Winter Ranching

Here in the cold, kids are loving the ice and the fun of exploring the outdoors at PV Ranch Adventures. Take a walk down our beautiful lynch creek where the sound of the water gurgling nearby is part of the peace that enfolds our amazing wilderness.

Well, the cows have come home and PVRanch Adventures is settling in for a long, cozy winter. We had a couple in the cabin over Christmas who thoroughly enjoyed the comforts and the peace - and the visit of some wild turkeys of our guest ranch. Come join us. Call to find out about the lowered winter rates. visit our website at www.pvranchadventures.com

Come join PV Ranch Adventures in our fall round ups and winter sortings. Your cabin is warm and cozy in the crisp fall air with beautiful scenery around you. Each couple of weeks we gather up the cows into our corrals and sort out which of them goes into which field. We brand and sort for selling as well. Above is a picture of the ranch boss Al opening the gate way up north on our range so the cows can come home. They are all currently nestled in our fields waiting for winter and calving season.
Here is Al and George, PV Ranch Adventures partners just home from their big man camping trip up Mount Faith. It was a cold but beautiful trip. Mount Faith is stunning this time of year.

The View from our "Bench" is stunning - and easily reached by horseback.
This time of year it's all about keepin' the cows behind the fence! Something that's not easy when cows live out "it's always greener on the other side" like no one else! First they go to one side and then look back and say hey! I want to go over there!
Come enjoy the adventure of chasing them on horse from one field to the next! You'll get to have fun in the corral this time of year too - chasing calves and separating the herd into different groups.

I know, I know, it's been awhile since I posted. Here are the brand new - beautiful cabin pictures - a sweet little cabin waiting for you to come experience the cool refreshment of fall on the ranch. PV Ranch Adventures is up and raring to go - a ranch full of fun you don't want to miss - come check us out!

It's a beautiful day and PV Ranch Adventures is open for business! Come and visit our new guest ranch during this colorful and warm fall season. We've been spending time on cattledrives chasing our cows back up the range. If you feel like a breathtaking trail ride now is the time to try out our mountains with all the beautiful fall colors coming out. Walking in our fields is a great peaceful experience right now where all you can hear is the quiet sound of the sprinklers.

Come to PV Ranch Adventures - experience the beauty of the ranch in fall! Here are some spectacular views - photos taken during huckleberry picking expeditions! Something that we can offer our guests as part of your ranching adventures. Gwen (Ranch boss's wife) makes a mouth-watering huckleberry pie! Note the rainbow in the picture below


Our cabin is ready and waiting for visitors! Take a trail ride through the yellows and oranges of our mountain ranges - Come on one of our last cattle-drives up into the Granby Provincial Parks, a great scenic horseback ride! Or come have a campfire with us on one of the best and little known hiking trails through the Granby Park along a beautiful creek and canyon.
We'll be having a grand opening to our guest ranch in October - enter a free draw to spend a night for free in the cabin.
See you soon!

'Things' you can experience

Hi there! This here is Brittani, you know the 'grunt worker'? Well I'm going to call myself the 'Ranch-Man'(short for 'Ranch Manager'). You know, some crazy funny things can happen while you're on the ranch, perhaps in the field. For instance, the other day I was out working in the field swathing(which means 'cutting the grass with a big ol' machine') and something in the grass caught my 'eagle eye'. I watched this 'thing' scramble through the alfalfa and my curiousity got the better of me. Soon I was standing up tall('cuz I'm quite tall) to try and get a better look. However, I still couldn't tell what it was and so I decided to stop the tractor, 'cuz what if it was a cute little animal in need of rescuing? As I sat there, watching it crawl through the grass, I desperately wanted to go find out what it was. You might ask what stopped me from immediatly jumping off the tractor and trekking through the grass? Well, partly because I was working and 'The Boss' probably wouldn't have wanted me to stop, beings we still had loads of field to cut down. The other part was a slight bit of fear. However, I decided in a quick moment, that nothing that small could be anything remotely dangerous. So off I jumped and started slowly walking towards this 'thing' that was walking away from me. As I got closer I thought I saw a touch of black. I started to get up close to it, say... 4 or 5 feet maybe? when suddenly it stopped. I took one more hesitant step towards it. At this moment, the 'thing' peeked its head above the grass. One look at that white stripe down its back and my mind could barely keep up with my frantic running legs. The now known 'skunk' also screamed (I'm sure of it) and started running the opposite way. The grass pulled at my legs and threatened to take me down, but the adrenaline coursing through my body wouldn't have it. With one final, slightly ungraceful leap I made it into the safety of the tractor seat. I then saw the skunk crawl out of the grass ahead of me and across the rows into the bush. Phew, we were both safe.
So there you have it folks, not only can you experience the hands on work end of things, but also all the wildlife!

Ranch boss Al spends a lot of time on the tractor during the summer baling rows upon rows of hay for the coming winter. (he doesn't like getting his picture taken but ha ha! he can't stop me!)
Today the girls (the volunteer ranch hands Lindsay, Larissa and Brittani - Al and Gwen's daughters) are scrambling to pick up all the hay bales before the big thunderstorm hits... That's another thing about ranchers - always keepin' an wary eye out for the weather changes!

