Ross Welfl hoped he would get the chance to shower Wednesday night.

It would be his fourth shower in the past 21 days.

"And I'm feeling it, too," the 47-year-old welder, hunting guide and all-around cowboy said Wednesday afternoon. "Do you smell me? Good thing the wind is blowing this way."

A normal person would have wanted a shower after the first day of riding a horse 20 miles in the June heat. Or after a torrential downpour soaked him and his horses to the bone.

A normal person would have demanded a shower after riding horseback for 28 miles in 95-degree weather from Lysite to Hiland.

"My worst day is probably just a scrape on the butt for those kids and what they are going through with their disease," Welfl said.

It's a sacrifice the Cody cowboy is willing to make to help the children at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.

Welfl, who is raising money for the facility while he rides, is not sure how many more showers he will get during the 1,200 miles he has left to ride before reaching his destination of Las Cruces, N.M.

His journey began after shoulder surgery forced him to sit around the house all winter. As summer approached, his doctor still would not release him to work, but said horseback riding would help his shoulder and his attitude.

If all he could do was ride, he decided he would ride for a cause and as long as he could.

Welfl left Cody on June 13 with two horses, two mules, a pad to sleep under the stars and a pack of belongings. He plans to ride until Aug. 28 to raise awareness of cancer and wants to be back in Cody before hunting season begins.

He hopes to raise money in each city he visits along the way.

Welfl, who lost two uncles and a grandfather to cancer, has already collected about $1,800 to donate to the children with cancer and some stories he will share for years to come.

He helped some ranchers brand livestock near the Wind River Mountains. He swapped horses with a cowboy friend he met on the road who was coming back from a rodeo in Dubois. He attended a sheepherders fair in Powder River last weekend.

"They put out a can for me and raised about $300," Welfl said. "It was incredible. It's overwhelming the help, the people, and I am sure it will stay that way."

The cowboy is holed up at a friend of the family's place near the airport for the next few nights resting his horses. He plans to haul the horses through Casper, the biggest city he said he will encounter, to keep them safe. He, his two horses and two mules will leave from Glenrock on the Fourth of July and head to Torrington. Then, he will travel through the eastern part of Nebraska to Colorado and finally on to New Mexico.

Whenever he reaches Las Cruces or Aug. 28, whichever comes first, a friend will haul him and his stock back to Cody.

He is not sure where he will end up because of all the variables involved - the weather, the health of the horses and the kindness of others. Plus, the cowboy is not in a race, except to raise as much money as possible.

He usually rides only about six to seven hours a day to avoid the intense afternoon heat and to save some of the horses' energy.

"I'm going to mozy, be comfortable," the rider said. "I just want to ride and see the country."

This is not the first time Welfl has done something like this. In the early 1980s, he rode about 300 miles for muscular dystrophy.

But this ride should prove to be much longer, more difficult and with many more missed showers.

Contact health reporter Allison Rupp at (307) 266-0534 or allison.rupp@trib.com.

Donate to the Cowboy

Visit Ross Welfl's blog to donate to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and check his progress at www.coinsforcancer.blogspot.com.

Or go to any Bank of the West and ask to donate to Coins for Cancer.

A long ride for a good cause

By Jake Mitchell

Star-Tribune videographer

Visit Ross Welfl's blog to donate to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and check his progress at www.coinsforcancer.blogspot.com.

Or go to any Bank of the West and ask to donate to Coins for Cancer.]]->