Packing Clinics

Join us here at Lost Trail Ranch to learn the basics of horse packing. Our clinics are designed to introduce new combers and help experienced riders feel more comfortable with the wonderful adventures of Horse Packing. This is not a school for outfitters, nor a back country experience, but an opportunity for our guests and interested horsepersons to lean the skills necessary for heading out on their own pack trip adventure. From the comfort of our ranch, our small groups work together, hands on, so each individual can feel comfortable and confident with the necessary skills for safely and successfully packing. Each clinic is custom tailored according to the interests and skills of our guests, to include a variety of subjects from basic horsemanship, setting camp, camp cooking, care for stock in the high country, planning and reading routes, "leave no trace" wilderness ethics, back country safety issues, trail ethics and skills, packing and preparations, and of course, packing your gear on horse or mule!

Whether you are considering taking your first pack trip in the near future, or would like to brush up on your skills and increase your current knowledge base for your next pack trip, our guests come to our clinics to learn, and to enjoy!

Come to the beautiful Lost Trail Ranch to learn the basic skills necessary to safely, comfortably and confidently plan and take a back country horse pack trip.

Following is an overview of a typical clinic schedule for the weekend. Most important, we feel, we try to remain flexible to work around the wants and needs of each of our guests. We realize our guests are here to learn, but also here to enjoy themselves, so we plan our day around any other activities our guests may choose to take the time for, from trail riding, to fly fishing, to just relaxing in this magnificent high mountain setting, in our very comfortable guest cabins.

Guests "check in" on Friday. We take the day or evening to get you settled in your cabin, get your horse situated (for those guests bringing their own horse). Enjoy the day if you come early, and take time to get adjusted to the altitude.

On Saturday, we meet up after breakfast, get to know our guests, and sit down to discuss some of the basics over a cup of coffee in our Headquarters Cabin. When the mountain air warms up a little, we head outside and start working with the stock - getting to know the horses, what level they are at, and help them with the skills they will need to best handle a pack trip. Every rider and every horse will be at a different level. and we hope to make each guest, and each horse, feel comfortable and confident with this knowledge.

During our lunch break, we work in the Headquarters together to discuss packing, planning and preparing camp meals. Remember, on a real pack trip, the more preparations you do at home, the easier things will turn out at camp! We share ideas on cooking, meal preparation, food packing, food storage, and camp cooking gear. We'll also share a good hot lunch!

In the afternoon, we're back out to the barn. We work hands on with ropes, knots, tack, hobbles, pickets, high lines, etc., while discussing their uses, benefits, and safety issues.

Evenings, guests are free to enjoy time hiking, fishing, exploring the mountain, or just relaxing in their cabin or around the ranch. The cabins have full kitchens, so guests bring their own fixings for dinners if they don't want to drive to town to eat in a restaurant (our nearest town is Creede, about an hour drive from the ranch). There is no television service at the ranch, however guests often spend their evenings watching DVDs on their computers, reading, singing around a campfire, or watching the stars.

On Sunday, we put our knowledge into action and pack up and hit the trail! Weather providing, we'll ride to a good location, and set up "camp." First, we care for the horses, then we get the fire going, and get a good hot meal cooking! After lunch, we pack up "camp" and return to the ranch. Each saddling, unsaddling, packing and unpacking provides you with more experience to help you become more comfortable and confident when you take your own pack trips.

On Monday, "class" is completed, but guests are welcome to remain at the ranch all day, join us for a trail ride, fish the river, etc.

Bob Getz, along with his wife, Gin and their son, Forrest, own and operate Lost Trail Ranch, and personally guide all trips and workshops, from hour long horse back rides, to several day back country excursions. Our primary goal in our Outfitting Services is to provide you with the best custom tailored outdoor adventure, and the best horse experience, that we possibly can . Each of our clinics, lessons and trips is designed with the special goals, abilities and desires of our guests in mind at all times. Your safety is our first concern, and the well being of our horses is evident in everything we do. Our goal is to provide for our guests and visitors the safest, most comfortable yet challenging, interesting and breathtakingly beautiful horseback adventure in our magnificent surrounding mountains.

Bob has been packing in these mountains since he was a small child, and guiding guests on pack trips since he was 15 years old. By the time he was 24, he became a USDA Forest Service permitted Outfitter. Over the past 27 years as a permitted outfitter, he has guided innumerable horse pack trips, llama treks, backpacking excursions, and cross country ski trips. He has amassed a great deal of knowledge, stories, wrecks and simple glories, and enjoys sharing his experiences to help others learn, have fun, and head out there to appreciate the Wilderness in the most enjoyable way possible.

Gin, with Forrest beside her, began guiding and teaching riding and horsemanship about 12 years ago, and has been successfully guiding (and cooking for) pack trips for the past 9 years. Along the way, Gin has been breeding and training mountain trail horses, and is an ever-learning student of natural horsemanship. Although proud to have her own family as her main priority, she thoroughly enjoys sharing the guest ranch, and the mountains, with their guests.

Here are a few specifics and ideas that may help in your planning and preparing for your upcoming Back Country Packing Clinic and stay here at Lost Trail Ranch.

