The Call of the Mountains

Once the mountains came into sight, which was shortly after leaving the city, I remember that my friend, Donna and I would always unconsciously sigh out loud.  This became a joke between us because we always did it unconsciously, and we always wound up doing it at the exact same time! It was as though all the worries that had consumed us throughout the week would simply leave us when we encountered the visual effect of the Rocky Mountains.  Imagine holding your breath and then having an involuntary, extended exhale, which is what this sigh was like. We knew that no matter what the next several hours held for us, that sigh had cleared our minds of all those things that seem to hold us prisoners. 

Maybe it is the sheer magnitude of the mountains that puts everything into perspective.  No matter how big a problem might seem, the mountains have endured generations of people that have gazed in wonderment at their craggy faces.  The longevity that surrounds the mountains has always put me at peace.

But then arriving at the ranch was the next stage of that relaxation we so eagerly sought every week.  You had to exit the major highway and circle around a cloverleaf, which seemed to be taking you into the depth of the mountains.  After one and half hours of highway driving, the peace of the road that led to the entrance of the ranch property was like a beacon.  We were at peace and ready to head back into nature for the few hours that we were there. 

The large log building that was the lodge was another testament to time.  It looked as though it had always been there, waiting to engulf its visitors in warmth and serenity.  The horse corrals were off to one side as you drive up the roadway towards the lodge. It was always exciting to look for our specific horses as though we wanted to let them know that we had arrived!  We would always head to the corrals before entering the lodge. Our horse friends needed that special hello before we prepared for our ride.

It is in this atmosphere that we had first met Bob.  I remember he was in his jean jacket with his rumpled cowboy hat.  He always had that faraway look on his face. As though he was longing to be someplace over the next mountain.  I always thought that it was a very sad look, as though he housed within himself some personal sorrow that was too deep to ever share.

But I am getting ahead of myself.  I wanted to start with the first time I had seen the ranch.

I had been selling gemstones to jewelry stores for almost a year.  I had taken it upon myself to head to Banff to see if perhaps I could find some new clients.  The day had been interesting, I met some new jewelry store owners but nothing of any importance had happened.  I was driving back towards Calgary when I noticed a sign that read, RAFTER SIX RANCH with an arrow showing the direction of the exit.  I will never know what caused me to take that exit that day. I just did it on a whim.

The impact of seeing the lodge emerge from within the folds of the mountains around it is quite something to see.  It looked beautiful to me and somehow, I knew that this place was going to impact my life in a very special way.

I drove up to the lodge and decided that I would go inside and have a look around.  They weren’t officially open I later discovered, but they had the coffee pot on and were more than willing to serve up a cup.  I sat next to one of the big windows in the dining room, with my eyes glued to the magnificence surrounding me. The mountains seemed to hold the ranch safe and secure, as though nothing could invade the peace within its walls.  I asked a lot of questions because I had decided that this would be a wonderful place to plan something that I had been going over in my mind for some time. 

I had always wanted to organize a weekend getaway for a bunch of friends.  This idea came to me when I knew that my marriage partner was not going to be the person that I could plan fun trips with.  How exciting it would be to bring a bunch of ladies together, to kick back and enjoy ourselves without the burden of husbands or children.  I quickly learned that the ranch was geared for this kind of holiday! I left knowing that I was going to be back for my Ladies Getaway Weekend!

It wasn’t hard to convince a group of my friends that a weekend away from our family obligations would do everyone good.  The ranch accommodated us totally, letting me pick the activities that would see us through our three days of freedom! It was very exciting!  We would horseback ride through the day and relax in the hot tub or lounge in the evenings. No worries, no obligations, just friends, horses, the outdoors and 3 days of laughter and new memories.

Organizing this event was right up my alley!  I suddenly forgot all the worries I had about my failing marriage and immersed myself in planning our three days!  I think that I got 8 ladies to join me on that first Ladies Getaway Weekend. We had all decided to drive up in two cars, mine being one of them.  It was all arranged that our families would meet us at the ranch on the Sunday for brunch, at the end of our special weekend. We didn’t want to totally exclude them from this haven we had discovered.

