Skyline Guest Ranch--
Where Visitors Reach for the Sky

by Paris Permenter & John Bigley

"A guest wrote us a note this year saying 'Skyline is a spiritual retreat masquerading as a ranch,'" says Sherry Farny, half of the husband-wife team who own the Skyline Guest Ranch outside of Telluride, Colorado. "I like that description because the amount of beauty is what affects a person who stays here. The setting is what sets us apart."

Perched at an elevation of 9,600 feet, the spectacular mountain view, the rustling aspens, and the alpine flowers are just part of the reason for Skyline's success. The other factor is the focus of the ranch -- not that of a typical dude ranch vacation. At Skyline, couples combine adventure and the dude ranch experience for an insightful experience that leaves them with a new view of themselves and their own limitations.

You'll find that Skyline differs from a typical dude ranch because of its owners, Sherry and Dave Farny. The Farnys were formerly the owners of the Telluride Mountaineering School, and they've carried over that sense of adventure and challenge to Skyline.

Whether it's the spectacular setting, the challenging program, or the caring hosts, one thing's for certain -- a vacation at Skyline is a chance to get away, to take stock of your life, and to challenge yourself to interact with nature. It produces 35 happy guests a week, who bond together and soon interact as if they're long-time friends. "We never hear a cross word because that comes from bad energy," says Sherry, watching a group return to the ranch after a breakfast ride.

The Farnys describe the special feeling that makes Skyline so intoxicating as "mountain joy." Sherrie explains that "the mountain joy is a feeling that through the mountain environment, you have learned to stretch and expand personally, physically and emotionally."

The ranch is perched in the San Juan Mountains, set in a beautiful clearing that gives visitors a view of mile after mile of undeveloped wilderness. "I never get used to the view," says Sherry, who grew up in the suburbs of Colorado, a long way from the 14,000 foot peaks that Skyline overlooks. "I didn't know this kind of world existed."

Skyline Guest Ranch itself is located in pristine wilderness, a condition that Sherry and Dave aim to maintain. They've even deeded over development rights to the Nature Conservancy to preserve this natural beauty.

Skyline was started by the Farny's daughter, Cindy, who now runs the winter operation. A recent graduate of the New York Cooking School, Cindy serves a chef during the summer months. During the winter, Cindy hosts skiers in the six housekeeping cabins, and operates a gourmet restaurant open to guests and locals who make the winding drive from Telluride. Winter guests find cross country skis and ice skates for use on the pond in front of the cabins.

In the summer, the gourmet restaurant switches to a buffet to fill hungry hikers. The ice skating area becomes a children's fishing pond populated with rainbow trout and busy ducks. And the guests are provided with organized activities to challenge bodies to stretch a little further and reach just a little higher.

Summer guests arrive on Sunday and remain through the next Sunday. Only 35 guests are accepted each week, so the atmosphere is friendly and homey, so homey in fact that guests are not even issued room keys. You'll find guests of all ages, from grandchildren to grandmothers, literally from all over the world. Many are returning visitors, come back year after year for a week of challenges combined with fun. They all have one thing in common -- they're energetic folks. "Our people get out and do things, " says Sherry, looking out over the dining room filled with hungry hikers, riders, and several people who just returned to the ranch after a two day campout.

Every evening, Sherry and Dave discuss the next day's adventures with their guests. Two or three options are always available, ranging from horseback rides to climbs to jeep rides cross-country to Silverton. For those who want to strike out on their own, there are many aspen-lined trails, fly fishing on three trout-filled lakes, swimming in invigorating lake waters, or just sitting in a quiet wildflower meadow.

Horseback rides are one of the ways the Farnys introduce their guests to the challenges the outdoors present. The week begins with an introduction by the wranglers, and progresses from two hour rides to overnight pack trips if desired. By the end of the week, you may find yourself on a horseback in a mid-summer snowstorm at 14,000 feet or riding out to set up camp in an elk-filled pasture.

"No one comes to this environment without feeling something," says Sherry. "Dave has the ability to make people stretch." Since 1962, Dave stretched climbers with his mountaineering school, which originated in Aspen. Dave described the school as "a way to teach leadership. It teaches people what they could and could not do."

Dave took these mountaineering challenges and applied them to Skyline, offering climbs of all difficulties. At the end of the day when the guests return to share their day's adventures before dinner, the climbers who "took on the mountain" beam with pride, as do their guides. "We really like to adventure with our guests," says Dave, and it's obvious. One day in particular, the Farnys were especially proud of a climb up 14,000-foot Mt. Sneffels, a climb which produced a three generation photo of one excited family -- grandmother, daughter, and grandchildren -- on the mountain summit.

At the end of the week, a week filled with some newly discovered muscles, newly-learned skills, and new-formed friendships, everyone hikes to the upper lake for an after-dinner campfire. With the smell of frying crepes and smores filling the ever-darkening sky, the Farnys lead a sing-along. When darkness finally falls, an aspen float and individual candles are handed to each family. The 35 tiny candles, carefully balanced on the family floats, drift out on the lake. The first person's candle to go out will have his wishes come true, according to Skyline legend.

Watching the candles light the cool Colorado evening and listening to the singing voices of the Skyline "family," it's easy to imagine what everyone's wish will be -- to return to Skyline again next year.

For more information: Write P.O. Box 67, Telluride, CO 81435 or call 888-754-1126.

Copyright Paris Permenter and John Bigley

Lovetripper.com editors John Bigley and Paris Permenter are a husband-wife team of travel writers. Longtime residents of central Texas, they make their home in the hill country west of Austin. John and Paris write frequently about romantic destinations for numerous magazines and newspapers; the couple has also authored 27 guidebooks. Their travel coverage has included destinations from Malta to Morocco, Cyprus to the Cayman Islands. Both Paris and John are members of the Society of American Travel Writers.

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