Vaquero Ride

Introduction
Alberta Canada

Mountain Camp and Pack trips to the outpost camp in the Clearwater valley
On the eastern edge of Banff National Park, in a region known as the Bighorn Wilderness Area, enjoy your week-long adventure vacation without the crowds. The Vaquero Wilderness Ride caters to small groups of riding enthusiasts, leading you through breathtaking Canadian backcountry.

Discover the wonderful Clearwater River Valley in the Bighorn Wilderness on horseback. See wild horses, maybe get a glimpse of a wolf, cross rivers and streams, or hear the majestic bugle of the elk in the fall - folks just fall in love with the 'Magic of the Mountain'.

Ride winding trails to alpine lakes, clear mountain streams, wide meadows and secluded campsites. These wilderness trips are an unforgettable experience. The ringing of the bells on the horses, the singing crickets and the crackling campfire are the musical background out here.

You stay in comfortable wilderness camps. The Base Camp is situated along the Cutoff Creek. Guest tents have a wood floor, wood stove and a bed with a foamy mattress. If you want more adventure, we will take an excursion further into the wilderness to our "Adventure Camp" located on a cliff above the Clearwater River, surrounded by untouched wilderness, where human beings still play the second fiddle. The Adventure Camp facilities are similar to the Base Camp.

Accomodation

Our Base Camp is located along Cutoff Creek in the Canadian Rockies. The camp includes tents with wooden floors which sleep two people, comfortable beds (with mattresses), a cozy cook tent, and even hot showers. This location offers spectacular and challenging riding opportunities.

The Adventure Camp is located further into the Rockies, about 6 hours on horseback from the Base Camp. All of the supplies are carried by horse and wagon. The facilities at this camp are similar to those at Base Camp, with the exception that the tents have carpeted rather than wooden floors. The special feature of the Adventure Camp is the teepee fire tent. Again, hot showers are no problem. The Adventure Camp may only be used weather permitting.

Showers for both camps: there is a wash/shower tent where a plastic 10gallon shower bag will be filled up with hot water (out of the cook tent) and then hung up in the shower compartment. You can take as many showers as you want, some people prefer a morning shower before breakfast, others one after the ride.

We provide an outhouse tent in both camps.
The use of sleeping bags (with fleece liners) and pillows is included at both camps at no additional charge.

If you still want to ride in the rain, it’s up to you. Otherwise the cook tent, or fire tent (where the wood stove is) and we can play cards read etc. Some people enjoy being in their own tent and read a book with a hot chocolate mug in their hands!

Meals:
From dinner on the first night to breakfast on the last day, your meals are provided for you. Breakfast and dinner are served at camp and lunch is eaten on the trail. You will be treated to wholesome and hearty meals. If you have allergies or dietary restrictions please be sure to let us know in advance so we can accommodate these variation (we are happy to prepare meals for vegetarians, but don't cater to vegans). Alcoholic beverages are not included with meals.

Sample menu:

breakfast: toast, fried eggs, bacon, jam, honey, coffee, tea or hot chocolate

lunch: on the trail sandwich, granola bar, juice, water

supper: BBQ Steak, oven potatoes, veggies, salad, desert

This trip includes and can accommodate special dietary requests.

Riding

The minimum age for this ride is 16. This adventure is not for brand new riders. Between 4 – 5 hours are spent in the saddle each day. The riding is not difficult but some riding experience is recommended. The horses are generally Quarter-mix.

Itinerary

Sample Itinerary
The trip starts with a night in a western style hotel in the small town of Sundre, about 130km (80.8 miles) northwest of Calgary.

The next day we pack a lunch-picnic and head out on our horses, mostly Quarter-mix. The Base Camp experience is an adventurous riding opportunity which brings you closer to the horses and riding. The trails lead us through forests, flowery meadows, we cross clear streams and are watching the wild horses. Most evenings we spend around the crackling campfire, enjoying roasted marshmallows and good stories until the whispering Creek sends us to a good nights sleep, dreaming about the excitement of the next day riding through the Canadian wilderness.

