rr/ie !lQ-dgway 2\f-porterVol. 3 CODY, WYOMING, CHRISTMAS 2005 No. 24

:;{ofiday (jreetings and 2(anch 9\&ws

'!he 'l\f~porter

Elk Creek RanchP.O. Box 1476

Cody, Wyoming 82414

!From ~[I( Creel(2(anchand the

!l\icfgway !FamifyIs not entered as second classmatter at any post office under

the Act of Congress of March, 1879

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:rrom the :ramifyChip and Francine's family is on the

move! Abi was graduated fromDartmouth in June and has gone to workfor the Federal Reserve Board inWashington. (We are not sure what handshe had in Alan Greenspan's retirement!)Eli moved, with a great month helping inSunlight, to Seattle to manage an artgallery. Emily will complete herneurosurgery residency at New YorkUniversity next spring and will move toBoston to start a fellowship in pediatricplastic surgery. Perhaps the biggestnews is that Francine is scouting out

homes in Southern California, but the timing for the rnoveis still a state secret!

Cliff and Betsy are a bit less mobile, although not forlack of Cliff trying. He has purchased two very quickcars-a Lotus and a Subaru sports sedan-in the last year,and now has to decide which one to sell. Cliff did use theSubaru to set a record time for the trip from Seattle toWyoming! Cliff and Betsy continue the travel betweenVashon and Sunlight, bringing all their skills and TLC totheir church and to Elk Creek Ranch. Debbie continues towork with her art and with special needs children. Pauland a friend made the ascent of the G rand Teton lastsummer. We wonder if Paul has any mountains left toclimb! Tina and Rob continue to teach and work at thehigh school level in Corvallis, Montana. Debbie, Tina,and Rob returned to Elk Creek and led us through a great2005 summer. Sean and Keenan, the first members of thefourth generation, have become great horse people andboth have been on their first pack trips!

Hap and Susan remain in Maine and with BerwickAcademy where Grant is in his senior year. Melissa and

Alyson are both in pre-health programs at Connecticut College, with Melissa pointing at veterinary school and Alyson at medical school. Atleast Hap and Susan and their horses will get the best of medical care! Kyle returned from a year working in Vail to take on a teachinginternship at Berwick. Somehow she has overcome the stigma of being the head of school's daughter to become one of the Upper School's"cool" teachers. Winter and spring will find Kyle pursuing her athletic interests by coaching hockey and lacrosse.

For all the movement and change, Sunlight Valley remains home base for all of us. We all, except for Francine who was tied down withpet health issues, made it back for a reunion in August. It is amazing to think that Doc and Em's original vision of a place that would serveteenagers and keep a family together has proved so durable through nearly a half a century.

Emily seems a lillie alarmed by IVhat Granl has in his righl hand. Hap, Betsy & Chip share a sibling momenl on Ihe family ride.

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.9L6saro/(aTre/(2005"Once a journey is designed, equipped, and put in process; a new factor enters and takes

over. A trip, a safari, an exploration, is an entity, different from all other journeys. It haspersonality, temperament, individuality, uniqueness. Ajourney is a person in itself; no two arealike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find after years ofstruggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us. Tour masters, schedules, reservations,brass-bound and inevitable, dash themselves to wreckage on the personality of the trip. Onlywhen this is recognized can the blown-in-the-glass bum relax and go along with it. Only thendo the frustrations fall away. In this a journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong isto think you control it. I feel better, having said this, although only those who have experiencedit will understand it."

- "Travels with Charley" John Steinbeck

About twelve hours into our trek, we realized our journey might have other plans than theones we wrote down weeks in advance. That night we read these words by Steinbeck, lookedup at one another's dumbfounded faces, and realized that we were some of those people whohad experienced, already in our first day, how a trip could take us. With patience andenthusiasm we learned to improvise through raging waters, flying kites and raincoats, grizzlybears, snowy fields, disappearing trails found by our dog Lula, and fuel from our individual-ized GORP bags; as the trip took us to places where no trek has ventured. We would like tothank Steinbeck for his wisdom, Keaton for always kicking steps in the snow and making thewhole group smile, Jackie for temporarily giving up being a vegan and loving the world toomuch to ever hurt it, McKenzie for being the first one ready in the morning and the first to offera hand to any that needed it, Henry for always being ready to playa game and always soaware of the rest of the group, Emily for never giving up and always smiling, and the moun-tains for keeping us safe and making us feel at home.

