Mill Creek, Gallatin National Forest, Absaroka Range, Montana
One morning we’re strolling along the rocky coast of Maine, the next we wake up in grizzly country … well, kinda. Since our last adventure post, Team Gritty drove a fast-paced 3,200 miles from Maine to Colorado to Montana. Along the way we caught up with family and friends and explored some interesting sites. It’s taken us a few weeks to recover from the journey, meet all sorts of work deadlines (including releasing a bunch of new Gritty Press Shorts), and catch up on our adventures….
From the rocky coast of Maine we drove westward to Amish country near Cooperstown, New York (we also celebrated a member of Team Gritty’s birthday who shall remain nameless!). Then onto Cleveland, where we overnighted at Jen’s cousin’s house, were treated to unmatched hospitality, had a great meal and beers, and caught up on family doings. On the way through Ohio, we made a quick stop in Ashland at Grandpa’s Cheese Barn, which proved to be a very tasty diversion (yum, cheese curds and homemade chocolate!)….
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- Team Gritty visits Syd’s Bar with the Sweazys
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- At Syd’s Bar Jen tackles a Hoosier favorite: Breaded Tenderloin Sandwich
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- Matt tries his hand at shuffleboard
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As we passed through Indiana, we stopped to visit our pals, the Sweazys, who took us to an awesome local bar, loaded us up with local beer, convinced us to try breaded tenderloin sandwiches (a local favorite), and kicked our butts in shuffleboard (another local favorite). Team Gritty senses an opportunity here, hmm, maybe we should be shuffleboard ringers? Go Hoosiers!
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- Guy’s not sure about swimming with the fishes, Mulberry Grove, Illinois
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- St. Fidelis Catholic Church, “The Cathedral of the Plains,” Victoria, Kansas
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- St. Fidelis Catholic Church, “The Cathedral of the Plains,” Victoria, Kansas
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We hit the trail again and ever-so-slowly made our way through Kansas (hey, it’s a big—and beautiful—state). Finally at the Kansas-Colorado border, we headed northwest to the mile-high city, Denver. In downtown Denver Matt had a taping of an onscreen interview for an episode of the popular British TV series “Myth Hunters”—don’t worry, we’ll give you the lowdown before it airs! (And as a side note, our time in Denver was super brief because the Tiger, who growls anytime we approach a metropolis, was not a happy camper … especially during a hail storm and rush-hour traffic.)
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- BK&E miniature train ride, Ellis, Kansas
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- Canada geese and their fledglings swim on Big Creek in Ellis, Kansas
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- The Tiger survives a hail storm in Denver, Colorado
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After Denver, we beelined it for the Rocky Mountain National Park. The Tiger did the hard work as we climbed above the treeline to 12,183 feet elevation on Trail Ridge Road, one of the most beautiful highways in America. Along the way, Team Gritty wrassled a young moose at the Visitor’s Center (well, not really, but we took his picture!), had a snowball fight at the Continental Divide, watched elk babies frolic in high mountain meadows, and hiked a trail along a magnificent spring-flowering tundra. As we took in the enormous panoramic views at 12,006 feet in elevation, we felt as if we were at the top of the world. Unfortunately, we had to move on and make our way north, but we will definitely return to further explore this incredible national park.
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- Moose at the Visitor’s Center, Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
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- Team Gritty in the Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
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- Guy checks out the top of the world, 12,005 feet above sea level, in the Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado
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On our way east from Rocky Mountain National Park, we drove through Big Thompson Canyon toward Loveland. In September 2013, Big Thompson Canyon was hit hard by a tragic flood and the tremendous toll on the canyon was evident as we drove past the remains of destroyed homes. Sections of the roadway were still under repair. On our way north to the Wyoming border, we stopped to visit our good pals, Pete and Syd, from Mean Pete Press, and shared dang-fine meals, explored the nuances of local beers and whiskies, and enjoyed excellent conversation. After Mean Pete took us on a tour of his stomping grounds in his kick-ass road-stomping Jeep, we figured we’d better skaddadle before our jealous Tiger threw down….
