Losing Jake

Yesterday was a sad day at the ranch. We lost our friend Jake. For those of you who have played with and loved Jake over the years, you know what a special dog he was for all of us at VVR.
Jake started his career at Vista Verde years and years ago when he would meet our skiers and join our trips up the South Fork Trailhead. He lived with his “dad” down the road, but couldn’t resist an adventure when he saw the VVR suburbans pass his house in the winter. Not long after that, he began to follow the ski trips back to the ranch for a visit. We kept hauling Jake back home at the end of the day at that point. But, after a couple years of this, and having it turn into a summer and winter routine, we just stopped taking him home. This all seemed to work for Jake’s owner who, in turn, just began to come to the ranch to visit Jake. Over the past several years Jake had some really good friends and guardians. For a while there he was Austin’s shadow, then he began spending the night at Dace’s house and following the ranch hands around during the day. He was always up for a ride in the work truck, and even knew how to find his way in for a rest on the seats when no one was around. And Jake seemed to know what day of the week it was as he was always ready to catch a ride up to Steak Ride for a little adventure away from the ranch on Saturday nights. His forays into the backcountry became fewer and fewer this past year and he began to spend more time lounging around the ranch, but he was still always ready to jump in the pond for a stick. In fact, Dace had to limit the kids and their stick throwing because Jake wouldn’t know when to stop and then would be so stiff at night that he couldn’t move!
So, with great sadness the crew at the ranch said goodbye to Jake yesterday afternoon and we found a special place to bury him right here at VVR.