The trip took us, but the group made the best of the trip.

Back - McKenzie Holden, KealOn Robbins, Henry Stanislaw, Jackie BrillainFranl - Alyson Ridgway, Melissa Ridgway, Lala Mae, Emily Parham Freshfruit, artichokes and more hit the spot at resupply

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The SummerMash on the hill, pokey at counselor meetings ...Tom's ripped "guns"but not quite as impressive as Tony's abs ...Kim's personalconversations with Brandywine Henry playing tackle football with agrizzly bear in Damnation Basin Emma's owl face and her nicknamesfor everyone ...tap, tap, tap ...Dan and Tali doing beat box Hebrew .Kristin's immunity to cold water. We think she is part polar bear Bama,bama, bama, they are so blue ...Sheriff Foxy and his squaberryshortcake joke ...Sooze and Nina, the "Bend it like Beckham"sisters ...Lafe, Sean, Thane and Tom see the feminine side oflumberjacking ...Maddie and her crazy shirts ...Pranks gone bad andMaris' all too convincing make up on Ollie ...Mike's ever present T-shirt.Yes, Mike, that is a mountain range ...Byminitials ...Returning the bell tothe Kingdom of Ridgway ...Anais juggling bareback ...Reed's fun facts.Did you know? ...Jackie goes commando and her crazy 80's look ...Dan's trotting technique ...Elicia spying from the inside ...Harry Potterhitting the hill and all day rides ...No,Eli, cell phones are not allowed onthe pack trip ...Tessa, this year's kill the carrier MVP ...Sam the slammer,lunch box ...Margaret getting knocked over by a squirt gun Anna, thebull riding cowgirl ...Rustic poker games in the big house Lafe andDan as the Smurfs, Charlotte and Elicia as nerds ...Ummmm, Rox ...Foxy, you need to hold on to your reins if your hat blows off ...Maris'

Rufio is not convinced il :~fake.Are you?

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Snooze and snuggle lime for Liz and Coco

of 2005 Was ...Frisbee phobia and always being tres chic on the rides ...Quinn, the superhero on irrigation ...Ellie having an injury free summer ...Linda's lesson forClay and his electric toothbrush on the pack trip. How about all those facialproducts? ...Sean, every step you take ...Dorothy's language through theboulder field Jay and Quinn as Starsky and Hutch ...Alexis' craving forkosher food Hadley and Charlotte's sunburn ...Elicia's animal noises andfacial expressions ...Grant and Ollie stealing the pick up ...The wiki-uptower Ari and Amanda ripping it up in the barrels. How about a backRabb? Sam, that is not your mother on the raisin package ...Jen, Hannahand Alexandra as a fork, knife, and spoon ...Liz' obsession with Motolious ...Like, Louisa, like that is quite a gymkhana outfit ...Liza, the irrigationcommander ...Henry's fascination with Sponge Bob Square Pants ...Louisa C. dancing like Louisa A. in the skits ...Thane's questions, "Rob,are you an S.C.?" and "Kyle, are you Grant's Mom?" ...Hannah's irrigationplaques ...Parker, your limbs won't falloff at the top of the mountain ...Nina,which is better, Jiffy-Pop or Quaker Oats? ...Alexandra doing Guster at thesings Special Ops and the van ...Reed and Shelby getting splashed bySusan Christian rationing J.J.'s oats ...Katrina giving Lafe the eye Grantand Keaton's gun show ...Josh's denim jump suit ... lnappropriate Getserious ...Glorious ...We're going to Pluto, tighten your cinches.

We Ihink Ihey would mlher pose Ihan dive into thechilly walers olCrandall Creek. A proud group inFont of our new sign and gale.

