Tucked deep within the Gros Ventre Wilderness, Darwin Ranch is Wyoming’s most remote guest ranch.  It is a place where the road ends and silence begins. Originally homesteaded by Fred Dorwin, whose name was misspelled on a map and never corrected, the ranch now carries a legacy. Accordingly, this legacy is shaped by solitude, craftsmanship, and rugged grace. The hand-built log cabins and weathered barns stand like sentinels of a quieter time.  Nestled between alpine meadows and the winding Kinky Creek, the days stretch wide.   Horseback rides, wildflower hikes, and starlit conversations create a feeling of home.  The nights hum with the kind of peace only wilderness can offer. Darwin Ranch isn’t just a destination. It’s a retreat into the marrow of the American West, where history and nature whisper in tandem.

In my early 20s, I worked at Darwin Ranch for a Summer, as well as caretook during the Winter.  Being in this place completely isolated from society except for random visits from the neighbors taught me a great deal about our relationship as humans to nature.  I was living right on the edge of no where; I could walk off the end of the world.  The snow allowed for great skiing. Once it melted, I was hiking every day.  I fell in love with remoteness, with the fields and mountains that reflect our ancestral roots.  Returning to this new home, I found my place where we all belong.

After being flung out, tossed to the wind and sun; I’ve found myself picked up and floated, just as high waters lift logs on shore:  lightly, taking my heaviness from me and setting me free.  This place has pried open my jaw and poured sunlight down my throat.  And this, this becoming like time, like the music and air, is what life is.  But life is mind, and mind is words…

Coming back again, I found a few that had never left. Honestly, they may have been my favorites anyway, so seeing a familiar face instantly felt like “family”.   Todd still runs the Green River drift and lives at the Moore Ranch (which is no longer the Moore Ranch). Laura still works maintenance at the Darwin after 20 years; same thing.  I freaked out, wondering what am I doing in life. What’s the point of change. I remember Laura’s shocked face as I told her all the crazy things I did and places I lived and moved. It finally occurred to me that it’s ok to choose one thing (preferably one that works) and stay put.

Imagine their roots, the ones who never left.  So deep. A huge tap root in the same soil; observing the world’s changes while remaining that stable tree.  It reminds me of my dad. He is of the same type; difficult to uproot.  He loves the daily routines of the same.

Then there’s my floating root ball, blown by the wind, constantly keeping my fibrous clean of any sort of “soil”, wondering what I am always escaping from – because “everywhere you go, there you are”; and all the things… Incessant running, exhausted maybe.  This is becoming more of a generational healing (more like my mom), and finding out for the first time it’s ok to relax/rest/rejuvenate.

 

To be quite honest, I’m so inspired by the trees of us, with the deep seeded tap roots, those that promote stability and familial ties. I realize my life can be inspiring for the trees too, maybe floating your leaves a little bit more than usual and letting go; but for my personal growth, I’m in a planting mode and working on some heartier roots (finally)–

And in the end, whichever route you choose; just know that it’s ok. There is no right or wrong, no “correct” way of living, and that life is short. If you are not sure of what you are doing today, don’t be afraid to change it. And if you are afraid to change, that’s ok too– changing doesn’t have to be so extreme, trust me: I’m back where I was before so there’s no need for extremities…

I came to realize that time itself has not only expressed it’s linear nature, but that perhaps I have begun to live by its prerogatives. I am striving to break away; to live a circular life within the natural order.  It’s in the little by little, waiting for the returning, and moving forth into your future (which might be your past- in my case) with each step each day.

If you are looking for your own Wyoming Wilderness Ranch Adventure, I highly recommend the Darwin Ranch.