1. Accommodations – Guests stay in private rooms in our charming and comfortable guest cabins. There is a full kitchen and full bathroom in each cabin. Kitchens and bathrooms may be shared. Please see our pages under Guest Cabins for more information about the cabins and accommodations here at Lost Trail Ranch. As we are completely "off grid" here, people often wonder how modern and convenient the accommodations may be. Each kitchen has a propane fridge/freezer, oven/stove and hot water heater, as well as back up lights. Our main lights come from our solar powered electrical system, which provides limited electricity to all cabins - no heat producing or high powered appliances, such as hair dryers or toasters or microwave, please! Kitchens are well stocked with pots, pans, plates, etc., and there is a percolator and french press in each cabin for making your coffee. There is no land line or cell phone service, however we do have limited satellite internet service for guests who wish to bring their own lap top computer.

2. Bringing Horses/Mules - Guests may choose to bring their own stock to work with first hand on these basic skills while here at the ranch, or guests may prefer to travel here without stock and use our horses for this program. Portable pens, feed and water may be provided here at the ranch for those guests bringing their own stock (please see our web page: Bringing Your Own Horse for more information). There is no charge for guests bringing their own stock for the clinics. We have limited stock and accommodations, so please confirm arrangements with us ahead of time.

3. Meals - Don't forget that at this elevation, you'll probably need to eat, drink and sleep a little bit more than you do back home. It’s almost 10,000 feet here - high and dry! Please remember to bring along all the fixings for your meals and snacks while you’re at Lost Trail, because the nearest grocery store or restaurant is an hour away– and once you’re here, you probably won’t want to leave! Each cabin has all the pots, pans, plates, etc. you'll need to prepare your meals. Lunches on Saturday and Sunday will be provided by Lost Trail Ranch.

4. Linens and things – Sleeping bags or fresh linens, and fresh towels should be brought in by our guests. Sorry, laundry facilities are pretty far away for us up here! But don’t worry, if you do forget something... chances are we’ll have it.

5. Packing – For each of our Packing Clinic Guests, we recommend bringing the following: towel(s), sleeping bag and/or linens (check with us to see what size bed your room will have), comfortable riding/work boots (we'll spend plenty of time working with our stock on the ground, but you'll also need to be safe in the saddle), extra pair of boots/shoes (water proof, pack or muck boots are a good idea), slippers and sweats or jammies for hanging in your cabin, clothing for your stay in the mountains, cowboy/riding gear should be whatever you are most comfortable with, extra warm socks and long johns are a good idea to bring along just in case, a warm coat, warm hat and gloves, flashlight (there are no street lights here!), sunglasses and sunblock for the intense Colorado sunshine, a water bottle to take with you when you're out playing in the mountains (it’s very important to drink plenty of water when you’re at this high elevation). Don't forget your fishing gear, hiking gear, biking gear or what not! Books, board games, camera and binoculars are all great past times here, as we do not have television (we have many books and board games for borrowing in our Lending Library in our Headquarters). There is no cell phone nor land line phone service here, so bring your portable lap top if you think you’ll need to keep in touch with the “outside” world on the wireless internet. Otherwise, enjoy the chance to “get away from it all.”

6. Horse Tack - We will provide all necessary riding and packing tack and equipment for the clinic. If you are brining your own riding horse, we would recommend bringing your own saddle and tack. If you have your own pack equipment, you may want to bring that along for the hands on experience, or for fitting to your pack stock.

7. Weather – Average spring temps are from just below freezing in the morning, to the low-70’s in the afternoon - a wide variation! Sunshine is the “norm” here, but the occasional snow or rain shower is not unheard of. The ground may still be muddy in places from our melting snow, and our trails often have remaining snow drifts in the high country. For all seasons in the mountains, dress in layers, and be prepared for just about anything!

8. How to get to Lost Trail Ranch - We are located about an hour outside of Creede, Colorado, along side the Rio Grande just east of the Divide. Please see our web page: How to Get to Lost Trail Ranch, and/or send us an e-mail for more information.

Please feel free to e-mail us at LostTrailRanch@gmail.com with any additional questions. We’d be glad to help in any way we can.

1. Dates - We are booked for the 2009 Spring Season. Please check back with us for the 2010 season.

2. Pricing - Each session costs $750 per person. Pricing includes a private room in our cabins; 2 "camp" lunches; use of stock, tack and gear as necessary; and hands-on, personalized instructions. As space is limited so that we can keep our groups small, a non-refundable, one-third deposit is necessary to reserve your space. We do not accept credit cards, so payment should be made by check, please.

3. Additional Considerations - All participants must sign and submit a Release of Liability and must show proof of their own insurance.

We are really excited to be offering these sessions and sharing this knowledge with our guests. Groups are kept small, so it's fun, safe, comfortable and a really great way to get hands-on skills and knowledge.

Come to our beautiful Lost Trail Ranch to learn the basic skills necessary to safely, comfortably and confidently plan and take a back country horse pack trip.

Trail Skills, Inc. is our family owned and operating Outfitting Services here at Lost Trail Ranch.

For additional information regarding safety concerns in our Horseback Riding/Outfitting Services, please click HERE.