LONG VALLEY >> Saturday’s start of the Eleven Roses Ranch wildflower tour by mule-drawn covered wagon found ranch owner and tour guide Anne Garner Austin as stubborn as a, well, mule.
Earlier in the week, Austin fell while working on her property, bruising and battering her upper body enough that she did not feel that she would be able to control the reins on the two mules for last weekend’s tours.
This is where Austin’s stubbornness comes in. Refusing to cancel the tours, Austin hooked-up an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) to the wagon. Although the ATV was not as powerful nor as personable as the mules, it did its job, ferrying about a dozen people on Saturday’s tour that lasted a little over an hour.
“I promise my guests nothing but a good time,” Austin said.
The guests who were surveyed after the tour heartily agreed.
“It was lots of fun,” said Patty Morgan of Ukiah. “I enjoyed the day. The history and Anne’s stories were very special.”
Saturday morning started out as cool and overcast but by the tour’s 11 a.m. start, the temperature was in the 70s with a gusty breeze and full sun.
Pre-tour festivities began in the ranch’s pavilion with Lake County wines, appetizers, conversation and neo-Flamenco music by guitarist Travis Austin, Anne’s son.
Anne Austin then gave a brief history of her family, the ranch, Long Valley and the wildflower tours.
Afterwards, guests were escorted into the wagon, most with wine glasses in hand, and the tour began, winding past oaks, pines, firs and crosses a small stream. Along the route, the wagon stopped several times so guests could get an up-close look at the wildflowers, including golden poppies, wild iris, and popcorn flowers.
At one stop, guests were treated to more than wildflowers. In the nearby creek lurked a foot-long water snake, which surfaced several times for air, allowing sightseers a relatively close look at the snake.
The snake didn’t bother Suzanne Dougherty of Santa Rosa, who said she highly recommends the tour. She came out for the colorful blooms.
“The wildflowers are wonderful,” she said. “This is a nice day trip, a very wholesome experience.”
Austin started offering the wildflower tours in 1999 along Bear Valley Road in Colusa County. The tours moved to the 3,200-acre Long Valley ranch in 2005.
The wildflower wagon has two shallow steps, padded seating, a covered top for protection from the weather and seats 20 passengers comfortably. The journey travels at a very slow pace so almost no dust is kicked up by the ATV, mules or wagon. Austin is very accommodating if a guest wants to make an unscheduled stop to take photos.
There are nearly a dozen varieties of wildflowers and bushes in bloom thanks to the help of late spring rains and a mild winter. These include the red owl’s clover and yellow buttercups and Chinese lanterns.
The tour concluded back at the ranch with more wine and a chuckwagon-style lunch of pit barbecue beef cooked slowly over a wood fire, ranch beans, green salad, cornbread and a dessert of peach cobbler with whipped cream. If notified in advance, chicken can be substituted for the beef and for vegetarians, a grilled portobello mushroom option is available. The meal is prepared and served by Shellie Vincenti.
The tour costs $60 for adults, $50 for seniors over age 60, and $40 for children between the ages of five and 12. Children under age five are free when accompanied by an adult. Cash, checks and credit cards are accepted but not debit cards.
Wildflower tours are offered on weekdays and weekends for both individuals and groups through April 28. Advance reservations are required by calling (707) 998-4471 or by emailing info@elevenrosesranch.com. The ranch is located at 5456 New Long Valley Road in Long Valley, north of Spring Valley.
