california dude ranch

Living Large At Marble Mountain Ranch

moderator — Fri, 09 May 2008 06:24:00 GMT

Life is in-your-face-large at the Marble Mountain Ranch. During the dry Summer months we stage slash from tree trimmings, and ranch landscaping into a burn pile that grows to unbelievably large size during the course of the season. It becomes a tricky endeavor not tipping over the tractor while ramping up the pile with a back-hoe loaded with cuttings. The celebratory burn pile ignition has become a bit of a New Years Eve tradition, complete with projectile ignitions centered on critical mass fuel load cores saturated with highly flammable ignition exciters. In other words, we make giant smokey fires that light up the canyon on wet Winter days.

The "boys with big toys" game continues into the horse arena as we clean the corral and build equally giant compost piles with our endless supply of horse manure. The game here, is to NOT ignite the pile, and to stop it from even thinking about spontaneous combustion. The Maniacal Marble Mountain Manure Movers are county-wide recognized as the record holders for producing the single largest equine dung debris depot. Take a look at this years entry into the record books:

Local organic gardeners are always on the doorstep awaiting news of this years fertilizer production schedule and the Orleans Forest Service Fire Crews usually make weekly compost inspections to ensure that core temperatures do not exceed combustion thresholds. You see, I have a reputation as a bit of a fire builder.

For those knowledgeable in equine manure production, the real concern is in the economics of the pile. With current grass alfalfa selling at about $280/ton delivered, the production cost of this years manure pile is a rather depressing concept. Thank goodness for the therapy of the tractor and the capacity to live and stack large as a means to find relief from the emotional burden of manure production costs and other hazards of ranch life.

Coming Next: Therapy and soul corrections with ranch life!

Cheers, Doug

Nobody gets there on their own

moderator — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 23:08:22 GMT

A frequently asked question from our guests is how we got into the "Dude Ranch" business. I don't want to go into all the historical details at this point, except as it relates to my recently passed "Uncle Bud". Uncle Bud (Calvin Cole) and Aunt Nola, were my first connection to ranches, farming, and horses. My father, seen here with his brother Bud, would appear to have been interested in horses, based on this photo from his early childhood. But this is the only image I have seen of my father even close enough to touch a horse.

As the two brothers made their life choices, Uncle Bud generally stuck to the simple ranch/ farm lifestyle while my father traveled the globe in the military, and in career paths that took him through several Western states. My Uncle Bud and Aunt Nola's central Utah ranch home became my youthful summertime exposure to horses.

Aunt Nola's charitable, giving persona made her a natural for sharing her love of horses with the local 4-H clubs, and with me, the ignorant city nephew who just wanted to jump from corral fence to horse back, and GO!

The horsemanship I gleaned from those early summer rides gave me more of a comfort zone around horses than a technically proficient riding skill. A typical riding adventure for me often included a LONG walk home with my cousin Gordon, while watching the back side of our horse as it galloped home with it's saddle under it's belly. Since I couldn't figure out how "old red" could have a snugly fit saddle at the barn, and a loose girth cinch away from home, I just resorted to riding bare-back.   Yes, I now know, horses can suck air to tighten up against the cinch and cleverly release the air once the ignorant rider (me) has mounted and cued the horse to move-out.

Nola and Bud were the epitome of loving, honest, good people. Here are some select Bud and Nola mantras:

1. "Remember Doug, Horses do Horse THINGS!"   yep, I have come to learn the truth of this one.

2. "Ya know Doug, lots of folks know how to get up on a horse, but not too many people know when and how to get OFF a horse!"   and yep, I have come to learn the truth of this one too.

3. "No riding today Doug, It's the Sabbath, and horses deserve a day of rest too".    Well, as a sometimes defiant youth, I must confess that there were a few Sundays when I didn't ride, but I did test the maximum distance I could jump from the corral fence while landing on the back of "old red". Since the rides didn't generally last too long, I figured it was not necessarily a breach of the Sabbath.

Uncle Bud passed this last month, and has rejoined his loving wife Nola. Uncle Bud and Aunt Nola were excited to come to help Heidi and I with the start-up of our stock program here in the first year of Marble Mountain Ranch, and my thoughts go to them on nearly every one of my rides. Here is one last parting shot of a great mentor and friend, my Uncle Bud. Bud and Nola took me to the basics, like learning how to return to the barn with the same number of horses the ride started with.   This is good stuff.

Till next ride, Doug

Klamath Wildlife as explained by the Somes Bar Liars Club

moderator — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 08:31:46 GMT

Many of our guests come from a life centered in a highly populated metropolitan or urban setting. Some of the probing questions about conditions here are often quite entertaining and illustrate the dramaticly different lifestyle paradigms. For example:

"Which off-ramp do I take off of the I-96?"   answer:   "There are no off-ramps, unless you consider an exiting spur-road to be an offramp."