The van was filled with laughter and excited anticipation as we made the trip to Rafter Six Ranch on that Friday night.  I wanted everyone to enjoy that visual impact that the ranch had on people when they had that first view of it, so I was driving the first vehicle. 

I had no idea that the ranch loved to surprise its guests by staging a hold-up once you came around the last corner just when the lodge came into sight.  I was surprised to find the roadway blocked by cowboys with masks on their faces and rifles in their hands mounted on horseback! This was NOT one of the things I had planned!  One of the cowboys rode up to my driver’s window and asked where Linda Williamson was. Of course, I answered without hesitation that I was her. Another of the cowboys had, in the meantime gotten off his horse and was opening the van door on the driver’s side.  We were all a little in shock at this point! I was told to get out of the van. When you are facing horses with seemingly hostile riders you don’t ask questions. I was being kidnapped it seemed!

It was Bob that was leading the “raid” and behind him I now noticed was a horse he was leading.  This was to be the victim’s mode of transportation. I tried in vain to express my misgivings about being taken away by horseback when I wanted to be in the van with my friends. 

So, as someone else from my group drove my van towards the lodge, there I was on the back of a horse being led, who-knows-where, on a horse that seemed way too wide!  (I had forgotten how hard horseback riding is on your legs when you haven’t ridden in years!) 

I was taken to the lodge but in a roundabout way.  By the time I arrived at the lodge, everyone was already finding their way to their rooms.  I was shaking from my unexpected ride with the “outlaws”. It really was a fitting way to start the weekend.  I had never seen this one coming!

That is how the whole idea of going to the ranch for a day-ride started out for me.  Donna, one of my friends on the Ladies Getaway Weekend, had been as totally taken with the place as I had been the first time I saw it.  She and I became partners that would look forward all week to our escape at the ranch for that day of riding. Amanda, the eldest of my two children was only 7 years old at the time, but she couldn’t stand not being with me when I wanted to head out for my ride. 

I made the decision that she could join us for our weekly horseback adventures.  Donna was Amanda’s Godmother, and I knew that she wouldn’t mind having Amanda along.  Amanda wasn’t one of those noisy, squawking children that vowed for attention. She was shy, quiet and attached to me completely.  Staying behind was never a good option when it came to Amanda’s point of view.  

This is how the three of us spent every weekend from April until October, when the ranch shut down for the winter months. We were so into Rafter Six Ranch; the horses, the beauty of the mountains, our endlessly pleasurable trail rides, the comradery of riding together, that we actually asked owners of Rafter Six Ranch, if we could know where the horses were wintered every year. We wanted to go and visit with them during that time when winter makes you almost forget about the beauty of Spring and Summer. So, we would pack up for a day drive, there and back, to go and visit the horses. There were about 30 horses in winter pasture; Rafter Six Ranch had phoned ahead to the farmer who’s field the horses were in, so that he would know what we were doing there in the middle of winter.

If you have never walked in an open field, with 30 horses, enduring the long winter months of quiet grazing, then you might not know how this experience went for us. It was the three of us, as always, Donna, Amanda and I. We had stopped and picked up some horse cookies to hand out to the horses and maybe that was our mistake. As we climbed the fence into the pasture, all the horses were watching us. We started calling out their names (we came to know all the horses by name), many of them started running towards us. The thing you must know about horses is that they won’t purposely collide with people, especially people that they know, and that have horse cookies with them. But when 30 horses decide to start running directly for you, it is hard to stand there and just enjoy the moment. Thoughts about our safety did cross our minds, but our friends weren’t there to plow us over, they were happy to see us. We handed out horse cookies to all of them, and enjoyed the noise and smell that always comes when you are around horses. It turned into an annual event after that, we would go and visit our friends, at least once during the winter months.

When the three of us first started riding at Rafter Six Ranch, we were paying for rides by the hour, but as we got to know all of the many beautiful trails that surrounded the ranch, we actually started helping the ranch staff take people on rides. Soon that became just the three of us, no additional staff needed, and we would lead and return a string of riders that had come for a day of adventure. The trails we took depended on how much the riders had paid; there were hour rides, three-hours rides, all day rides, and rides to a meal-in-the-woods. We followed the directions we were given by the Ranch, and they were confident that we would make sure the guests had a great ride.