Here are some of the long awaited cabin pictures!! And in all honesty they don't do justice to the beautiful interior. Notice the nice big windows though! And the high ceiling and loft area to the left. We haven't furnished it fully yet, and the kitchen area is still undergoing plumbing details, but we hope to have a GRAND OPENING in two weeks!! Look for more cabin photos next week!

Here are some ranch photos I thought you might enjoy. The sky was beautifully pink and the air was still, and all I could smell was freshly mown hay and cool night air. Summer Evenings on PV Ranch are experiences you don't want to miss.

It's haying season! This is the fun part of early fall - throwing bales at dusk with a bunch of friends. Above meet two of our most handy ranch hands, (second picture - Brittani Pauls, third picture - Adam Trainer) Adam is our hardworking ranch volunteer, and PV Ranch Adventures foreman. He is currently painstakingly finishing all the little details on our brand new beautiful cabins, plus throwing in an extra hand at any old ranch chore.
Brittani is our grunt laborer, and will soon be our very own horse chiropractor to make sure all our horses are in tiptop shape for riding and rounding up those stubborn cows!
Tomorrow morning post: beautiful sunset pictures of the ranch.

(Mr. Heppner's draft horse snuffles a mitten...) Bob will hopefully be pulling a sleigh for vacationers who visit our PV Ranch Adventures in the winter months! ... hint hint to our wonderful neighbor... who we hope will also be a campfire story teller over at the cabins? What do ya say Gary?



So I promised a quick note about how PV Ranch came to have its name. Over thirty-five years ago Cornelius Pauls was stuck in his city job looking out the window at all the farmers on the coast with longing so he said to his friend Mr. Vanny "let's go!" (hence the PV). What came next was two families toiling away logging, clearing land, selling fence posts for money until they made the small farm they bought into the beautiful, lush acreage you see in these pictures. (pictures taken coming home from a cattle drive)

Walking down the Granby Park Trail (close to our ranch) is an amazing experience in green. Surrounded by tall cedars and moss covered ground the path is easy to follow and beautiful with a canyon and small waterfall as a reward at the end. This will be a hike often experienced in the summer and fall of our PV Adventures vacation.
P.S. Our cabin pictures are coming soon!! Honestly!
Next post: why we're called PV Ranch Adventures.

Cattle driving!

There's nothing like sitting on the back of a beautiful horse heading up to the middle of nowhere chasing some slow moving cows! Cattle drives are a main part of our ranch vacationing during the summer months. They provide beautiful scenery and fun moments (cows never like to go straight).


Quiet, peace. Sounds of wind and the gentle call of cattle. Surrounded by mountainous wilderness as far as the eye can see...

So, here is a picture of Al (ranch boss) and George (pv ranch adventures investor AND ranch hand) fixing our John Deer Tractor. Which is a regular part of ranch work! And also a good excuse to come in for a coffee break! And a quote that's often heard muttered in the background by the peanut gallery (me! or whoever happens to be watching) "Too many chiefs, not enough hands" This quote is often heard muttered in the corral too!

And here is another future PV ranch hand - and present cause of missing tractor keys and general patience testor for Al sitting on our ford tractor - it takes more than one tractor to keep the farm going! So any little boys and girls who would like to sit on a big green tractor come on over and try it out!

Below are some friendly faces you will get
to meet! And though there's not too many brains
behind those faces they seem to do just fine outsmarting the ranch hands from time to time!

Looks like a painting doesn't it? But this is the view from the back deck of your cozy cabin... if you choose to come sit yourself down at PV Ranch Adventures!
Yes. Pictures of the cabin are coming soon! We're just finishing up the little details - look for it in a few days... I like keeping you in suspense!

And these are the kinds of skies you get to experience.
Don't you wish you could come?

And this could be your wedding photo from our own PV Ranch Adventures fields! (picture taken by a professional photographer)

And lets not leave out one of the best parts of a ranch vacation! HORSES! TRAIL RIDES! Here are two beautiful gentlemen you would love to meet! Duke and Trigger are two of our cattle horses - but they don't mind carrying the odd greenhorn. ( hint to the ranch boss- I'm a better ranch hand than media mangler!)

Introducing PV Ranch Adventures!

Hey there! welcome to PV Ranch Adventures, we hope to entice you into visiting us deep in the backwoods of Grand Forks, B.C. Ranching- vacation? Can you really mix the two? YES. Honestly, you can do whatever you want - but we have a lot of cool adventures to offer you everything from fixing fence to cattle drives and trail rides. Along with (of course) beautiful cozy new cabins and riverfront relaxation.

So we'll start with the important stuff. Introductions...
Here's Trixie and Al - and there's an ongoing argument between the two as to who is the real ranch boss!
Trixie is our one and only mule and she pretty much has the run of the ranch (no fence can keep her in and she's pretty nifty at opening gates). She's interested in everything from the building of our new cabins to the ranch bosses backyard. We hate to give her the spotlight, but she's somewhat of a unique aspect to our ranch. Riding her is like "riding a rocking chair" says Al. Don't worry, if you come you can ride a horse instead.

After one of our cattle drives we stop to take in the amazing view of our North Fork valley. Betcha wish you could join us!


Coming up soon - pics of the new cabin and more details - along with our new website with all our crazy details about ranching. And vacationing. And why you want to come over!