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Louisa Ansell

Hopkinton, Massachusetts 01748

Sean Carpenter

Barrington, New Hampshire 03825

Anais Baer

Gif Sur Yvette 91190France

Amanda Cole

Washington, D.C. 20016

Charlotte Barber

New York, New York 10021

Kristin Cole

Billings, Montana 59106

Clay Blackiston

Greenwich, Connecticut 06831

Alexis ConnellE.

Carnation, Washington 98014

Jackie Brittain

Sierra Vista, Arizona 85650

Louisa Cronan

Winchester, Massachusetts 01890

Liza Burns

Chicago, Illinois 60610

Quinn Cronan

Winchester, Massachusetts 01890

Tom Cabot

Medfield, Massachusetts 02052

Elicia Epstein

Lincoln, Massachusetts 01773

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Sun{ightersHannah Espy

Freeport, Maine 04032

Susannah Hatch

Ipswich, Massachusetts 01938

Kim Garlow

Winchester, Massachusetts 01890

Lafe Henderson

Louisa, Virginia 23093

Thane Fehsenfield

Bainbridge Island, Washington78110

McKenzie Holden

Mercer Island, Washington 98040

Gregg Fox

SI. Louis, Missouri 63132

Maris Jahnke

Dover, New Hampshire 03820

Anna Frisbeet

Raleigh, North Carolina 27613

Sam Knowlton

Canton, Connecticut 06019

Reed Gorsage

Bethesda, Maryland 20817

Christian Kretzschmar

Hannover 30559Germany

Elizabeth Haroian

Hopkinton, Massachusetts 01748Alexandra Leith

Dedham, Massachusetts 02026Nina Hatch

Ipswich, Massachusetts 01938

'Directory 2005Dorothy MacAusland

Greenfield, New Hampshire03047

Ellie Mcintyre

Winchester, Massachusetts 01890

Shelby McCue

Anchorage, Alaska 99508

Ari Mishkin

Bethesda, Maryland 20817

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!

Michael Parham

The Woodlands, Texas 77381

Henry Stanislaw

South Hamilton, Massachusetts01982

Maddie Patch

Kingston, Massachusetts 02364Hadley Stein

West New1on,Massachusetts02465Dan Pinnolis

New1on,Massachusetts 02459 Parker Thompson

Bainbridge Island, Washington98110

Margaret Rogers

London NW895XEngland Jennifer Vernick

Lexington, Massachusetts 02421Emma Sprague

Winchester, Massachusetts 01890 Tessa Wood

Hampden, Maine 04444Jay Sprague

Winchester, Massachusetts 01890

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rIfie 2{est of 115Merrianne Brittain Betsy and Cliff Moore Abi Ridgway Keaton Robbins

Sierra Vista, Arizona 85650 Vashon, Washington 98070 Wilson, Wyoming 83014 Park City, Utah 84068

Carley Cassibry Debbie Moore and Sean and Chip and Francine Ridgway Molly RobbinsPaul Watson

Seattle, Washington 98104 Greenwood Village, Colorado Park City, Utah 84068Duvall, Washington 98019 80121

Ridge Chew Celeste RustomTina and Keenan Moore and Eli Ridgway

West Chester, Pennsylvania 19380 Rob Plakke Blacksburg, Virginia 24062Seattle, Washington 98104

Nina Cronan Corvallis, Montana 59828 Eli SchwartzEmily Ridgway

Winchester, Massachusetts 01890 Emily Parham Brookline, Massachusetts 02445New York, New York 10003

Quincy Davisson The Woodlands, Texas 77381 Katrina StanislawHap, Susan, Kyle, Melissa,

North Haven, Maine 04853 Tali Pinnolis Alyson and Grant Ridgway South Hamilton, Massachusetts01982

Ollie Ireland New1on,Massachusetts 02459 South Berwick, Maine 03908Josh Stanley

Exeter, New Hampshire 03833 Sam Rabb Pat RhuDripping Springs, Texas 78620

Linda Kretzschmar Weston, Massachusetts 02493 Tucson, Arizona 85717

Hannover 30559Germany

Danny Zucco and The Pink Ladies hil Ihe gymkhana

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The "gun show" a la Gran! and Kealon