08/02/06 Spend a week at Granite Creek

For the past 14 summers the Granite Creek Ranch near Ririe has been a guest ranch from June through the end of August. This guest ranch has all the services and activities that others do, except at Granite Creek the guests work right alongside the Zitlau family. NESSIE ZITLAU "Hi I'm Nessie Zitlau. We run about 150 head of cow calves that we have and we rent about the same amount out to ranchers who bring their cows up. We have four thousand acres. We have a lake and we border the forest so we can ride on the forest." 'We' in this case is the rest of the Zitlau family and their guests, many found in a circle around the campfire at night. CARL ZITLAU "And that's the attack mode for bears. If they stand up on their hind legs you better watch out." NESSIE "That would be my husband Carl Zitlau. Carl is a very quiet unassuming farmer but he surprised me with his story telling ability around the campfire. The first year we had two or three guests so we've learned a lot through years of ranch guest activities." Tomorrow, back in the saddle and you'll meet the Tennessee family that spent a week at Granite Creek and loved it. Today's Idaho Ag News Bill Scott