What do you do when you sell your restaurant?  You take a three-day trail ride on horseback.

Gert and I woke up one morning and our Snowmass restaurant was sold.  We were suddenly and unexpectedly retired.  When we initially opened the restaurant in the Wildwood Inn, our contract with the hotel covered the possibility of the hotel selling.  According to the contract, we had agreed to sell the restaurant with the hotel with a predetermined formula to derive the sellout price.  It was activated when the ski lodge was sold.  The formula was two times the gross volume from the previous year’s business added to four times our profit from that same year.  This could have been a profitable deal for us however, the year that we had to use for our mathematics we saw nary a flake of snow that winter.  It did not snow until spring so the numbers didn’t reflect the best scenario or the true value.  It was a devastating season all around the area.  The Aspen Ski Corporation seeded the clouds, locals did snow dances, nothing worked, no snow.  A ski town without snow is like farming without rain.

We made enough money to pay off all of our restaurant debts, but not enough to open another restaurant.  After we recovered from the shock of the sale we decided that a three-day celebration was in order.  We were in our early thirties, the great outdoors was stunning and calling our names, a trail ride through the White River National Forest was a no brainer.  Gert and I did get a little carried away planning the trip.  We had six horses to carry the beer and ice, five pack horses to carry food, supplies, tents etc.  We took a previously employed dishwasher from the restaurant to do Gert’s biddings.  We took our house band, Chuck and Dave of the “Gator”.  They specialized in blue grass music.  Dave was the fastest flat picker we had ever seen and Chuck specialized in bass but could do whatever complimented Dave.  They would be great entertainment around the campfire.  Improvisation was there greatest strength.  Dave made up songs about people and events…always hilarious.  We took a photographer to document the trip.  He was known as “Magic John”.  I still wonder what happened to all those photos.  We employed six wranglers to join us and keep us from harm and to handle the horses and tackle.  All said and done, we had about 30 horses in our posse.

Our horses were bred for strength and sure footedness, they were half mule and half mustang.  Descending the narrow trails was very frightening and you just had to put your trust in the skill of the horse.  I was feeling like the “Cosmic Cowboy”, riding the range and acting strange is where I wanted to be.  I had my plastic beer can holder hung off my saddle horn, in one pocket was rolled reefer, in the other pocket I had a zip lock of chocolate mescaline (organic I was told).  I went around and asked trail riders if they would like a lick……holding up the bag.  Being a generous soul, this went on and on and you can probably guess that everyone was high.

One of the funniest memories from this trip that I will never ever forget and made me laugh so hard I almost fell off my horse was when the trail boss told Gert to give his horse head.  These were trail horses that felt most comfortable looking at the tail of another.  The rider really needed to let the horses do what they do and all would be fine.  Gert was pulling tight on the reins and bit and he was pulling way too tight.  His horse was actually bleeding at the mouth.  That is when the trail boss told Gert to give his horse some head in laymen’s terms meaning “quit pulling on the reins”.  Gert’s reply in a thick German accent was “I’m not giving this damn horse a blow job”.

We stopped for lunch at 12,000 feet.  It was magical looking down at the Maroon Bell Mountains and Lake.  After our much-needed break the crew mounted their horses and headed down the trail.  Three of us, Magic John, Cindy Cimino and I stayed back to take pictures.  Our three trail horses were getting anxious seeing the other horses heading down the path without them.  Cindy and John mounted their horses without incident and were on the trail to rejoin the group ahead.  But when I put one foot into the stirrup of my horse it went into a full canter to catch his fellow horses on the trail.  I was doing my best Roy Rogers impersonation with my left hand on the saddle horn and my left foot in the stirrup, leaving the right side of my body in a free for all.  I was flailing up and down with the rhythm of the horse.  I thought to myself,” I can do this”.  So, with wild abandon I threw myself up and onto the horse.  My shoulder had been re built by the Aspen doctors after a skiing accident.  I did my body toss with too much enthusiasm and threw myself up and over the other side of the horse and hit the ground landing on the re built shoulder…. ouch. l was rolling in pain, grabbing my shoulder I looked up to see Cindy and John laughing so hard I thought they would fall off their horses and join me on the ground.  Once I was fairly certain that there was no permanent damage to my patched-up shoulder I stood up, dusted myself off, mounted the horse while John held the reins.

At the end of the first day we were all tired and saddle sore, some more than others.  I was sitting at the camp site watching the saddle worn staff come in when one rider in particular caught my attention.  It was Scott Fellows.  Scott was so high he thought he would be safer if he tied himself to his saddle.  He looked like Lee Marvin in Cat Ballou.  Scott’s saddle had slipped but he was lashed to the saddle. It wouldn’t be long until he would be completely upside down with his head bouncing off the trail.  One of the wranglers released Scott from his whompy jawed saddle with no harm done.  Looking back, I am just amazed that no one was killed or seriously hurt on the trail.

The first night Gert grilled pheasant over the campfire with basil pesto, and he cooked the potatoes by tucking them into the coals.  We had bread, butter, salad and cheesecake for dessert. After dinner, the band played and they rallied the troops, but the audience thinned out quickly because everyone was completely exhausted.

Dining on the trail was extra delicious.  Our lunch menu was fresh fruit and beef sandwiches.  Breakfast was spicy tacos made with ground spicy pork sausage, egg and potatoes wrapped in tortillas, cooked over a campfire…. yum.

The second day about half of the riders chose to walk and lead their horses as they were too saddle sore to ride.  Luckily for the walkers most of the second day the trail was downhill.  Day two was a perfect day on the trail, peaceful and lovely with no wild tales to tell.  We made camp early and had plenty of time to cook dinner.  We had campfire grilled tenderloin steak, grilled asparagus, new potatoes in herb butter and a berry cobbler for dessert.  After a day in the mountain air, shoe leather would have been tasty so you can imagine how much we enjoyed our mountain meal!  The band was playing as the sun was setting and they did what they do best and sang an impromptu song about the ride, the people and our old restaurant.  The song was fabulous, never to be repeated.

We woke up to the sound of the beavers slapping their tales, reminding us that this was their home and we were invaders.

We packed up and ended another adventure at the trail head.

Enjoy the grilled pheasant & the basil pesto recipe.

 

Ok you can substitute chicken for the pheasant if you must.  Grilled over an open fire it is hard to tell the difference in chicken and pheasant.  Prep the bird one day in advance.  Bring the pheasant up to room temperature before grilling

 

Pesto & the Bird

½ cup toasted pine nuts.  Pine nuts should be toasted to a light brown (oven).

5 cloves of garlic

¾ cup olive oil

2 cups of packed basil leaves

¼ cup grated Parmesan

1 teaspoon sea salt

 

Method

Place all the above (except oil) into a food processor with the S blade and process.  After processing for 2 minutes drizzle in the oil.  Place pesto in a pastry bag that has a wide tip. After pheasant or chicken has been boned, loosen the skin of the bird by wiggling your fingers between the meat and the skin.  Squirt the pesto in and use your fingers to even the pesto.

Grill the bird skin side down to begin the cooking.  Turn only once after the skin is crispy.  Grill over medium hot fire for 10 minutes before flipping.  The bird should be about 4 lbs.  ½ bird per person.