%e 2Udgway ~porterVol. 2 CODY, WYOMING, CHRISTMAS 2000 No. 19

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Elk Creek RanchPO. Box 1476

Cody, Wyoming 82414

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Is not entered as second classmatter at any post office under

the Act of Congress of March, 1879

Rob and Keenan slip sliding away

!from tIie !famifyThe millennial year, fittingly, was a time of transitions for the family.

Kyle headed off for her first year at Connecticut College, which madeMelissa the eldest child in her household. Alyson moved from middle toupper school where she can correct any of Melissa's mistakes. Eli com-pleted his year caretaking for the ranch and moved on to the Art Instituteof San Francisco to do graduate work. Checking the weather map inearly November suggests that Eli had more than one reason to headfurther west! Emily stayed in New York City, but she moved downtown toan internship neurosurgery at New York University after being graduatedfrom Columbia Medical School last spring. Going from omega to alpha,Keenan started her school career heading off to kindergarten this fall.

Betsy and Cliff finished their first year of retirement and confirmedthe adage about how busy retirement is. Cliff has been the project man-ager for the renovation of their church, and Betsy has been working onthe fundraising for the project. In the meantime, some landlubber ran intotheir boat, and its repair has been a major project. Elk Creek Ranchkeeps begging them for time to address various projects. Of course, their

Aly and Pinky "bringing it home. "

Melissa and Fancy enjoy Ihe view up in Damnation Basin.

major responsibility is keeping up with Debbie, Paul, and Sean and Tina,Rob, and Keenan.

Chip and Francine are still in Denver turning the grounds aroundtheir house into a show piece for "Better Gardens." Chip traveled northto Cody for his 40th reunion at Cody High School where the state cham-pionship football team gathered with the old coach to figure out how theyactually won that remarkable game. Chip continues to head the Endo-crine Unit at the University of Colorado Medical School. With children onboth coasts and Abby in Jackson, Chip and Francine's remaining freetime is well occupied.

Susan and Hap continue to call Berwick Academy home. Grant isin 7th grade, Alyson in 9th, and Melissa in 11th, so Susan gets her steadyfix of athletic events. In her free time, Susan continues to be the Elk CreekRanch fall-winter-spring office. Hap is working on a library project for theAcademy. The whole family was again able to make the trip into Damna-tion Basin with the ranchers in August. Hap and Susan used part of thelay-over day to look for mountain sheep; they had the interesting experi-ence of stalking a few young rams only to discover after an hour thatanother young ram was "stalking them." Sunlight Valley continues to holdher wonderful surprises and joys for all of us.

Sean and Lara "bringing il home, too'"

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Melissa Ridgway, Catherine Woodard, lake Moriarity, Ridge Chew,Eli Ridgway, Susannah Young, Laura Stanley, Tory Field,

Abi Ridgway, and Tyler lohnson

Day 9: Tyler. Charcoal jello. Downhill road walking. Ten miles. Fourwheelersand chainsaws - yuck!

Day 10: Resupply. Food, letters and more food. Jake falls from tree to river.Catherine's Hershey package. Featherbed sleeping conditions.

Day 11: Abi/Jake. Gravel Bar to Shangri La. Back to the mountains on fullbellies is a challenge. Fourth of July and solo hiking.

Day 12: Melissa. Dead Indian Peak. Eli pulls a Mission Impossible. Time cap-sule. First Trek of the Millennium. Stargazing at an 11,000 foot campsite.

Day 13: Catherine. Dead Indian to Big Creek Basin. Elk in the distance. Iceclimbing vs. the wind. Charades. Therma-rest and sleeping bag heists.

Day 14: Tory. Big Creek to Damnation. Ridge chases a grizzly. Susannahpasses out. The trekkers waterfall contest.

Day 15: Solos. Facing fears and isolation. Sleeping under the stars and SecretSantas. Susannah sleeps with the elk. Ridge befriends a ground hog.

Day 16 & 17: Damnation to Elk Creek. World's longest day. Lightening onTrout Peak. 12,700 vertical feet. Thirty miles in nineteen hours.Blisters and nightcrawling. Invasion of Elk Creek at 1:OOAM! What asurprise at breakfast.

Days 18: Onto Yellowstone, Jackson, and the Tetons. Climbing School andThe Grand should be a piece of cake!

r:Beartooth'Irel(2000Day 1: Into the woods. Beautiful, clean water pounds over river boulders.

Exhausted, we listen, and fall asleep.Day 2: A full day of hiking. Treacherous boulder fields. Two deer visit camp.

Falling branches miss Dave.Day 4: Up and out. Bethany leads. Good time, great views. Everyone hik-

ing strong. Emotions run high, the best kind of exhaustion takes over.Day 5: Sleep in! Pancakes forbreakfast followed by a great triplehack. Andrew leads to ForsakenLake.Day 6: A good morning followed abright, amazingly tangible star-fillednight. Early up Castle Mountain.Granola to Reiner. Dave face-to-facewith a BIG Billy goat.Day 9: All you can eat trout forbreakfast. Fox Lake in green grassand lodgepole, a huge rainbow.Cantonese fish stew.

