As managers of the Buffalo Creek Ranch, we welcome you to one of the most beautiful places on earth. Trying to explain or capture this ranch on a website is impossible; it can only be experienced. Every single guest we've had has said the same thing or written about this ranch's unbelievable majesty in the lodge journal. It sounds odd, but we've even had guests tell us that being here has been a life-changing experience. Sharing this ranch with our few and special guests is our passion. We know your visit will be unforgettable, and we'd like to promise you that we'll do everything in our power to make that a reality.

John first discovered the North Park area when he landed a Park Ranger job in the Gould State Forest as a recent graduate from CSU in outdoor recreational management. When the fit between John and governmental work ethics got uncomfortable, he drifted into ranching in the Rand area on the Brown family ranch. From Verl Brown, he learned much of what he does today: how to calve in the spring and raise hay in the summer and many things in between. The long hours and the nurturing connection between the rancher and the land and its wildlife was a perfect fit A hunting client of Verl's, Richard MacLeod, bought a ranch in the area. When a manager was needed, John fit the bill. This has grown into the relationship they have to this day. Both manager and owner are committed to preserving this part of the earth for the good of the wildlife and personal enjoyment with a willingness to share it with others.

After attending many universities and colleges, changing majors as often as most people change their underwear, Mical ended up in Walden owning and running a whitewater rafting company in the North Park Area. John contracted her company a few times to take his ranch guests on whitewater adventures, and the rest, as they say, is history. Now Mical uses her love of horses and sharing adventures with guests to help on the horse side of the business, her love of writing to help with the web site and advertising development, and her distaste for bookkeeping to power her through all office work as quickly and efficiently as she can.

Larry Davis (picture coming soon) cattle manager and award winning rancher. We are proud to have this gentleman and his family join our team. He has grown up in the ranching tradition, and for those of you who don't know, that means, endless hard work, using your brains to try and squeeze a buck out baling wire, and helping your neighbor even if it means you've been up all night calving. As a sideline to running his own ranching operations, Larry has worked through the years as a bucking horse rider (he claims the horses almost always won), farrier, and horse trainer extraordinaire. He is joined on the ranch by his lovely wife and high school sweetheart, Rhonda (a cow woman herself) and fifteen year old daughter, Diana (straight A student and athlete). Out in the world, is their 21 year old son, John, an international politics student and model. Larry has won national recognition for his ranching conservation practices, and we're excited to have him on board in our quest to continually improve our program of excellence in land/ranching/wildlife stewardship. In his "spare time", Larry enjoys elk and deer hunting, leather and rope work (crafting cowboy needs mostly), and well. . . working for "fun" (training more horses).

Mike Schleppy (pictured on left) is our "Jack of All Trades." I've yet to find something he can't do. Skilled beyond belief in both hunting (he has been hunting and guiding professionally for most of his life) and in mechanics, he keeps this ranch running and guests happy. We found Mike in Walden, running his own auto repair shop, and when we compared the ranch bills at the end of the year with Mike's desire to get back outdoors, we found a win/win situation. Now that he landed at the Buffalo with his family, Mike can be found in the shop overhauling anything with an engine or at his forte, being a bit on the wild side, you can find him escorting guests on outdoor adventures. If they come back (just joking), they always come back with a happy heart and a new sense of the things they can accomplish. I've had more than one guest recommendation on Mike saying that they not only had a great time, they made a life-long friend. Mike also is married (to Elizabeth pictured below) and they have three very cool sons, all hunters: one comedian, one artist and one who is just so darn cute, it hurts to look at him.

Elizabeth Schleppy (pictured on right) Elizabeth may well be the best cook you ever meet. At least we've had more than a few guests tell us that after spending several meals at her table. This down to earth, wonderful woman loves to read, is a history buff, and not only keeps up all the flower beds and pots around the ranch, but she gardens for pleasure as well. If I were a betting woman, I'd guess the main challenge she faces in life is keeping Mike (pictured above) in line and fed. For the hunters who've hiked with him, they'll know what I'm talking about. Elizabeth is also in the process of raising three very nice young men and seems to be doing a spectacular job at it.

Llew Mattern (pictured on right) is our ace in the hole ranch hand. He mostly works with Larry over on the Illinois Ranch, helping with the seemingly endless ranch chores an operation of this magnitude provides. He rides cattle, fixes fence, and generally makes himself indispensable . As steady as the rain in Washington, you can set your watch by this guy. He's a quiet-spoken ranch man, father and grandfather, retired UPS driver from Steamboat Springs, and perhaps one of the gentlest, kindest men you'll meet.

Paul Schleppy (pictured on left) Okay, so this is the third Schleppy you've seen. We started with Mike and Elizabeth and were so impressed, we couldn't help ourselves and had to find another one. Paul is Mike's brother and, like Mike, is a skilled outdoorsman, with hunting fever coursing through his veins. A recent graduate of fly guiding school and a veteran hunting guide, Paul can be found anywhere on this ranch. Tying up an old fence, working on machinery with his brother, building something, guiding fishermen, or hunters, or working in our Orvis Fly shop in Walden. I guess we could call him Mr. Versatility.