Home on the range

At Bitterroot Ranch, the West ain’t some dog-and-pony show put on for tourists

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A view from a pasture at the Bitterroot Ranch, located near Dubois, Wyo., outside of Yellowstone National Park. Besides the great food, company and horses, the dramatic sky offers round-the-clock entertainment.

Haley Goodfellow /

The last mile on the bumpy dirt road to Mel and Bayard Fox's Bitterroot Ranch, located near Dubois, Wyo. The Fox family has run the ranch for more than 30 years.

James Zimmerman

Guests of the Bitterroot Ranch stay in sparsely appointed, but comfortable, individual cabins scattered about the ranch. Meals are taken with other guests in the lodge.

Haley Goodfellow

Most of the horses at Bitterroot Ranch are sure-footed quarter horses or Arabians that have grown up and been trained on the ranch. The Fox family prides itself on taking care of its extended family, not overusing the horses and keeping them in good health.

Haley Goodfellow

Every morning at Bitterroot Ranch, the Foxes' 150 horses run down from their grazing plateau to be tacked up, ridden and otherwise cared for. At dusk, shown here, they run back up to the plateau to graze.

Haley Goodfellow

Bob Jiranek of Danville, Va., canters through the cross-country course at Bitterroot Ranch. The 81-year-old held his own with the three teenage girls who joined him.

Luis F. Chaves

Hadley Fox, the daughter-in-law of the Bitterroot Ranch's owners, leads riders over jumps in the cross-country course. The riders include, center, Bob Jiranek, 81, of Danville, Va., who has been on several Equitour trips with his friend and ranch owner Bayard Fox.

Luis F. Chaves

Bayard Fox, left, leads a group of riders trying to herd cattle that strayed from the ranch, probably because a bear had paid an unwelcome visit the night before, leaving its scent lingering.

Haley Goodfellow

Riders who are up to it can volunteer to herd some of the Foxes' stray cattle over miles of back country in the Wind River Valley of Wyoming.

Luis F. Chaves

A rainbow lights up Bitterroot Ranch after a brief thunderstorm. The weather is fast-changing and dramatic during the summer months.

Haley Goodfellow

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