Our Base Camp, nestled in the foohills is surrounded by great trails waiting to be explored in our day-rides through forest, flowery meadows and clear streams.

A day in camp starts with a rich Cowboy Breakfast. Then we start our trail passing herds of wild horses grazing in a meadow close to camp.  We enjoy a lunch picnic and arrive back in camp late afternoon. After the horses are back in the pastures, munching on their well deserved hay, there is free time to go for a walk, cool off in the creek or just relax until the bell rings for a hearty evening meal.

About the Adventure Camp
The Adventure Camp is located on a cliff above the Clearwater River surrounded by untouched wilderness, where human beings still play the second fiddle. The Adventure Camp facilities are similar to the Base Camp. We have a cook tent, a shower tent and as a special our TIPI-firetent. The only difference is the sleeping tents have outdoor carpeting instead of wood floors. 

As soon as the snow-melt is finished and the Clearwater River is low enough again, we will follow it up deep into the Rockies to read our "Adventure Camp". It is located in a non-motorized zone and our team of horses Mac and Rocket are pulling the covered wagon filled with luggage and supplies for our one week trip of adventure. Similar to Base Camp the tents in our Adventure Camp have beds, a wood stove and outdoor carpets.  There is a washtent with a shower compartment, a homey kitchen tent and our fire tent to enjoy stories, good laughter and share memories around the nights campfire.

Our wilderness trips are an unforgettable experience.  The ringing of the bells on the horses so they can't be lost while grazing near the Adventure Camp, the singing crickets and the crackling campfire are the musical background out here.  The aroma of coffee, frying bacon and hot cakes awakens you in the morning.

Discover endless adventure, with opportunities for hiking and exploring, wildlife and nature observation, and relaxing in rare solitude. Ride winding trails to alpine lakes, clear mountain streams, wide meadows and secluded campsites.  All this and much more make the memories from our weeklong wilderness trips.

If you are willing to experience more adventure in your riding and spend long hours in the saddle, the "Adventure Camp" is a 'Must-See-and-Do' experience!

            Subject to change

Rates and Dates for Vaquero Ride

Dates Note: Sun-Sat

Other Info
Meeting: Caroline, AB
Airport: Calgary, AB
Transfer: Pick up from Calgary airport is between 12 pm and 4 pm. Drop off time is 2 pm.

Climate:

It is no coincidence that visitor activities in Banff National Park are as varied as the Park's climate. A year in Banff National Park would give a visitor a taste of everything in terms of weather and recreation. The summer sees sunny, warm days for such things as hiking, biking, camping, and climbing. The winter brings crisp, snowy days for tracking, skating, and alpine and nordic skiing.

It is possible to make some generalizations about the weather in Banff National Park. July is the warmest, with average highs of 22°C in the Town of Banff. January is the coldest month with average lows of -15°C, though the mercury can drop into the minus thirties. The relative dryness of the air in Banff, however, makes even extreme temperatures more bearable. In winter, visitors must be especially careful of wind chill. A temperature of -20°C on the thermometer may feel like -30°C with the wind chill. Regardless of the season, the temperature will fall about 1°C for every 200m of elevation gain.

The length of the day in Banff varies greatly throughout the year. Daylight can last as little as eight hours in December. At the end of June, the sun rises at 5:30 am and sets at 10:00 pm.

The tables below give more detailed information about temperatures, precipitation and sunlight for the Town of Banff and the village of Lake Louise.

Town of Banff (Elevation 1397m / 4540 ft)

Village of Lake Louise (Elevation 1524m / 4953 ft)

Riding apparel: We advise guests to bring whatever riding clothes you are most comfortable with. You will be riding through some thick brush where branches might rip jodhpurs, so chaps would give more protection to wear over riding pants. But we had many guests riding in their English riding gear and loving it!