"If there are no off-ramps, how will I get into Somes Bar from the highway?"   answer: "Stop your car and open the door"

"But won't the Bears eat my children if I open the door?" answer: "uh....no.    Excuse me, I need to cough.   Hack, chortle, snort, snort, snort."

"Was that a bear I heard"   answser: "no"

"Do you have insects there" answer: "yes"

"Really? How many insects do you have?" answer: "lots"

As you can see, if you start getting one word answers to your questions over the phone, this could be a red-flag indicator that you are a likely candidate to become fodder for the "Somes Bar Liars Club".    As president, CEO, Secretariate, and founder of the Somes Bar Liars Club, I take personal interest in persons appearing to be gullible, since I am always on the search to recruit an audience for a liars club story.   Here is where the fun really starts.

"In fact, we have species of insects in the Klamath Forest, that are a Klamath biome dependant single niche entity.   Take the 'Flying Scorpion" for example.   This is the only insect that is predator to the bald-faced hornet, a wasp that is so potent in it's sting that it has been determined to be the single most important reason for the decline in the Klamath Elk population.   Whole herds have been decimated by swarming bald faced hornets. And as you know the bald faced hornet is also the most voracious predator to the yellow jacket.   The food chain is uniquely vertically structured here and is thankfully supportive of homonid populations residing near the top of the chain. You may not realize this, but the flying scorpion is a symbiote to the human form, acting as silent protector and guardian to the species.
Since bald faced hornets consider the human pheromone profile to be the compass to a nutritious complex-fatty-acid meal source, they would quickly decimate our population as well, were it not for the interference of the defending swarms of flying scorpion. It's really quite dramatic scene when viewed from horse-back.   The hornets in hot pursuit of a yellow jacket hive get distracted by the approaching scent of humans on horseback and we see the sudden change in flight path as they move in our direction.   Now, this is where it gets really interesting.

The increased wing-beat frequency rate of the excited bald faced hornet sends supersonic in-audible signals to the shy and often unseen flying scorpion hive that is called in to duty. While zeroing in on the sound of the excited hornets, these little Stealth Bombers swoop down and grasp the hornet, paralyzing it with a sting from the scorpion tail, then biting off the head of the hornet.   This continues until the invading hornets are entirely exterminated and their head-less corpses are neatly piled in anticipation of the ceremonial hornet feast."

Usually, I am talking to the dull drone of a empty-line ring signal about this time....oh well, another sale is lost, and my angry family is beating my body with what ever kitchen appliance is close at hand.

Where are the Scorpions when you really need them?

In closing, here is a picture of an elk family from last year.   Notice the perked ears and the anxious looks as they survey the horizon for the sound of the approaching hornet wing -beat.   Run!!! Run away!!!

Cheers:   Doug

Life Moments

moderator — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 17:40:19 GMT

One of the most rewarding points to our life on a guest ranch is the intensity of our existence. In many ways we are living the 100 year-old frontier nuclear family life that our pioneer ancestors experienced. Life is always "in your face" with real urgency. It might be the foaling mare, the struggle to maintain our hydroelectric power-plant, the battle to survive the winter storm, or any other of the countless "moments" we live.

When our guests arrive on the ranch, those life moments come in equal intensity to them as they "push the envelope" into new territories. We see city born and raised kids scampering up mossy boulders to the waterfall and swimming through creek water that is so cold it HURTS! Wild-eyed excitement is contagious when we share a child's discovery of a "warm" chicken egg fresh plucked from the roost, or when a timid rider learns proper "presence" on the back of a horse.

I honestly feel that my life and my family is blessed beyond measure with the opportunity we have of making our living in this setting. My thanks then go to all who enable our life here, including you, our clients and friends.

Here is one of our campfire games that's an exciting new challenge for many visitors: the lariat toss.
Doug

"The best vacation ever!"

moderator — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 21:29:38 GMT

January is our time to market, remodel, and reacquaint with our families. During our busy Summers, we are essentially on-call with our guests 24-7 and it becomes difficult at times to remember ourselves as individuals and family members. So, our quiet Winter months can in some regards be treasured times to re-prioritize and renew our place in our primary families.

But! We still love our guests and look forward to your return! To that end, I am going to share a testimonial from Summer:

"To all the Coles and Katie too...We had the "Best vacation ever" to quote Chris, Sam, Nat and Brandon. Thank you for your patience and hospitality. We all had an awesome time, even considering my elegant dismount., Thank you for all the New Memories to Cherish. The Coxes - Matt, Jan, Nicole, Chris, Sammie and Natalie

The Difference

moderator — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 18:41:12 GMT

We sometimes get asked "What makes Marble Mountain different from other dude ranches?" I think I'll address that question for today's blog entry.   Two fundamental differences between us and other Dude Ranches are: "owner involvement" and secondly "product diversity."

