Hitting The Trail

It seems absolutely wild that we’re finally writing these words, but, we are headed out the door. We are so incredibly thrilled to begin. We headed North last week with four wheels to do some final route finding in anticipation of hitting the trail with 28 legs (four horses, a mule, Winnie, and the two of us); the country we found was lush, green, and covered in wildflowers. It has thankfully been a wet spring and water is running. We saw our first sightings of several rare grasslands birds and look forward to growing more familiar with their song.

We’re particularly excited about the first leg of our trip in Northeastern Montana near the Charles M. Russel Wildlife Refuge. One of our first stops is at The Nature Conservancy’s Matador ranch, and then to Fort Belknap to learn more about the Gros Ventre (Aaniiih) and the Assiniboine (Nakoda) Tribes’ history with the land, before ferreting around CMR to learn more about black-footed ferret reintroduction efforts. In between we’ll meet with several local ranchers whose management practices are widely celebrated for their innovation and sustainability. That’s all in the first two weeks before we make our way South to join up with the Yellowstone River.

When we have coverage we’ll post updates, stories, essays, and photography from the road. Be sure to stay tuned to our Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter pages.

We’re so excited to finally be setting out. With a little bit of a later start than we originally bargained for, it seems unlikely we’ll be able to make it to Northern Oklahoma before the winter truly hits, but we’re not quitting till we’re snowed out, and the country in between is ripe with beauty and promise. We can’t wait to share what we find with you. Thanks for helping get us here.

Happy trails,

Robin and Sebastian