Montana Ranch Trip in the Crazy Mountains

In the midst of the Crazy Mountains about an hour north of Bozeman, MT, you may find yourself in a desolate arena of fun and adventure. You are engulfed in silent beauty in the center of “Big Sky Country.” Nestled away in the heart of Montana is a small western town not encountered by the public. My wife and I find ourselves in peaceful serenity. We were lucky enough to be in this tiny western town surrounded by grasslands and mountains at the end of March with low amounts of snow on the ground. We were miles away from communities, but close enough to touch the sky. We shopped at a petite general store with small amounts of groceries and still able to get our nicotine fix.

There were a total of thirteen buildings including a saloon, stable, and a small old town jail. We lived as they did in the olden times out west for almost a week with no cell phones, computers, or televisions. Other than the couple buildings mentioned above, most of the other buildings were made into staying rooms. Most of the original fixtures still existed as art and most of the time we were by ourselves in town.

It was an amazing place and there is no other place like it. Entertaining it definitely was. The recipes were to die for as the food melted in your mouth. With moist suculant meat right from the grill. We tasted some wild game for the first time such as rattlesnake and rabbit. The saloon was open nightly for billiards and authentic hat modelers to mold your cowboy hat. And we danced the night away with the bright full moon over top of our heads.

Our room was made up of decor of the old west with the high tank toilets and clawfoot bathtub. We found ourselves waking up to the beautiful sounds of nature instead of a beeping alarm clock. We would walk to the saloon for morning joe and take a sunrise walk around the town with the cooler air blowing into our bodies.

Finding a new exploration everyday was not a difficult task. We shot arrows from bows into styrofoam animals and drove a dogsled on an ice covered lake. It was a gorgeous time away from reality. We took a stroll through the tall grass up the hill into the woods. Unfortunately, we had to turn around after signs of mountain lions were noticed.

We learned the cowboy way with roping and branding. Don't worry we only branded coaster sized leather. The horses taught us the right from wrong in grooming and caring and they were pleased to have us brush their hair.  We even went ice fishing on the same lake we went dog sledding.  We didn't catch anything other than a chill, but we had a blast sitting and freezing with the poles in our cold hands.

Even though it was the end of March in Montana, the snow was barely on the ground.  We were told that they had a bad winter, meaning not much snow.  But we played hard and slept hard each day and night just hoping the last day would not come.

This vacation was a once in a lifetime opportunity that I would never want to erase in my mind. It was as if we were living in a different time. To go back to this town would be an adventure we would do all over again and again. To live in Montana in the desolate lands of North America would be a dream come true. No worries, no technology, and no people to bother us, just us and the pets to exist peacefully on our own territory living off of the land.  Our next vacation will be a cattle drive in Montana if we don't move out there before hand.