OWNER INVOLVEMENT
Our family is directly involved in every aspect of Marble Mountain Ranch operations. While we do have employees, we still have family placed at some level in every operational aspect of the ranch. For example, Heidi is the lead chef but she has sous chefs assisting in the kitchen. Rafting guides number between 5-6 with current operations, but every trip leaving the ranch has at least myself, or one of my children (now adults) as a piece of the guiding equation. Wrangling also incorporates non family cowboys/cowgirls, but I am wrangling on every pack trip and on most rides leaving the ranch. This means that we have more control over risk management, quality control and guest relations. It also means we will never be able to expand to that 200 guest capacity operation you find in some locations.

PRODUCT DIVERSITY
I'll put it out on the table now that if you only want to ride horses on your vacation, you might be happier at another ranch. If you want a riding opportunity each day but also are interested in rafting, kayaking, fishing, sporting clays, hiking and group activities such as Karaoke, ranch crafting, and camp fire activities, then come here.   Yes, we have a great riding program with lessons, beginner rides, advanced rides, and wilderness pack trips, but our signature is in offering "mixed activity days" to meet interests of whole families.   Sometimes we use the cliche of "saddle/paddle" vacations or "raft and ride" vacations in our descriptions of Marble Mountain Ranch vacations. The truly amazing thing about this product diversity is that we are able to do it all "in house." We do not hand-off to a third party outfitter for the rafting, or drive you three hours one way to get to a kayak trip. It is done by our in-house staff and done without the long shuttles.

Of course there are other subtle differences and unique points to our operation, but these two points lay the foundation for our style and form our guarantee of quality and personal service.

I'll end tonight's blog entry with a visual of me, one of the owners, at work in the office.   Happy trails, Doug

"More than we ever imagined!"

moderator — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 20:07:51 GMT

                                                                                                                                                     August 2007
I don't know what to say, (and that's a BIG deal for me)...You Guys have given us more than we ever imagined and were far more wonderful than we could have ever asked for! The Experience that you gave our kids will last them a lifetime. THANK YOU SO MUCH!! God Bless - Mr. Grant


   October 2006
Our stay at Marble Mountain Ranch exceeded our expectations. We feel like we discovered a hidden treasure in California. We all enjoyed our time away from the business of life. We rode our bikes in the dark, had good conversation, rode horses in the rain, and enjoyed the hospitality of the Coles. Thank You for this gift in October. Ed

                                                                                                                                                      June 2007
How can we say Thank You enough for such awesome memories. It was such a joy to watch our children grow as they attempted things they had never done before. We so appreciated the time and care that each of you put into every activitiy. The rafting and riding were not only exciting, but fun as well. The meals were delicious and the time spent on the ranch, picking crops, singing, playing - were wonderfully fun.   Thank you for a summer I know we will always remember. God's Blessings to all of You! The Burns Family

   June 2007
It is with a sense of adness, real sadness that our week here at Marble Mountain Ranch has come to an end. There was endless adventure, endless fun, endless hospitality and an abundance of new friends. This ranch vacation went far beyond any expectations we had. What really made this so special for us was watching the transformation of our city kids as they found a new sense of adventure and overcame most of their fears, fears of horses, fears of white water, fers of flying insects and fears of mosquito eating bats. They even gutted a fish! Our girls actually gutted fish!! We are so thankful for all the help, guidance and hospitality of Doug and Heidi, Adam and Chelsea, Aaron and his wife and beautiful newborn baby, Cierra and her beautifulvoice and special way with the kids, and Jason and Kate. Doug and Heidi you are blessed with a beautiful and wonderful family and even a special extended family. We look forward to our next visit. With a second/return visit do we then qualify as extended family? We hope so! Our best wishes to all of you for continued happiness and success. We feel so fortunate to have shared this week with you all. These memories will be with our whole family for a lifetime. With abundant gratitude, The Harris family

"Van Holt" lodge journal entry

moderator — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:07:26 GMT

Until this blog gets known and gets current entries, I am going to periodically enter some of the comments from our lodge guest journal, and include a random highlight picture from this last year. Here is a comment from the "Van Holt" family and a photo from the Paddock family visit:

"This was an amazing experience and each day offered something new and different for us. The Coles are a wonderful family and make you feel like you are cousins here for a visit. We will definitely be ambassadors of your good will when we return home. Thank you for the best vacation ever. David & Claudia Van Holt, Seal Beach CA

Welcome to the California Dude Ranch

moderator — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 21:27:06 GMT

Hi everybody, this is the first entry in the official blog for Marble Mountain Ranch. I am posting this blog to serve as a forum for our guests who want to offer testimonials about their experiences at Marble Mountain Ranch, and as a venue to keep our ever expanding family and globally distributed friends abreast of developments here at the "ranch." In addition, sometimes the amazing and often hard-to-believe scenarios that play out here on the ranch just need an audience willing to share the adventure with us (even if it is just electronically)! So, I hope you enjoy the stories, testimonials, and commentaries as you look inside the world of Marble Mountain Ranch. Let's end this introductory blog entry with a photo of the Cole family, your hosts here at Marble Mountain Ranch.