Lady Luck is a mare

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

By Ben Cannon

After a mighty banging on the dinner bell, outfitter Paul Crittenden announced to a throng of expectant picnickers and trail riders that, finally, suppertime had arrived.
“Eat it!” yelled the gruff but capable cook, a line quickly forming under a catering trailer’s awning at Sleeping Indian Outfitters, Crittenden’s place in Bondurant, less than 40 minutes south of Jackson on Highway 191.

The dinner signaled the denouement of the day, one that began early for the few dozen who took horses (or brought their own) from Sleeping Indian into the rolling foothills of the Gros Ventre mountain range – a course some 18 miles long for those who did not skip a stop. 

Crittenden and company have been putting on a poker ride for close to 30 years, and now give 10 percent of the day’s proceeds to Kickin’ Cancer in Sublette County.
As the day begins around 9 a.m., poker riders sign-in, pay $50 for a good horse, and $25 to play a hand of simple five-card stud followed by the meal. At registration, a rider flips his or her first playing card, which is recorded on a paper that doubles as one’s food and drink tab during the ride. A succession of three designated stops at each group’s leisurely pace sees the usual Wrangler be-jeans Westerners chatting under the pines with hiking-booted visitors.

One thing about the poker ride though: It is not, by any means, a very touristy happening. Many of the participants are Sublette County folk, though some do come from as far as Salt Lake City. Rochelle Muller, who said she tries to not miss any poker rides, was in from the Utah capital with three sisters and their brother, Mike, a resident Pinedale.

“It’s such a great thing,” she said at an early stop with a Bud Light in hand. “You get on horses and ride out in this lovely country. And what a beautiful day this is!”

The course takes riders over and along ridges, through hillside aspen groves and across wide-open sagebrush lands, advancing them near the base of the Gros Ventres. Each stop is staffed with a worker who oversees the card drawing and supervises a cooler full of water, sodas and beer.

At two bucks a pop, ice cold Bud Light, Budweiser and Coors Light are the best deal around, especially in the middle of the Bridger Teton National Forest, where most of the ride takes place. A few clouds and a continual breeze added a level of comfort to riders, many of them in hats and long sleeves.

At the second stop of the day, “Uncle Bill” fried burgers and brats on a propane flat top. Mustachioed, hatted and completely sleeveless, Uncle Bill is the loudest regular fixture on the poker rides. Saturday, as usual, he was not without an unbreakable current of interchangeable and sexually racy one-liners.

But he did forget the cheese for the burgers.

Toward the end of the day, bellies still bloated with suds and food, four of us separated from our group, opting to make good time back and let the horses run a bit. Though they were tired and somewhat out of shape this time of year, the horses were cooperative about getting back in a hurry. On a final high ridge, heading back towards the highway and outfitter, a robust wind blew across the group.

A herd of antelope came darting below the ridge, their quick, hopping bounds putting them out of reach in a hurry. Still, as the obviously wonderful thing to do was to open up those horses wide, we kicked into a hard gallop and ran along the pronghorns for a few paces, the tepid wind adding to the sensory high. Such a yeehaw moment.

Back at Sleeping Indian, Crittenden and wife, Sharon, a silvery-blond woman of much authority, prepared the final touches for dinner. Many picnickers attend for just that (dinner alone is $15) and never even touch one of the many horses corralled nearby.

Mr. Crittenden, who had been up since 3 a.m. preparing his locally renowned Dutch oven beans and potatoes, lifted the heavy lid of his large smoker to a reveal a beautifully charred whole pig. The meat he cuts and pulls from the swine is in itself a delicacy and then some. A snobbish foodie from Brittany or L.A could find nothing but pure joy in the velvety flesh.  Crittenden makes his own sweetish barbeque sauce, but the pork is so good it only needs a little. And the sauce from his beans blesses any morsel it happens to touch. The dinner itself is worth the 40-minute trip “up” (though south of Jackson, it’s upstream) to Bondurant.

Top card hands and the lowest draw split a pot of cash at the end of the day, though with the sum of the days more spirited events, winning money would only be icing on the cake.

The second and final poker ride of the summer will take place Aug. 11. The Sleeping Indian asks that persons interested should call to reserve a horse. They offer horses to suit all riding levels and can be reached at (303) 733-6740.

Photo by Ben Cannon
Outfitter Paul Crittenden tends to his smoked pig.

PERMALINK:
Lady Luck is a mare | Planet JH News Article: Pinedale/Sublette County

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