Andrew does disco inthe Beartooths

.9L6sarol(a'Irel(2000Day 1: Laura. Ballet, runny beans. Ranch to Hardy cabin. Grazing on blue-

bells. Cody faces fear of river crossing. We leave civilization behind.Day 2: Tory. Galena pass to Hughes Basin. Two thousand feet by lunch. Ice

picks and self arrests. Everyone finds new muscles. Pesto pastaand the dessert game.

Day 3: Melissa. Land Mountain peak day. Glicading and kicking steps.Patagonia photo shoot. Clay sculptures. The boys get in touch withtheir Madonna side.

Day 4: Ridge. Hughes Basin to Grinnel Meadows. First hail storm. Humanchimney at lunch. Jake and Susannah take on an extra peak, Ridgetakes on a boulder. The Sleeping Giant! Better not wake him up. Firstbear print.

Day 5: Lay-over. Tanning, pancakes, and washing. Rest and relaxationfollowed by a mini-sing.

Day 6: Catherine. Another peak day. Bushwacking. Catherine, the singingalarm clock. Cornice jumping and a group nap on the summit.

Day 7: Jake. Grinnel to Stinking Water. Laura takes a spill glicading. Grizzlybear skeleton.

Day 8: Susannah. Stinking Water to Copper Lakes. False peaks. Swimmingin Glacier Lake. Gorp wars and quesadillas. Jello eating marmots.Susannah brings out everyone's artistic side.

Tory lets it all hangout in The TelOns

(Beartooth Trek - cont'd)Day 11: Resupply!

Food great,letters few.Carley fills usin on ranchgossip.Brownies,fresh fruit andsteakl Yum.

Day 12: Back on theBroadwater.Back tobushwhacking and a huge bull moose. Huckleberries everywhere.

Day 14: Solos with rain. Henri lost. Yahoo!Day 16: The sky is gold-red from smoke. Out to Glacier at O-dark thirty. A

helicopter makes a pass then levels at twenty feet over the lake. Itcomes straight toward us. Six hundred, four hundred, two hundred,one hundred yards then banks and dumps a thousand fish.

Day 18: Easy up, easy out. New mines, old mines and four wheelers. Downto Cooke City. Tina and Susan meet us at the Beartooth Cafe, YEA!On to the Climber's Ranch.

Day 19: First day of kayaking. Tipping, rolling, upside down under water,escape, T-rescue, success! AII-you-can-eat rib dinner in Moose.

Day 20: Practicing rolls in a heated pool then on to the Snake. Big swirlingeddying water - very exciting. Otters watch us from the bank. Wemaster the ways of the kayak.

Day 21: More confidence. Bigger eddies. Better turns, better pullouts. Surfing,YAHOO! Upside down is beginning to feel natural. The white wateris the best.

Day 23: Mountain biking today. Nice bikes + fast gravel roads = mega speed.Single tracking + attitude = mega fun. Trumpeter swans trumpeting atlunch. Beth and Andrew wipe out. Dramatic but not serious. Way togo Bethany, Mark, Andrew, Dave, and Henri. Eighteen hundred feetdown. What a great way to end a trek.

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rJ!ie SummerChelsea and the cheese fiasco in upper girls ... Eric "RADISH" McAuley, sloppy to burpy ... Katie

with the New York accent getting tough on the boys ... Rosstafarian, the mafia boss and the new

truffle shuffle ... Oompa-Ioompa ... Gretchen versus the foreign boys. Do we need to have peace

talks at Elk Creek? ... Liam's index observation ... Hoodie-"Ilike coke, I like ????" ... Lizzie always

wanting to work!?!. .. Michelle playing candid camera with Jeff ... Nicolas the Frenchman, hitting a

dry spell at the ranch ... Natalya's chicken noises ... Sarah's two left feet and lipstick lips ... Ben

"DOOKIE" Snyder displaying innovative dancing with Billy and Utah ... Lilly the fortune teller and

the future head of the C.I.A. Her spying techniques reign supreme ... Ricky, do you know that

horse you just jumped on is only three and never been ridden? ... Joanna "THE ROSE"

Marks ... Tilt mode and snooze mode ... Louis, get a belt! Hardcore and major sound effects on

the pack trip ride ... By the way I'm Steve and I like purple. Mr. Encyclopedia of we don't know

what... Melissa masters the hoover ... Rob Baird-'There's dirt on my back, God" ... Maddie's

animal noises ... Andrew Stuart's "right on, bring it on, and awesome" ... Scuba Steve ... Just

kidding Tina ... Counselors versus the ranchers in volleyball. Better luck next year ... The boy's

Girl Power Absaroka Trekker style Ajob well done on the cook's new cabin

of2000 Was ...pack trip tent woes. Sleeping under the stars can be fun too ... Matt's Hanukkah song ... Lea, the

future astronomer ... Jamie, How ya doing? ... Jamie and Becka visit Utah's salon ... Aly stealing

Pinky who returns with pink hoof polish and flowers in his hair. Who knew that he had a feminine

side? ... How about no, Billy? ... Gigi's body of steel versus Matt and Eli's muscle shirt look ... Cece-

