STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Ketchum boasted 200 people when Anne Zauner moved to town in 1951. The number of people taking part in Saturday’s Big Hitch Parade eclipsed that.

Dozens of for-a-day cowboys and cowgirls and many more horses, mules and even bison threaded their way past thousands of spectators lining Sun Valley Road as the City of Ketchum rolled out its 68th Wagon Days parade featuring as grand marshal Dusty Witmer of the Pioneer Saloon.

Heck, even Bigfoot made it to the party, riding one of the camels that have become a fixture in the parade.

“Can you believe all the people?!” asked Nancy Hamphrey. “I love seeing all the energy.”

Kim Nalen was among dozens of volunteers who got a workout squeezing out pancake batter and flipping flapjacks for the Papoose Club’s Wagon Days Pancake Breakfast, which continues today from 8 a.m. to noon at Ketchum Town Square.

“I like seeing all the people—everyone’s so happy, and families are actually getting the chance to sit down and eat together,” she said. “I like what the Papoose Club does to raise money for youth organizations. I may even join up when this is all over.”

Chris Riesner and Danner, a black lab sporting a cowboy hat and sheriff’s badge--nosed their way through the crowd, the four-legged sheriff doing his part to keep order.

“I’m not a cowboy but I love this event because it brings us off the slopes and out of the trees, giving us this authentic return to Ketchum’s roots,” said Jake Moe, founder of “Powder” magazine. “Everyone puts on Ketchum pride.

“And, as Ketchum grows, this gives us perspective, reminding us of what Ketchum was in the 1880s—when it became real. And the more we can do that—from the Trailing of the Sheep to Wagon Days—the better.”