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- Beautiful Syd, the purtier half of Mean Pete Press!
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- Jeep ride with Mean Pete, Colorado
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- Wanted: Team Gritty!
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Heading northeast into Wyoming, we stopped along the way to visit our dear friends Rocío and John Nesbitt. We shared excellent meals—incredible elk steaks!—and conversation late into the night. We also spent time with John’s horses, Cooper and Pal, and donkey, Pierre, and learned more about tack, riding, and packing. One afternoon while the guys drank beer and discussed literature and writing, the girls hung in the kitchen and Rocío showed Jen how to make her secret red chile sauce (with the Nesbitt’s dried chile peppers) and elk tostados. Yum!
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- Matt and John head out to the horses, Wyoming
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- John gives Matt some horsemanship tips
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- Rocío, Jen, and Muñeco pose for a pic!
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As we continued northwest toward Cody, we camped in the Bighorn National Forest and woke up to a herd of elk grazing a few hundred yards outside the Tiger. As Jen made some photos of the herd, over on one side of the meadow one of the bull elk decided to move his ladies along, deeper into the meadow, away from the Team Gritty gawkers!
We left the Bighorn Forest and drove to Cody where we stopped at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West to do some research and sign a few books in the shop. We could easily spend days—one day is not enough!—in this huge historical mecca. The Center is comprised of five museums (Buffalo Bill Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum, Cody Firearms Museum, Draper Natural History Museum, and the Plains Indian Museum) and the McCracken Research Library. Outside the Center at the chuck wagon, we chatted with Ron, a top-notch cookie, who was making dutch oven sourdough biscuits and cowboy coffee over a campfire. If you ever find yourself venturing near Cody, we highly recommend a visit to the Center—and be sure to stop by the chuck wagon and try a hot homemade biscuit. As Team Gritty can attest, they were mighty fine!
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- Elk herd near our campsite, Bighorn National Forest, Wyoming
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- Top cookie Ron Reed whips up a stellar feed of sourdough biscuits and cowboy coffee outside Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Cody, Wyoming
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- Storm approaches, Buffalo Bill State Park, Cody, Wyoming
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Just outside of the town of Cody, we camped at the Buffalo Bill State Park in a gorgeous campsite overlooking the Buffalo Bill Reservoir. As the wind blew mightily, we watched two huge storms approach us from the east and west, collide over the reservoir, and rain fast and furious for a short while. Once the storms cleared, the howling wind remained and kept us company for the rest of our stay.
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- Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
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- Elk babies abound!, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
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- White-tailed buck in the forest, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
From Cody we made our way up to Montana through Yellowstone National Park. As always, the incredible landscape and wildlife did not disappoint. We saw bison grazing, elk lazing in the grass and on the road medians at Mammoth Hot Springs, Bighorn sheep scaling the rocky mountainsides, a bear running through the forest, Mule deer and White-tailed deer foraging in the forests… and lots of crazy tourists driving haphazardly on the road.
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- Bison grazing, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
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- Bighorn sheep blends into the rocks, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
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- Elk in the median at Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
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After landing in Livingston, Montana, Team Gritty paused for a while to catch up on work and meet up with our Montana pals. We’ve spent the past couple of weeks exploring Paradise Valley, casting a flyline along the Yellowstone River trying to entice these dang elusive Western trouts to nibble on a fly, and jumping into freezing cold glacial lakes to chill off when temps hit above the 90s.
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- Jen fly fishes on the Yellowstone River, Loch Leven Fishing Access, Livingston, Montana
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- Jen catches a Mountain Whitefish (and Matt releases it!)
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- Tiger in the trees!
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Where’s Team Gritty off to next? You’ll probably find us fighting the grizzlies for ripe red raspberries in the Beartooth Wilderness. We’ll let you know how it goes….