"No, Ross" John Wylie's obsession with the Venga boys ... Caitlin's sleep-talking or was it sleep-

screaming? Dude ... Definitely ... Word ... Josh and Nakia visit Elk Creek. Stand Up Eight

unplugged Nick's freestyle rapping. Cypress ... I am in serious heart mode Zander and Utah's "-"

feminine sides ... Dene, the waterfall contest King ... Mark, the porridge man Girls obsessing over

caretakers Greer and Eric's verbal warfare ... Katrina quoting Louis night time talk ... Hey Liz,

Go Virginia Charlotte's storytelling talent... Quincy's kill the carrier enthusiasm ... Carley making

friends on the caravan ... Lavender oil ... I want to kill a bear. .. Backpack versus the packtrip water

fight. .. Jeff and Pinky doing the barrels. And away they go ... Pukey Mike ... The resident mouse in

lower girls ... Aroma therapy candles in Damnation Basin ... What were they thinking?

.t~:

Here's snow in your eye Elk Creek's new version of sign language

5

Cece Abrams

Lakeville, Connecticut 06039

Matthew Borg

Newton, Massachusetts 02461

Ricky Antonetti

CIA C-1 Rio PiedrasPuerto Rico 00926

Hoodie Caldwell

Birmingham, Alabama 35223

Liam Baggott

West Hartford, Connecticut 06119

Mark Chapman

Cohasset, Massachusetts 02025

Rob Baird

Memphis, Tennessee 38117

Ridge Chew

Rosemont, Pennsylvania 19010

Louis Berizzi

Waccabuc, New York 10597

Lilly Dagdigian

Dedham, Massachusetts 02026

Many hands make light work

Billy Delaney

Winchester, Massachusetts 01890

Natalya DeSena

Salt Point, New York 12578

Gigi DuBois

Greenwich, Connecticut 06830

sunfitJfttersNick Hammond

Bedford, New Hampshire 03110

Tyler Johnson

Sherborn, Massachusetts 01770

Jamie Mandell

Rockville, Maryland 20852

Tory Field Joanna Marks

N. Hampton, New Hampshire 03862 New York, New York 10023

Erik McAuley

Gig Harbor, Washington 98335

Greer McGee1Cody, Wyoming 82414

Jake Moriarity

Watertown, Connecticut 06795

Lizzie O'Keefe

Dedham, Massachusetts 02026

Gretchen Olney

Rochester, New Hampshire 03867

Nicolas Raksanyi

75004 Paris France

Lea Reynolds

Wenham, Massachusetts 01984

Sarah Reynolds

Wenham, Massachusetts 01984

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fJJirectorg 2000Chelsea Rheault

Portsmouth, Rhode Island 02871

Liz Spence

Concord, Massachusetts 01742

Eli Rosen

Newton, Massachusetts 02468

Katie Spencer

Middlebury, Connecticut 06762

Sarah Secunda

Dedham, Massachusetts 02026

Dene Stalk

Toronto, Canada M4W 2PI

Ben Snyder3Winchester, Massachusetts 01890

Katrina Stanislaw

S. Hamilton, Massachusetts 01982

John Wylie

Bozeman, Montana 59715

Ross Yellin1Dover, Massachusetts 02030

Maddie Yogman

Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138

Susannah YoungPNorth Berwick, Maine 03906

Steve Sternschein

Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey 07675

Andrew Stuart

Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27514

Caitlyn Underdahl

Yarmouth, Maine 04096

Michelle Wilson28American Canyon, Calijomia 94589

Catherine Woodard1Sherborn, Massachusetts 01770

The serenading three amigos

fJfie 9{est of UsAbi Ridgway

Andrew Bugni Charlotte MacAusland Wilson, Wyoming 83014

Salt Lake City, Utah 84105 Dedham, Massachusetts 02026 Chip, Francine, Emily,and Eli Ridgway

Carley Cassibry Jeff MiekleGreenwood Village,

Memphis, Tennessee 38111 Cody, Wyoming 82414 Colorado 80121

Ginny Davis Betsy and Cliff Moore Hap, Susan, Kyle, Melissa,Alyson, and Grant Ridgway

Sheridan, Wyomong 82801 Vashon, Washington 98070South Berwick, Maine 03908

Quincy Davisson Debby Moore andSean & Paul Watson Pat Rhu

North Haven, Maine 04853Duvall, Washington 98019 Tucson, Arizona 85717

Zander GardinerTina and Keenan Moore and Henri-Lee Stalk

Greenwich, Connecticut 06830 Rob PlakkeToronto, Canada M4W 2P1

Matt Jessel Corvallis, Montana 59828Laura Stanley

Scarsdale, New York 10583 Dave ParhamMemphis, Tennesee 38117

The Woodlands, Texas 77381

God bless thy yearThy coming in,Thy going out,Thy rest, thy traveling about.The rough, the smooth,The bright, and dread.God bless thy year!

Beecher Tuttle2Middlebury, Connecticut 06762

Beth Wight

Bothell, Washington 98011

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