Because of this new setup, the Ranch made us an offer; we paid an annual, flat rate of $150 each, and we could ride limitless times throughout the season. This was an offer to-good-to pass up, so we paid the price every year. Sometimes we didn’t have guests to take out, on those days, we often had staff that worked and housed at the ranch, accompanying us on their days off. We even had the owners of the ranch ride with us occasionally, or one or more of their children.

This horse rides into the beautiful wilderness of Kananaskis were some of the best times in my life, and I know that both Donna and Amanda felt the same way. Sometimes we would ride for hours and no one would say a word. We just enjoyed the creaking of the leather saddles, the sound of the horses stepping on the forest floor, and the quiet of the wilderness that surrounded us. I called these quiet times, ‘amiable silence’; simply enjoying everything around you without having to say a word to anyone. 

This is when I recognized that spirituality comes in many forms; being out in the woods, on the back of a magnificent animal, trusting in nature to hold you safely in its embrace; that became a spiritual experience for me. Sometimes we would ride to the top of a mountain, just to enjoy the view; idyllic solitude with friends, brought me closer to feeling a higher power than I had ever felt.

At the end of any of these rides, we would always go back to the ranch, unsaddle our horses, and turn their care over to the ranch wranglers. Then the three of us would walk into the lodge to enjoy a meal before we made our way back to the city once again.

As you sat in the lodge and looked out to the road at the front of Rafter Six Ranch, Mount Yamnuska stood majestically in the background. With a beautiful blue sky grazing the peaks of the mountain, I am not sure that there was a better place to be at that moment. The reality of having to leave this wondrous place and head back into the city once again, sometimes weighted heavily on all of us. It was like we wanted time to stop for a while, and allow us to simply, BE. 

Other times there were events happening at the ranch, and the dining room would be packed with people; laughing, eating, enjoying the beauty around them.

The annual Ladies Getaway became a thing; Donna and I would plan the event and figure out who to invite. This was never a great time for Amanda because although I knew that she would be fine coming along for this weekend, it didn’t seem fair that I was able to share with my daughter, when the other moms were not. And so, it was and remained, an adult event.

Rafter Six Ranch was just west of the Stoney Indian Reserve. We often met and visited with people from the Reserve as they enjoyed a meal at the lodge along with other guests and visitors, or were engaged with a Reserve Event that was being held at Rafter Six Ranch. I remember one time we had planned a Ladies Getaway Weekend, and Rafter Six Ranch owners let us know that there was a medicine lodge that had been temporarily constructed for the brief period when it was being used by the Stoney people. Their Medicine Woman would sleep in a small handmade shelter, using only the materials around the site, until she knew that the site was right for the construction of the temporary medicine lodge. The medicine lodge was then used by the Stoney for ceremonies that involved music, drums, chanting, prayer, and healing. We were told to treat the area surrounding the medicine lodge with respect, and to remain as quiet as possible as we moved our horses around the area. 

On this particular day, I was at the lead of the string of ladies that had joined us for our weekend away. The medicine lodge had been built to the one side of a large clearing that bordered all around the lodge. We rode the horses through the trees behind the medicine lodge, and as we passed nearer, still with the forest between us and the lodge, we could hear the drumming as the ceremonial event was underway. 

We rode as far away from the lodge as we could as we made our way around the forest trail that would lead to the large clearing, well away from the medicine lodge. All of the ladies knew that we were to remain silent as we made our way past. 

Riding at the front that day, I was the first person to come out of the forest, into the clearing. You could hear the medicine lodge ceremonial event in progress; the drums were beating and there was a hum of chatting. The lodge itself was some ways off to the left of us, as we came out of the woods. 

I will never forget what happened to me and my horse next; just as we cleared the forest trail, there was this silent whoosh of energy that came rolling across the clearing, from the direction of the medicine lodge. That energy swept over me and my horse like a wave. I know that my horse felt it too because I felt the slight movement my horse made away from the direction that the energy was coming. My horse wasn’t fearful, nor was I, but there was no mistaking that flow of energy that hit us both.

