Leaving Baker’s Hole Campground on the morning of Thursday, September 3rd, I broke down my campsite as usual. I collapsed my rooftop tent, loaded everything back into the truck bed, recharged the battery that powers my refrigerator/freezer and other electronics, and got ready to hit the road. Before leaving, however, I decided that I wanted a proper cappuccino. So I stopped at a lovely little coffee shop located in the hangar at the Yellowstone Airport. Of course, my leaky tire had other plans and demanded some attention. I hooked up my portable tire pump, set it running, and went inside for my cappuccino. As luck would have it, the timing was perfect. I returned to my Hemi with a delicious cappuccino in hand and checked the gauge on the pump. It had reached exactly 40 PSI. As designed, the pump shut itself off. I disconnected it, loaded everything back into the truck bed, climbed behind the wheel, and headed north. I was now on my way to Ledger, Montana, with roughly six hours of driving ahead of me.
Reconnecting With Old Friends
Rather than heading north through Big Sky, Montana, as I had on my way into Yellowstone, I followed the quickest route. I took Highway 287 north until I was north of Helena, then continued north on Interstate 15 through Great Falls. From there, I stayed on I-15 until I needed to turn east toward Ledger. The drive gave me plenty of time to think about where I was headed—and, more importantly, who I was going to see. Like so many of the friends I had visited during this trip, I hadn’t seen Charles and his now-wife, Emily, since the days when we were all living on the Upper East Side of New York City.
Charles had originally been brought into our social circle-our unofficial “bar family”-through Annie Newman, who has already been featured in my stories from Beaver Island, Michigan. During one of our many bar-family gatherings at The Supply House on the Upper East Side, Charles showed up one day with a lovely young woman and introduced her to us as his girlfriend, Emily, who was living in San Francisco. It didn’t take long for everyone in our group to fall in love with Emily. She was-and still is-a genuinely lovely human being with a beautiful soul. Not long afterward, Charles told us that he was buying a ranch in upstate New York and that he and Emily were going to get married and move there.
As often happens when friends take on new partners, move away, and begin building a new life, the frequency of our interactions diminished. Then COVID arrived, and life became even more complicated.
Somewhere along the way, I learned that Charles and Emily had sold their ranch in upstate New York as COVID-inflicted New Yorkers were clamoring for properties far outside of the COVID-era lockdowns as experienced in New York City. Having fully renovated the home and the property Charles was able to parlay this into a handsome profit and use the proceeds to purchase a new ranch in Cody, Wyoming. A couple of years later, I learned that they had sold the Cody property thinking Cody, a small Wyoming city, was too big for them. They bought another ranch in northern Montana in a very rural ranch community in North Central Montana. And now, through the persistence of Annie Newman and Charles, I found myself driving 6 hours north across Montana with enormous anticipation. I was about to reconnect with two old friends, meet their two beautiful children, and experience their new life on a 2,000-acre Montana ranch. After 64 days on the road, this was going to be a very different kind of adventure.
Welcome to the Ranch
I arrived at Charles’ and Emily’s 2,000-acre ranch at approximately 6:30 PM on Thursday evening, September 3rd. Charles met me in the driveway beside my truck. We gave each other one of those huge embraces that only old friends can give-especially old friends who care deeply about one another but haven’t seen each other in several years. While I had met Emily previously, I didn’t know her particularly well. And I had never met their two children. As I walked through the front door with Charles, I was immediately greeted by Emily and the beautiful smiles and incredible energy of their approximately 3½-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son, Leti and Johnny. I knew about these members of the family, but I had not met them. What I didn’t know about was everything else. There were five dogs. There were approximately 50 head of cattle. There were about 30 sheep. There were dozens of roosters and chickens. There were horses. There were five peacocks. And there were various other animals living throughout the property. I had apparently arrived at a small Montana version of Noah’s Ark. Adding to the sensory overload, Charles-who is an amazing cook-was already preparing a beautiful lamb dinner with delicious side dishes and his favorite accompaniment, a cold Coors beer. I was absolutely entertained and enthralled by the sheer amount of activity, both inside the house and outside. And my palette was completely satiated. More than anything, I found myself smiling from ear to ear.
I was watching the energy of the household, enjoying the food, listening to the conversation, and watching the beautiful children play. It was wonderfully chaotic—and completely alive. After several hours of conversation, Emily put the children to sleep, and said goodnight. Charles walked me over to the cabin where I would be spending the night. As an amazing host he also sent me with a full Coors beer. About 150 feet from the main house sat a beautiful log cabin that had originally stood down near the river. A previous owner had moved it closer to the main home, and it had been tastefully transformed into a remarkably comfortable guest retreat. It had a kitchenette, a very comfortable bed, and a warm shower. After 64 days on the road, many of them sleeping in my rooftop tent, I felt like I had died and gone to heaven. I slept like a baby. And I woke to the sounds of farm animals.
