Reflecting on 2021

Winter brings a quieter time to The Ranch as life outdoors adjusts to shorter days, cooler temperatures, and welcome blankets of snow over The Land. Those of us who enjoy the outdoors of Colorado, find this a perfect opportunity to slow down and reflect as is the wont at year’s end.

Here, the adventures have been plentiful. The High Lonesome Ranch kick started the 2021 season with the annual Wild Horse Gravel ride in May. The months following found a new team across The Ranch implementing innovative agricultural and experiential operations.

The Ag Team continue their regenerative ranching practices to help heal The Land and to further the goal of restoring ecological function. Much of this to date has been realized using cattle impact, gradually we will see verdant and fertile valleys teeming with native plants and animals thanks to these land management methods. The Ag Team are now offering our first ever Grass Fed Beef for purchase.

Guests can look forward to an increasing array of non-consumptive activities to enjoy without detracting from this incredible place. We continue to offer fishing and have expanded that to include drift trips down nearby stretches of Colorado rivers. Our Wing Shooting saw guests in previously un-hunted fields away from the Main Ranch and up Kimball Valley. Horseback rides incorporated Ag Forays for authentic experiences moving the cows from one paddock to the next with Melissa and Dakota, learning hands-on about Regenerative Ranching.

For us at The High Lonesome Ranch, our gratitude extends to the opportunities to meet the amazing guests who came out to share these experiences with us. We celebrated birthdays, witnessed team building and growth of corporate groups, facilitated family karaoke nights and impromptu Colorado whiskey tastings, and continued traditions of friends and fathers and sons coming for pheasant and chukar hunting. These exchanges shared around grills, hearths and campfires, from the saddle, over the water with rod and reel, and surrounded by mountains and fresh air will continue to warm us through the rest of our lives.

We look forward to making new memories in the 2022 season. Perhaps we’ll be paragliding down from Cow Mountain or exploring the many trails from horseback, bike, or foot. Or relax back at Head Quarters, brush in one hand and a glass of something local and sparkling in the other as a local artist puts paint to the scenes we want to keep with us forever.

Certainly there were challenges experienced by all. Thank you for supporting the Vision of The High Lonesome Ranch. That Vision remains bright and inspiring as we look to the New Year. Thank you for sharing our enthusiasm for The Land and its stewardship as we continue resilient into 2022.

Cheers and Happy New Year!

The High Lonesome Ranch