Campfire Stories - Guest Valerie C. shares her 3-day ride experience with CCO.

When we take guests out on our 3-day horseback riding expeditions, we hear a lot of great campfire stories. At the end of each riding day, everyone gathers around the fire and begins to share everything from their highlights of the day to their most vulnerable or entertaining experiences from the past. There is something about conversations around a campfire, with no screens in site, that feels ancient and ceremonial.

In our new blog series “Campfire Stories” we share the experiences that guests have had after hanging around our campfire on CCO horseback riding trips. Please enjoy Valerie C.’s submission.

I had booked and done a 2 hour ride last September 2021 and was impressed with Copper Cayuse’s beautiful horses and the friendliness of the staff, so a friend and I completed the easy booking process on the CCO website to Ogre Lake for July /22. To sum it up, CCO more than exceeded the expectations of our experience in all ways from the food and the horses to the customer service from our hosts! We were blown away!

Even after my friend and I completely messed up our arrival location, the ranch staff that met us joked around that we weren’t the first to go to the wrong starting point and kindly gave us directions to the correct trailhead, telling us to have a great weekend even though we held up the group! When we reached the trailhead, everyone was ready to go. Don (CCO Owner) greeted us and was just as friendly and kind as every other staff member we had encountered so far. He got us acquainted with our assigned horses, showed us where to load our bags into the trailer that transferred our belongings to camp, and sent us off on our adventure!

We set off riding into the backcountry of Pemberton with our guides Maddie and Tom. Let me tell you, there’s nothing these two couldn’t handle! Safety first and lots of fun and laughs! These two Guides have extensive riding and horse experience; we were in good hands! I settled in and began to learn my horse, Caddy’s, ways as we made our way through the mountain trails. Maddie and Tom were charming and engaging and before long, had us all chatting with our closest riding partners. The friendly chatter continued as we arrived at camp later that hot afternoon. We did a fun ride to nearby Birkenhead Lake where most of us jumped in!! Amazing! Don met us at the beautiful rustic camp that would be our home for a few days and we settled in around the fire beside the clean camp kitchen, happily tired from the day. Don fired up his kitchen and created a supper for our group that was beyond my wildest expectations! We even had scrumptious desserts!

In the morning, I awoke to the sound of a crackling campfire (very well built and safe) and was soon enticed out of our cozy tent by the aroma of Dons’ amazing camp coffee! There was no rushing to get going on the trails though! Part of the experience was to sit and relax with my cup of coffee at the fire. Next, we headed to the corrals, got the horses ready, and rode out with our bag lunches and water tucked in our saddle bags. Our lunches always contained a fresh crunchy apple which was perfect because we would save the cores as treats for our horses. Our lunches were delicious! I also brought along a bottle of ice tea and trail mix, along with water, for my saddle bags each day. The riding. Wow, the riding and scenery we saw was beyond breathtaking. We had lunch at the ‘lookout” and well… you can’t describe that view aptly. You simply must experience it. This kind of day, for me, was heaven on earth.

Arriving back at camp, Maddie and Tom showed us how they tended to the horses and we would collapse happily in our camp chair with a “cold from the creek” beverage before dinner! Did I mention heaven?! But wait! Then we would sit down to another delicious supper prepared by camp chef Don! Mmmmmmm… A campfire and a beverage in the evening rounded out the day and we all had a great time chatting and laughing together before turning into our cozy camp cots in our tents.

Copper Cayuse Outfitters blew away my expectations on this 3-day ride. Their very special, hard-working and safety-conscious guides Maddie and Tom, and camp host Don, truly made us all feel like a special kind of family for our 3 days. I am already planning a 5-day trip if they have one!

Thank you, CCO and happy trails!!!
Valerie C.

As Valerie mentioned, she joined us for the 3-day Ogre Lake Expedition. This ride is new as of 2022! To learn more, click the button below.