the future, and we hope all of our guests who joined us this past year have had their lives touched and enriched.  Doug

"Over the river and through the woods, to Marble Mountain we go...."  Plan for the best Thanksgiving ever!  Imagine spending your holiday fishing for steelhead, horseback riding, cutting your own Christmas tree, shooting sporting clays, or taking a thrilling jet boat tour to the mouth of the Klamath!   To top it all off, we will do all the cooking and the dishes!  Get ready to enjoy the most relaxing and memorable Thanksgiving ever.

This all inclusive Thanksgiving vacation package is  5 nights/ 6 days and costs only $1100/adult, $999/youth (4 - 13 years), and $500 / little Buckaroos (2-4 years).  Give us a call so we can go over the details.  The food will of course be stellar and set to holiday themes.

Hope to see you here!   Doug and Heidi