A Morning on the Ranch
The next morning, I took a shower and made my way back to the main house to reconnect with the family. Emily had already taken the children approximately 25 minutes away to school, returned home, and started her workday. Charles greeted me with a big grin and a cup of coffee. Then he proceeded to tell me that we were going to tour the property. For Charles, however, the tour wasn’t simply about entertaining his visiting friend and showing off his beautiful 2,000 acres. There was real ranch business to attend to. He needed to keep an eye on his livestock. A local game warden had reported that there was a poacher in the area who appeared to be targeting cattle and sheep. Charles was also watching carefully for signs of bears-by looking for bear tracks-which can pose a serious threat to livestock.
Our morning tour became part sightseeing expedition, part ranch inspection, and part wildlife investigation. Much to Charles’s delight, we found no evidence of bear tracks and didn’t observe any missing animals that might have been taken by poachers. For me, the entire experience was fascinating. I was awestruck by the beauty of the land and by the sheer scale of the operation. After spending so much time in national parks and public wilderness areas during my trip, I was seeing Montana from a completely different perspective. This wasn’t a national park. This wasn’t a campground. This wasn’t a scenic overlook. This was someone’s home—and someone’s working ranch.
As we roamed around the property, Charles took me into several of the outbuildings. He showed me where he kept the farm equipment, where the cattle could be brought in during the brutal Montana winters, and where the sheep could gather to stay warm. I also got acquainted with the peacocks, roosters, chickens, and the rest of the four-legged and feathered residents. There was something wonderfully authentic about the whole experience.
Breakfast From the Land
After our amazing tour, we returned to the house, where Charles prepared an incredible breakfast of eggs and sausage, breakfast potatoes, and some spectacular hot sauce that he had personally made and bottled. In a very real sense, I was eating food that came from the land I had just toured. And it was absolutely delicious. While eating I was looking out the front window of the home and I saw the flock of about 30 sheep seemingly galloping across the front of his property towards the rear of the cabin. Completely amazed I asked Charles what was going on. He proceeded to tell me that the sheep had eaten and we’re wanting to get out of the sun that was heating up rapidly and they were finding their way into an outcrop building to spend the rest of the afternoon in the shade. Simply another magical moment on this beautiful ranch
By this point, I had also recharged my lithium battery, done my laundry, and packed everything up for departure. Charles had a meeting scheduled with a potential buyer for his 50 head of cattle, so the timing was right for me to continue my journey. I walked out to my truck with both Charles and Emily and thanked them profusely for such a beautiful experience. They had shared their family, their home, their cabin, their delicious meals, their animals, and-most importantly-their precious time with me. Their world was completely filled with movement, activity, and love. I was so grateful to be part of it albeit for a short time. Less than 24 hours
After 64 days of traveling across America, I was reminded once again that some of the most memorable destinations aren’t necessarily the famous ones. Sometimes, they’re a driveway in Montana. Sometimes, they’re an old friend standing beside your truck. And sometimes, they’re a log cabin 150 feet from a busy family home where you finally get a real shower and a good night’s sleep.
The Tire Finally Gets Fixed
Before leaving, I checked my tire one more time. It had enough air for me to comfortably drive approximately 30 minutes to the nearby town of Shelby, Montana, where I planned to visit Mark’s Tires, the same tire shop Charles uses. My objective was simple: find the source of the slow leak and get it fixed once and for all so I could stop checking my tire pressure every few hours. Emily had also given me another recommendation. While I was having the tire serviced at Mark’s Tires, she suggested that I walk across the railroad tracks to a charming little coffee and dessert shop called The Whistle Stop. So that’s exactly what I did.
I popped into The Whistle Stop and ordered another cappuccino. And then I made what might have been a questionable nutritional decision-but an absolutely excellent road-trip decision. I ordered an insanely delicious and completely sinful dessert filled with chocolate and caramel. I sat back, enjoyed my cappuccino and dessert, and waited for the experts at Mark’s Tires to figure out what was wrong with my hobbled wheel. Eventually, I walked back across the tracks. And there was the answer. They had found a nail in the tire. They removed it, repaired the tire, and sent me back on my way. Finally, I had a properly repaired tire. No more portable air pump. No more checking the pressure every few hours. No more wondering whether the next stop would be a gas station, tire shop, or roadside shoulder. I was ready to go.
I climbed back into my Hemi, as I did, I realized that a very lengthy train had just triggered the train signals and the arms came down signaling that I needed to wait for this train to pass in beautiful Shelby, MT. It was fine with me because I had to reexamine my destination and plug it into the GPS on my phone which was now displayed on the navigation screen in my Hemi.
As I waited for the train to pass I paused and reflected on the beautiful friendships and family in my life and the amazing experience I just had at this beautiful northern Montana ranch with wonderful friends. I was overwhelmed with gratitude as the last cars and the caboose on a very long collection of train cars passed by the intersection. With gratitude in my heart and a big smile on my face I headed west toward the next major chapter of my journey: Glacier National Park. I had spent the previous several days experiencing Yellowstone’s geothermal wonders, wildlife, enormous landscapes, and legendary scenery.
Now I was about to enter an entirely different Montana. And I was ready for it.
I’ll take you there next.