Amber & Perry Hayward

Ogre Canyon is a fantastic gorge reached by a short 4x4 drive (or mountain bike trip) from Brule. It offers an easy scramble into the bottom of the waterfall, or an ascent on an old packhorse trail to the top of the ridge. One time, while I was guiding a family group on the ridge above the canyon, I was confronted with a unique problem – the father's shoes fell apart. They were loafers with a good tread, but he had put them through a washing machine prior to their holiday, and all the glue let go during the hike. Luckily, Jerry Fochler of Inroads Mountain Sports was on the ridge with a group of rock climbers and he came to the rescue with a roll of duct tape.

We have many other Ogre Canyon stories, and we tell them on rest stops during the ascent. And we have Mt. Solomon stories to tell when we guide guests there. I have Binocular Ridge tales as well, but I'm usually too out of breath on that climb to tell stories, so they have to wait for the lunch break at the top.

Our son, Ryan, photographed the ogre face. I showed it to some guests this summer, and they convinced me that it looks exactly like Richard Nixon!

Laughing Through the Holidays

We have relished many festive seasons at our Ranch, shared with family and guests alike. I often become adventurous with recipes at that time, trying out new dishes. There was the near disaster with the flaming plum pudding…and another near disaster with beef Wellington. I had made 3 beef Wellingtons and one fell off the back of the oven rack into the oven, ruining the pastry (but the beef tasted fine). New Year's eve we serve a traditional family buffet, with everyone contributing their specialty such as French Canadian tortiere or Perry's spicy meatballs.

Entertainment is provided with new games, the annual jigsaw puzzle, skiing if there's enough snow. One year my aunt Peggy found a humorous article in the New Yorker about laughter, which inspired her to organize a laughing contest. For Jim Taylor's group who came here for over 20 years in a row, I often created a trivia contest.

One memorable New Years during the 1980s, our ‘historic' log house became so cold that Perry and I and our 2 sons had to move out temporarily, but there was no room at the inn, since every room at the Lodge was booked. We moved into the mattress closet (at least there were plenty of mattresses).

The Tale of a Tree

During the 1980's, the Alberta government ran a program called ‘Trees of Renown." My mother, Mary Bond, nominated a large balsam poplar near our Ranch. This 95 year-old survivor of wind and flood was measured, cored and accepted into the publication. Sad to say, the huge tree came down in one of the big storms which swept through our valley this fall.

The stand of trees on Black Cat Mountain, which gives our Ranch its name, appeared in a publication, Alberta Heritage Trees, in 2008.

Perry next to the big tree.

Events - Winter & Spring 2010

Watercolour Workshops

January 29 – 31 or February 1
June 4 – 6 or 7

Spa Weekends

February 5 – 7    Winter Magic Couples Spa
March 5 – 7    Stretch and Soothe Spa
March 19 – 21   Mother / Daugthers Spa
May 14 – 16   Spa Weekend
May 28 – 30   Spa Weekend
June 11 – 13   Adventure Spa

Other Creative Weekends

March 19 – 21   Writing Workshop
April 30 – May 2   Scrapbooking Workshop

Elderhostel

May 4 – 14   (Here May 9 – 14)

It's a very good thing that I have no wedding disaster stories to tell you. We have hosted weddings here for groups of 4 – 80, and all have proceeded beautifully. But one wedding, or non-wedding, caused me a few hours of panic. I was shopping in Hinton on a Friday in June, and I ran into one of the local marriage commissioners. He said, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow at the wedding." When I asked him what he meant, he told me the names of the people whose ceremony he was officiating at the Ranch the next day. I told him I didn't think I had a booking, then I rushed home to check. Sure enough, the people had enquired a few months previously, but had never made a deposit or worked out details of the wedding with me. How could they think they had a booking? We were full with other guests. Just then, the commissioner called to say he'd made the error, the event was booked at another local hotel. Phew….!

Contest Winners

Congratulations to Paul Broska, the winner of our 2009 Trivia Contest.

2010 Contest
- Your Stories, Please

For the 2010 contest, we ask you to submit your short stories of 200 words or less on things you have enjoyed at the Black Cat Ranch (in one of four categories) – Outdoor Activities, Spa weekends, Creative Workshops (watercolour, scrapbooking, etc.) and Family Special Events (such as weddings or reunions). Entries to be considered as finalists will be posted on our website and we invite our guests to vote for their favorite in each category. Each of the four winners will receive a gift certificate of one day for one person. You are more than welcome to submit more than one entry, either by email or snail mail.

And don't forget, we are always interested in any great photographs you may have taken during your stay at the Black Cat. If we put it on our website we will give you a photo credit.

Gazebo in Winter

Creative Tales

The Black Cat Ranch, in its peaceful and scenic location, is a source of inspiration to many artists – watercolour painters, scrapbookers, photographers, writers and more. At a Writers' Guild of Alberta retreat once, our electricity went out and the writers gathered around the fire place after their computer batteries had run down. Before long, on that dark and stormy night, people began to tell ghost stories. I told one about our Ranch. As it turned out, Barbara Smith was among the visiting authors, and the Black Cat ghost story ended up in her next book, More Ghost Stories of Alberta.

Novelist Amber Hayward will be offering a writing workshop here at the Ranch on the weekend of March 19 – 21, with the theme of "Ascend the Heights of Creativity." The emphasis will be on character development and scene setting for short story writers and novelists. Watch in early 2010 for Amber's website to be up and running at www.AmberHayward.ca.

Stretch and Soothe

Because my life is an odd combination of desk sitting and strenuous outdoor pursuits, I've found that yoga is a wonderful necessity for me. Our popular spa weekends prove that many of our guests feel a similar need to attend to the care and pampering of their bodies. This March we'll be offering our first Stretch and Soothe workshop, featuring several yoga classes throughout the weekend (beginner to intermediate level), a one hour massage for all guests, guided hiking plus a delicious healthy menu.

Other upcoming spa weekends will conform to our ‘traditional' format, including the Adventure Spa with optional rock climbing. Against my expectations, I found I really enjoy rock climbing. I'm not comfortable with heights, but I love rocks and I love puzzles. The challenge of finding a route and maneuvering myself upwards to the goal is all-encompassing.

A Recipe with a Story

My mother tells this tale – years ago in our children's camp days, we took seven of our camp boys into Hinton one Saturday to catch the bus home. We were planning to eat in town as there were no guests left at the Ranch. However, we had the time wrong on the bus, so we missed it and had to bring the boys back to the Ranch. To our surprise, the yard was full of cars. Drop-in guests had arrived and our staff girls had booked them in to cabins and were in the kitchen trying to make a supper. Their thoughts had run to macaroni and bannock, as there was no bread. For the macaroni they had been consulting the cookbook, "100 to Dinner," and were in great danger of cooking far too much. We pitched in to help on the macaroni and let them make their panic bannock. All the new guests and the leftover camp boys enjoyed their supper.

Bannock is a staple here at the Ranch – we bake it in cast iron frying pans, or cook it on a stick over the fire for a cook-out. It's healthy because it's fat free (unless you deep fry it).

4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
8 tsp baking powder
1 tb sugar
About 3 cups cold water
Mix dry ingredients thoroughly and stir in enough cold water to make a thick batter that will pour out level. Mix until smooth and pour into 2 greased heavy iron frying pans. Bake in 425 degree F oven for about 45 minutes.

Black Cat Guest Ranch
Box 6267
Hinton, AB      T7V 1X6
Phone:  780-865-3084
Fax:  780-865-1924
Reservations:  800-859-6840
E-Mail
Website:  www.BlackCatGuestRanch.ca