She's Downhill and in the Shade: From the Mighty Gang Ranch & Snow Mountains of British Columbia to the Cowboys of Pendleton Oregon

I have been a Big Game Guide and outfitter in British Columbia, Canada for almost 40 years. I specialized in Sheep both Bighorn and Stone Sheep. I have just finished my two books No1# "She's downhill and in the shade" 275 pages ISBN # 0-9734686-0-2 No2# 'Bighorns and Stone Sheep" 150 pages ISBN # 0-9734686-1-0 By Chris Kind The first book is out and I have a few thousand copies the second book is due out in one week. "She's downhill and in the shade" is a biography starting at the mighty Gang Ranch in B.C. and moving into Big Game hunting. The stories are great and all first hand experiences. I have put a lot of humor in the first book. The second is a tribute to several guides and over a 100 magnificant rams that I have been involved with, including the world record and no 2 California in the world. Both books are great winter reading. Both books have three nice reviews on the internet I am a first time Author and these books are a big part of my lif

I have no idea where I got the urge to see what lay on the other side of the mountains. Maybe it came from someone in our family who was running from the law, or possibly it came from my grandfather who was an R.S.M. in the British Army. Grandpa spent all his life in India, China and Africa; he loved the outdoors.

I do know that from the time I was five years old, I longed for the wilds of Canada.

In school, the Jesuits tried to convince me that I could be clergy material. I politely told them that the only thing I needed from St Aloysious Gonzaga was a fast horse, capable of getting me to British Columbia.

This book spans forty years in the snow mountains of B.C., the Mighty Gang Ranch and on down to the cowboys of Pendleton, Oregon.

It takes in several exciting events and the most fascinating characters along the trail. The horsemanship skills of the cowboys and Indians would put most equestrian riders to shame. It was a privilege to share their camp fires.

The book is dedicated to all those good hands that are still out there pumping air and passing gas, and those great ones that have moved on.Wherever you all are, I hope the hunting is good, you are mounted on a fine horse, and from here on out your ride is downhill and in the shade.

Excerpted from She's Downhill and in the Shade by Chris Kind. Copyright © 2003. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. One day we were all coming back from moving a thousand head or so of cattle over to Lost Valley. As we were returning to the camp at Hungry Valley, I noticed it was evening and the sun was going down. We were just a few miles from camp and quite tired. We passed a small lake in West Churn. At the next pothole lake was a huge Grizzly bear drinking. We were all mounted on very good horses, and every guy there was good with a rope. Well you can figure out the next bit, we all got off, and reset our saddles and tightened them down while he had his head in the water. The next move was to cut the Grizzly off, which we did without any problem. When he saw us he stood up, it was then, that we realized we had disturbed a giant. He was a monster, as big as any Angus Bull the ranch had.

He now had a choice of swimming the lake, or facing 5 cowboys blocking him from the nearest point of timber. He chose the timber instead of swimming and started towards us. I thought wow this is great, peace of cake, and he's even coming to us. The only problem was that he was not the slightest bit afraid of us and was getting larger and larger every stride he took.

Nobody realized just how big this guy was or what we had bitten of until he was right on us. It is amazing how horses learn to side step perfectly when they want. In seconds they opened up a gap large enough for a freight train to go through, and it widened even further when the bear woofed at us when he passed by. He was huge and a Dark Silvertip. He was very close to a thousand pounds if not more.

I remember several cowboys throwing the loops on the ground, some in the air. Something they seldom did. All of them saying, "you get him, I missed". The sight of that flowing silky coat of hair as he went by is always in my memory. Sure glad we missed him because we would still be scattered up there in West Churn someplace picking up pieces of our saddles. There were some very large Grizzly on the ranch. They seldom if ever were seen. They were to smart for that and moved around at night. One could always see their tracks on the trails the next day as they passed from valley to valley. That summer, I saw two very large Grizzlies that went close to a thousand pounds their tracks measured from twelve to fourteen inches.

Book Description Memoirs including the most colorful characters and events along the trail. The book spans forty years from the great snow mountains of the gang ranch and British Columbia to the cowboys of Pendleton, Oregon.