A couple of months ago, I was invited to
attend a writer’s conference to view and get some trigger time
with a few of the new firearms being produced by Weatherby
Firearms. Weatherby has been a top-tier rifle maker for several
decades, and has more
recently began marketing a line of very good, but very
affordable, shotguns as well. I have had experience with
Weatherby rifles and shotguns before, and had been looking
anxiously forward to the opportunity to spend some time with
these new introductions, and to spend some time with the good
folks from Weatherby and Swanson-Russell, Weatherby’s PR firm.
The event was to take place at Kessler Canyon in western
Colorado.
Having never heard of Kessler Canyon prior to
this event, I did not know what to expect. Knowing Weatherby, it
was certainly going to be a nice place, but Kessler Canyon was
like no place which I had ever stayed before. In fact, I had
never even heard of such a place. Kessler Canyon started a few
years ago with a vision by its founder, Richard Kessler. Richard
Kessler made his fortune in the hotel business, but decided a
few years ago to retire from the general hotel/motel business,
and to open a select few high-end resort properties. Kessler
Canyon was a 23,000 acre cattle ranch which had been pretty much
overtaken with sage brush and scrub-growth trees. Flying over,
it most likely looked like a lot of other canyons in western
Colorado, but Richard Kessler looked past what it was, to what
it would become.
The transformation from cattle ranch to
Kessler Canyon took several years, but about three years ago, it
opened as the premier place to stay in the western US. Entering
the Kessler Canyon property, the view is magnificent, traveling
down the private road for several miles before reaching the
Homestead. Along this road, I noticed that all utilities, such
as the electric service, are run underground, so as to not spoil
the natural beauty of the property with poles and lines. Further
down the road, several magnificent sculptured horses appear to
be running across the road. These horses are each different, and
are made of bronze or copper. I could not tell which, and did
not really care, as the artwork and the immense amount of labor
involved was predominant in my mind at the time. Also along the
road, stand dozens if not hundreds of stacks of rocks, shaped
and arranged into truncated pyramids, slightly smaller at the
top than the bottom. I also wondered about the hours of labor
involved in that project.
Finally approaching the Homestead, the dry
Colorado desert canyon transforms into a lush, green valley with
large ponds and beautiful landscaping. Large oaks, along with
coniferous evergreens surround the rustic but stately Homestead.
The Homestead is the main house, which has nine private rooms, a
wrap-around porch, a large dining room, and a huge fireplace
overlooking the small lake. Also in the Homestead is the main
office, a gift shop, and the kitchen where the world-class chef
prepares the meals. More on him later. On the lower floor of the
Homestead is a wine cellar, exercise room, pool table, and a
huge theater, should someone decide to watch a movie or
television. I don’t think that room was used at all while we
were there. I can’t imagine anyone wanting to watch television
with such a magnificent show outside.
The guest rooms in the Homestead are
enormous, and combine a rustic setting with lavish luxury. It is
hard for me to get this keyboard to convey to the reader the
comfort and tranquility of this place. Upon arriving, we were
each shown to our rooms by Debra, the executive assistant to the
general manager. While that is on my mind, the general manager
of Kessler Canyon, Bruce Ruggs, picked us up at the Grand
Junction airport, and that level of service was continued
throughout our stay. Anyway, as Debra showed us to our rooms, I
noticed that each was unlocked, and no keys were issued to us.
For the duration, none of us locked our rooms. There is no need
to do so. However, keys are available and there are locks on the
doors, for those who wish to use them. I was assigned room
number nine. The rooms are a combination of rustic woods,
hammered copper, and handmade furniture. The first thing I did
was to open the windows to enjoy the gentle breeze and to take
in the scenery. The first day there was just relaxing, with
nothing scheduled, so after dining upon the best filet mignon
that I ever slid down my neck, I headed up to my room, where
upon entering I noticed that someone had started some soothing
music on the Bose stereo. Nice touch. Thankfully, there was no
television in the room, so I did not turn on the news, as I have
a habit of doing. I do not know what happened with the stock
market, and never heard the name “Obama” for three days.
Perfect. The mattresses were like nothing which I had ever slept
upon. Sinking into the soft but dense comfort of that big,
rustic bed, I slept better than I have ever slept when away from
home.
Kessler Canyon offers the opportunity to just
sit and relax, or if desired, a vast array of activities for its
guests. For us, Weatherby had arranged a half-day of bird
hunting. I am not a bird hunter, and not much of a wingshot. I
tend to want to aim a shotgun like a rifle, which is fine for
turkey hunting, but not so good for shooting fast-moving birds
in flight. I have hunted turkey with success, but up until that
morning, had never shot at a moving bird, and had seldom shot at
a clay target. I am a rifle and handgun shooter. I like a good
bird gun, and own a few, but am not by any means an expert in
their use. I was concerned that I would most likely embarrass
myself, Gunblast.com, and the gun industry in general. We were
divided up into five groups, with each group having a writer, a
Weatherby representative, a guide, and two dogs. Roger
Whitchurch, the Weatherby Quality Control Inspector, was
assigned to me. Our guide was Steve Hazlett, who did a great job
working the dogs. The dogs were the real heroes of the day. We
would not have found a single bird without their hard work. The
birds that we were hunting were pheasant and chukar. As luck
would have it, the first bird to flush flew my way. Without
thinking about it, that twenty-gauge Weatherby auto came up to
my shoulder, I pulled the trigger, and the bird fell
immediately. I wish that I could report that I was as successful
on every bird to flush in my direction, but I was not. Some I
got on the first shot. Some on the second shot. Some flew away.