There was nothing frightening about this experience, it was just a feeling that rushed towards us, across the clearing, and enveloped both my horse and I, in a way that I have never felt before; there was no anguish, or tension attached to this energy flow, it was just there, barreling towards us and surrounding us with an amazing sense of calm and well-being. I remember within seconds of this sensation, I quickly turned to see the expression of the person riding directly behind me. I could tell right away that she had felt something too, but had it been the rush of emotion that bombarded me as we cleared the trees? She looked up at me as I turned in the saddle, and I asked her if she had felt something just then. She just looked at me and nodded her head, yes, she too had felt some amazing sensation, although for her, it hadn’t reached into the depth of her soul. 

No one else in the string felt that blast of energy, although everyone said that they felt such an amazing sense of calm and awareness. What amazing power radiated from the people in the medicine lodge, I will never know for sure. But I do know that I felt incredibly blessed to have been able to experience something so hauntingly sacred, and overwhelmingly spiritual. I felt a sense of peace and gratitude for a long time after this event occurred.

When we returned to the lodge after our horse ride that day, I went to the owner of the ranch to share my experience with her. I knew that she would understand what I was finding difficult to put into words. She came to me later in the afternoon and told me that the Medicine Woman wanted to meet me. I remember all of this feeling surreal, and yet it filled me with such a sense of peace; this woman was going to know exactly what I was having trouble expressing; a feeling of spirituality that washed over me like a cleansing tonic.

We met in the dining room; she was a tiny woman that had an aura of strength and goodness that seemed to radiate from her very soul. I stood up as she came quietly forward, and she took my hand in both of hers. She was looking so deep into my eyes as she simply told me, in such a quiet, meaningful way, that I was meant to feel that energy at the very moment that it came to me. She told me that I was a very deep soul and that the spirits had chosen me to be the recipient of the cleansing flow that had washed over me. As she spoke to me the tears simply rolled from my eyes. I knew, at that moment, that I was closer to feeling spiritual, than I had ever felt in my life before. I remember thanking her for coming to me to acknowledge the goodness that I somehow knew, had washed over me that day. Then she simply turned away from me, and I never saw her again. 

Several weeks after this weekend of wonderment, I asked one of my dear friends, someone who was going through marriage issues along with me, if she would come with me to the ranch for the morning. I knew that after the ceremonies were over within the medicine lodge, that the Stoney people left the lodge to allow it to return to the earth, as the material used to construct the lodge, found their way once again, through the wind and weather, back into the forest and open area that surrounded it. I also knew that there was incredible power left within the falling walls and roof branches.

I asked permission from the ranch’s owner, to make sure it was okay for my friend and I to enter the sacred lodge, who’s ceremonial purpose had been met, and was now abandoned. We planned to walk to the lodge rather than ride, and the owner said that as long as we were respectful as we entered and left the lodge, we were fine to go to it.

We chatted lightly as we made our way towards the clearing in the forest. There were no other people around, and no distractions to take away from our visit to the lodge. As the lodge came into sight, we could see how the branches that once acted as the roof, were slowly breaking away and returning to blanket the ground around it. There were also small pieces of material tied to the roof branches that silently flowed with the movement of the air. Before either of us stepped over the threshold into the lodge, we both committed to the reverence that we were prepared to show the lodge. 

We never spoke once we entered the lodge, even with the openness of the roof above us, there was so much power all around us. We each sat quietly wherever we decided to sit, and then we both went inside our own thoughts, allowing the beautiful energy of the medicine lodge to carry the weight of the individual burdens we both carried in our minds.

I don’t know how long we sat in this trance-like state of mind, but we seemed to both know when it was time to leave the folds of the lodge around us. We never spoke. As we started to get up there was a sense of leaving behind a wonderfully warm blanket that had wrapped us in protective comfort. We never spoke until we were almost back to the ranch lodge again, and when we did speak, both of us were tearing up. And yet we both felt at peace somehow. We never talked about what had happened, we just silently acknowledged the presence of peace and solace that the medicine lodge had provided to both of us on that day.