Wyoming Bound
Welcome back travel-buddies! It's getting close to vacation time again and I'm so excited to share what is in store for Papa Bear and me this summer.
As you are all well aware, fuel prices are astronomical so trips in Smokie will be limited and relatively close to home this year. For our summer vacation, we will be travelling by air to Denver and then on to the Medicine Bow National Forest for a week long "Guest Ranch" experience. We have some fellow travelers joining us on this year's trip and I can't wait to introduce you to them.
For now, let me set the scene.
Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest and Thunder Basin National Grassland spans nearly 3 million acres across northern Colorado and South-Eastern Wyoming. The diverse geological, ecological and botanical make up of the MBRNF support a huge variety of animals, including impressive natives such as moose, elk, black bears, mountain lions, eagles, sporting birds of all kinds, and the highly sought after rainbow and brook trout.
Every type of outdoor activity, regardless of season, is available to the avid outdoorsman as well as the casual vacationer. Activities can be scaled to your age, experience, preference and budget. Some of the most popular activities are fishing, hunting, off roading, hiking, biking, camping, rock climbing, horseback riding, rafting, and scenic drives.
Getting There
Getting to MBRNF is not exactly easy, but not difficult either. There are flights into Laramie, Wyoming but we have been cautioned by locals that if the winds are particularly active flights will be cancelled. Most will fly into Denver and then drive north about 3 hours. That is exactly what we will be doing. Luckily, Southwest offers direct and fairly inexpensive flights out of IAH to DEN. That's good for Papa Bear because he hates connecting flight itineraries. (He's also had bad experiences with DEN so we try to keep the aggravation to a minimum!)
Rental cars are available from DEN terminal, but something I discovered when reading the "fine print" is that not all of the car companies allow you to take their cars out of Colorado. BE CAREFUL and read the details. Rental car costs right now are ridiculous so we are happy that we are splitting the cost with our travelmates.
The drive from DEN to our guest ranch should be pretty straight forward and offer some interesting scenery that we've only experienced in a cursory fashion on other trips. Google provides three recommended routes to Saratoga, WY (closest town to the guest ranch). All are roughly 200 miles. The most interesting is the North-West route that takes us through the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests. The more direct route (but less interesting and already well traveled by us) is up I-25 to 287 through Fort Collins. (Travel note - Not sure what CO is doing with all the weed taxes they've collected but I can tell you it has not been spent on that travel corridor. TERRIBLE washboarding, pot holes and general disrepair.) We haven't decided which route yet, and we'll let the weather make the choice for us.
The Guest Ranch
We will be guests at the
Medicine Bow Lodge in early July this year. Debbie and Tim Bishop are the owner operators, and, by all tales, the real deal when it comes to guest ranch experiences. Tim looks like he just stepped out of a Sacketts novel, and Debbie is apparently a renowned chef.
I didn't just throw a dart at the map and haphazardly land on MBL. I literally spent hours putting together a spreadsheet of guest ranches across the West - Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Arizona, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. I started my search in early January and many of them were already fully booked for the season. I was looking for 1) availability for our group, 2) reputation and reviews, 3) amenities and inclusions (meals, excursions, activities, etc.), and 4) value for the dollars. I found an entire spectrum of options - some of which were a little light on inclusions and some which were way too rich for our current pocket books.
After all of my research, investigation and analysis, we landed on MBL. Dollar for dollar, they offered more amenities, activities and "inclusions" than most others. They also had great reviews, with many of them indicating that MBL is an annual pilgrimage for their families.
The guest ranch experience centers around "ranch life" which is heavily influenced by horseback riding. Papa Bear likes horses just fine, but would not consider himself much of a rider. Thankfully, MBL offers a lot more than just the riding experiences. Guided trout fishing, photography "safaris", hiking on Sugarloaf with a picnic lunch, target shooting, river rafting and plain ol' relaxation.
All meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner), snacks and beverages are included. Note that because they are in the National Forest they do not serve alcoholic beverages, but you are welcome to BYOB. The nearby Saratoga offers a couple of pubs, one of which offers live music in the summers. In general MBL is considered a "family" ranch, with all ages welcome.
Stay Tuned
So, have I got your attention? I am so excited for this trip this year and can't wait to share it with my travelmates and with all of you. Stay tuned for more exciting adventures!