Still, I managed to take several, as did Roger, and by the time
to head back in for lunch, we had a pretty good showing for our
morning’s hunt. I was well-satisfied with my performance, as
well as that of my hunting partner, the guide, the guns, and the
dogs. Back at the Homestead, I questioned each hunter on the
performance of the shotguns. Some had autoloaders and others had
pumps, but no malfunctions were reported by any of the dozen or
so shooters that morning.
After a great lunch of barbequed ribs and
brisket by the day cook, Buck, we were all given a choice of
activities. Several went to the sporting clays range, others to
the rifle range, and I chose to go fly-fishing. I had only been
fly-fishing once before in my life, out
in Wyoming in 2008, and I was anxious to do it again. Steve
set me up with a fly rod and attached a suitable lure. After
about a half-hour of beating the water with the line, I finally
got the hang of it again, and could put the lure somewhere close
to where I wanted it. Before long, I hooked a pretty good trout,
very ungracefully tugged on the line until I got him close to
the bank and out of the water, where I quickly lost him. I did
at least get a good look at that fish, but he lived to tell
about it. Ed Weatherby did better, and landed two nice trout the
previous afternoon, which was the appetizer before supper that
night. The head chef, Lenny McNabb, fixed those trout encrusted
in something and displayed on a platter. They were almost too
pretty to eat, but we managed to devour every bite of them in
short order.
While on the subject of Lenny McNabb, he is
not your ordinary chef. Lenny is a master at his craft, and when
Jim and Renee served each course at night, Lenny would stand at
the head of the table, and tell us what we were about to eat, as
proudly as a father showing off his newborn son. A couple of
times, I was a bit concerned. After the salad, Lenny announced
what we were about to eat. It appeared to me to be a small pie,
but was in fact a small crust filled with tomato jam and topped
with basil ice cream. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. That’s
what I was thinking, too. I was looking for somewhere to hide
mine without being noticed. However, after 32 years of marriage,
I am no longer afraid of anything, so I dug in, and to my
surprise, it was delicious. He followed that up with a main
course of elk tenderloin, and that was carnivorous perfection! I
had never eaten elk before, but that was as good as any piece of
beef that I have ever tried, and much better than whitetail.
Lenny did it up right.
As we were finishing our desserts, Jim
announced that we would be entertained by the Black Mamba. I was
happy to discover that we were not about to be entertained by a
venomous reptile, but that the Black Mamba was a musical
entertainer, who looked very much like Lenny McNabb sans the
apron, and adorned with a rhinestone jacket just tacky enough to
be on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. With guitar in hand, the
Black Mamba performed the songs of Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard,
Dave Loggins and others. However, the Black Mamba is no one-man
cover band. He performs in a style all his own, and I can pretty
much guarantee you that you won’t hear him on a Nashville
radio station any time soon. Nashville is not ready for the
Black Mamba. He has already been there and made that discovery.
He puts on a show each night, and to see him, you have to go to
Kessler Canyon. The Black Mamba alone is worth the trip.
Kessler Canyon offers jeep tours of the
property as well, and I had a brief one up to the top of the
mountain. The view was spectacular from up there, looking down
almost a half mile below into the canyon. Atop the mountain are
a couple of cabins, for those who want a more secluded
experience, and they are also there to accommodate hunters when
elk and deer hunting is in season. These “cabins” are
nothing like a hunting camp cabin, but are luxurious as well,
with every amenity. “Luxurious” is a good term to describe
everything at Kessler Canyon. It is as if everything there was
built without regard to price, but instead to the highest
standards. It is what you would build if you could use someone
else’s money, with an endless supply.
Kessler Canyon is an ideal getaway. It is
great for hunting, fishing, or just relaxing. Kessler Canyon is
a perfect place to have your wedding. The rooms are luxurious,
and the setting is serene and breathtaking. Would you rather
have a relaxing wedding and spend a couple of days with ten of
your closest friends, or a hectic couple of hours with 250
people that you barely know, and mostly don’t even like?
Forget the confusion of a traditional expensive wedding. Gather
your real friends and go to Kessler Canyon. Kessler Canyon is
also a great place to hold corporate events, such as this one
held by Weatherby. Weatherby is a first-class operation, and
wanted the best of the best for this writer’s event. In
Kessler canyon, they found the perfect place. They found
paradise. The pictures shown here do not tell the whole story,
and if I get to go back to Kessler Canyon again, I will shoot
some good video of the scenic views. Look for upcoming details
of the new Weatherby products shown to us at this event on
Gunblast.com as the firearms come in for review.
Kessler Canyon is where anyone can go to get
away from everything. It is where you can go to work in
seclusion, if needed, or to have corporate meetings. It is also
a great place to go, leaving the cell phone, I-pad, notebook,
and every other aggravating device behind, and just spend some
time doing whatever you like, or just doing nothing at all. The
view from the porch is fantastic. You can sit and rock your
cares away as the day fades into night. Kessler Canyon is like
no place that I have ever been. It is where God would go to
relax.
Check out Kessler canyon online at www.kesslercanyon.com
or call them for reservations and more information at
970-283-1145.
For a closer look at the entire line of
Weatherby firearms, go to www.weatherby.com.
Jeff Quinn
