Our famous Father

Gerald was recently featured in the Idaho State Journal:

Teacher takes to the trails




DRIGGS � During the summer, Gerald Humpherys trades a school house for a bunkhouse and a team of hoopsters for a herd of horses.He’s the head boys’ basketball coach at Blackfoot High School, where he also teaches physical education and weight training. And to make some extra cash and pass the time during his summer break, he’s assumed the role of Grand Targhee Resort’s resident cowboy.This is Humpherys’ first summer of offering trail rides at the resort. His corral is filled with seven of his own horses, four horses that he borrowed from his brother Ken, of Arizona, and three horses on loan from a friend in Blackfoot.
He started the rides in June and plans on continuing them through most of September, and he’s convinced Grand Targhee, with its wildflower-laden meadows and panoramics of the Tetons, is about as gorgeous of a place to ride as any.“Horse riding is probably one of the best attractions here. Of course, I’m prejudiced,” Humpherys said. “We have a really beautiful one-hour trail, and we have a really spectacular two-hour trail. Every time you go around a corner, you’ve got a different view.”
On Saturday morning, Gerald and Ken looked the part of cowboys from an old Western movie, relaxing on the porch of their bunkhouse in wooden chairs awaiting the next group ride.Humpherys, a burly Star Valley, Wyo., native who stands 6-foot-3 and wore a red button-up shirt, boots, blue jeans, a big belt buckle and a cowboy hat, grew up on a ranch. His childhood chores included milking cows and cutting and bailing hay.
“You learn a lot of work ethic from the farm that carries over to your teaching and coaching,” Humpherys said, adding his coaching skills also carry over well into teaching novices to be comfortable on horses.Prior to coming to Targhee, Humpherys spent 16 years driving the stagecoach throughout Jackson Hole, Wyo.

“When I quit driving the stagecoach, I figured the dude business was over, but this opportunity came about by word of mouth, and here I am,” Humpherys said.His family also sometimes provides Christmas wagon rides in Blackfoot as a public service.
Until school starts, Humpherys and his wife, Tena, are living in their fifth-wheel at Targhee. Ken has laid claim to the bunkhouse.“I enjoy the scenery just like the visitors do,” Humpherys said. “It’s a little added income for a school teacher in the summer, and I enjoy it as well.”

(This document was originally published online on Wednesday, July 23, 2008)