Rocking Tree Ranch North of Yellowstone
|
Rocking Tree Ranch North of Yellowstone |
|
Maintaining the fences alone requires a full-time person; for gathering, caring for, and preparing the 50 horses for the week-long cowboys coming from the big cities, two people are needed. There's also the full board kitchen, evenings around the campfire with a country band, errands to Big Timber, etc...
Mary is very busy during the season with her 12 employees; as she says, "I'm on the verge of hiring someone just to take care of my staff." But now everything is calm; yesterday we took down the tepee and did a final check of the fences to make sure winter would go well.
It was just in time because the snow surprised us this morning, as we thought about leaving for Bozeman, the big town nearby. We'll stay in our "Bunk-House" rather than risk skidding like I've experienced in the Canadian Rockies. My rental car has nothing in common with the "big trucks" around here; caution is the word!
Mary used to be in software and was fortunate enough to sell her business in 1998 before the crash of internet stocks and others. She had the foresight to reorganize her life in time. Without overthinking, she invested everything in this Ranch in southern Montana and got to work.
Among friends and neighbors, they support and invite each other, like for Mary's birthday. We were part of the celebration that night, and once again, I was surprised at the quality of the meal; everything was excellent! A very lovely evening surrounded by charming and very attentive people. The warmth of the wood fire, the little aperitif, the piano piece, and the bottles of fine wine quickly made us forget the icy wind outside.
For 2 years, Mary has been working tirelessly for her Ranch. Despite all her efforts, she almost lost everything last year during a massive fire that stopped a mile away thanks to a shifting wind that pushed the danger back. The marks all around are still visible and send a shiver down the spine...
She lives alone with her son Lee in the middle of these vast expanses facing the mountains of Yellowstone National Park; she is making her start in the great West. A rider since her childhood, Mary has always been passionate about horses.
With the spirit of a pioneer, Mary never complains; her son Lee is also strong. Despite being only 10, he already has the demeanor of a future boss. He listens, speaks little, but has that calm strength that one finds around here.
The Ranch has all the comforts and space like a small village. Isolated from everything, Rocking Tree Ranch consists of a magnificent wooden barn, a large corral where a few horses, including a nervous stallion, share a huge roll of hay, 3 country-style cabins for guests, Mary's house, and the Guesthouse with a magnificent state-of-the-art kitchen all in stainless steel, ready to serve fifty people.
There are also sheds where farm equipment and old trucks are parked, now only used for touring the property to check fences or to find a lost calf. Down by the river stands the tepee next to a huge barbecue where 350-gram steaks are grilled along with big potatoes wrapped in foil.
Last night, we went to dine at the "Grand Hotel" in Big Timber. The architecture is from the 1930s, with about ten rooms, a bar, and a large dining room where they serve the best Californian wines: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Syrah.
There is an unchanged atmosphere in this grand hotel and its bar since the westward expansion. At the bar, people drink beer and laugh; in the dining room, they drink wine and have conversations... I envy the bar a little, as it seems livelier.
We were accompanied by Mary's parents, who live on the East Coast in Pennsylvania near Pittsburgh, and who visit their daughter and grandson twice a year (about 3000 miles that they cover in 4 days and three nights, at about 70 years old).
In the town center, there's the main street where everything happens; cars parked at angles, the chamber of commerce, the library, the Chinese restaurant, the old gas pump, and the hardware store where you can find everything needed to run a Ranch.
The large store "Little Timber Quilts" still looks as it did back then; high ceiling, large counter, and that sliding ladder along the wooden cabinets where fabrics of all sizes and colors are kept. Here, we are in the patchwork kingdom. The ladies gather several times a week and share their expertise. They invite us to have coffee and cakes because it's the second anniversary of the store's reopening.
There's also the "Lazy J" Motel, where Robert Redford filmed a love story in the movie "Horse Whisperer." Aneta is completely taken by it; she loves Robert, his blue eyes, and his blonde hair.
Finally, there's this small hair salon that is oddly located away from all the other businesses in a small cabin on an empty lot. It's probably here that the cowboys get their wild hair trimmed before going back to these immense prairies. You see them walk into stores with all their energy, a direct and spontaneous physical strength. Whole men who remind me of the gold prospectors I worked with in northern California (Red Wood Forest).
Rocking Tree Ranch, Big Timber, Montana, USA - Map 
Former resort hotel with a garden on the banks of the Allier, L'Étoile Guesthouse is located in La Bastide-Puylaurent, nestled between Lozère, Ardèche, and the Cévennes in the mountains of Southern France. Positioned at the crossroads of GR®7, GR®70 Chemin Stevenson, GR®72, GR®700 Voie Régordane (Saint Gilles), GR®470 Sources and Gorges of the Allier, GRP® Cévenol, Montagne Ardéchoise, and Margeride. It offers numerous loop routes for hiking and day-long cycling excursions. Ideal for a relaxing stay.
Copyright©etoile.fr