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The Most Unforgettable Ranches We've Ever Cooked On - Not All Ranches Are Created Equal!
May 10, 2026
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Step out into the wide open spaces with us as we take you along the journey of eploring some of the most beautiful and iconic ranches we've cooked on over the years. From wide open canyons to the hardworking folks of the Nebraska Sandhills, this is a cooking adventure you don't want to miss!
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Kent Rollins
Cowboy Cooking, Cast Iron, Outdoor Cooking, Grilling, Dutch Oven Cooking
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0:00
K, you know, we've been very blessed to
0:02
cook in some really gorgeous, amazing
0:05
places. Um, particularly on ranches,
0:07
wide open spaces, beautiful country,
0:10
pastures.
0:12
Um, but I think it's also interesting to
0:14
note that it isn't always the landscape
0:17
that makes ranches beautiful for us,
0:19
right? It's the people,
0:21
>> the people, you know, the the heart that
0:24
we get to see that they have in it. the
0:26
the family run ranches where the little
0:28
kids are out there, the teenagers are
0:30
out there. They ain't got a cell phone
0:32
in their hand. They ain't got a game boy
0:34
in their hand. They're cowboy.
0:36
>> A game boy. Now that's aging you a
0:38
little bit.
0:38
>> Maybe play a Tory. You know, they didn't
0:41
have none of them either.
0:42
>> Yeah. So, hey folks, sit down, grab a
0:44
cup of coffee, come go with us, cuz
0:46
we're going to explore some of the most
0:48
beautiful ranches we've ever been on,
0:50
and we're taking y'all with us.
0:56
Howdy. My name is Kent Rollins. I've
0:58
been a cowboy and a chuck wagon cook for
1:00
over 30 years, cooking for ranches all
1:03
across America. You might have seen me
1:05
on the Food Network or alongside my
1:07
beautiful wife, Shannon, on our YouTube
1:09
show, where we share cowboy cooking from
1:11
the trail. But now, we're going to take
1:13
you behind the scenes to real campfire
1:15
conversations. Join us as we share
1:18
humor, cowboy wisdom, and stories full
1:20
of history, heart, faith, and of course,
1:23
a little fire. So, grab you a cup of
1:25
coffee, pull up a chair, and welcome to
1:28
the podcast.
1:34
Can we go out um anywhere from maybe
1:37
like 5 days, we as long as 5 and 1/2
1:40
weeks out on ranches. So, we get spend a
1:44
good amount of time out there and we're
1:47
with the chuck wagon and a lot of times
1:49
we are I want to say the the farthest
1:52
most remote ranch was maybe were we 70
1:56
miles from a paved road do you think at
1:58
at its most
2:00
>> deep part of the ranch?
2:01
>> Yeah. I always tell people it's a place
2:03
that ain't on a GPS and the map can't
2:05
find.
2:06
>> It's so nice because it's we it's forced
2:10
isolation, right?
2:12
>> Yeah. But it's not forced in a bad way.
2:13
>> No, no, no, not at all. It's it's that
2:16
it's forced in a way where you have to
2:18
deplug,
2:21
deconnect, and you can just really
2:23
appreciate everything that's around you
2:26
and the people that are around you. I
2:27
mean, sure, it's a busy time,
2:30
>> but it's in a place that makes you slow
2:32
down also
2:34
>> to get to see all the surroundings
2:36
around you, the people that you get to
2:38
meet, the critters you get to see. Some
2:41
of them good, some of them bad,
2:42
two-legged, four-legged, both, you know.
2:45
But there's nothing that I would trade
2:48
in the last 38 years of being a chunk
2:50
wagon cook. Um, but I think the thing
2:53
that have stuck out the most by doing it
2:56
was the people and the places.
2:58
>> Yeah,
2:59
>> it's I I never take for granted what I
3:02
get to see every day. I tell the good
3:04
Lord every time, Lord, make me make me
3:07
ever mindful of the little things I
3:10
sometimes take for granted.
3:12
>> The sunrise and the sunset that we see.
3:16
I don't think some people get to see
3:17
them things. Sh.
3:18
>> And we're cooking usually three meals a
3:20
day. it can get a little hectic. Um, but
3:23
at the end of it, it's we're feeding
3:25
people, we're having a good time, and
3:27
it's and it's bringing people together.
3:29
So, um, I've actually categorized,
3:32
>> all right,
3:32
>> this. And so, I'm going to ask you the
3:36
categor I'm going to present to you the
3:39
category.
3:40
>> It's sort of like a game show.
3:41
>> It is. No prize at the end, though.
3:43
>> Oh,
3:44
>> and you're going to we're going to talk
3:46
about like maybe what ranches fall into
3:48
that category. That sound good?
3:49
>> All right. Sounds good to me.
3:50
>> So, the first one I have was, "What is
3:53
the best land that we've experienced on
3:57
Cooking on the Wagon?"
3:58
>> When I see beauty, sometimes it's not
4:02
prim and proper beauty, like dalled up.
4:05
It's rugged beauty.
4:07
>> Oh.
4:08
>> Uh, the Paladura Canyon to me, one of
4:10
the first winners that I was in there
4:13
because I'd never been in it, you know,
4:15
never seen And the Paladora, if people
4:17
don't know this, this is the second
4:18
largest canyon in the country, right?
4:20
>> Yes, ma'am.
4:21
>> And it's it's it's harsh. It can be very
4:25
hot. It can be very cold. It's windy.
4:27
It's it's rough, rugged land, but like
4:29
you said, there's a lot of beauty there.
4:31
>> And there's really three levels, you
4:32
know. There's the top of the cap rock
4:34
and then you drop down one, then you
4:36
drop down another, then you're down
4:38
there at the bottom level where the the
4:40
river is, you know. But I can remember
4:44
one really cold night and uh there's
4:48
been a lot of them, but this one when
4:50
you're sleeping in there with the wagon
4:53
and all the walls, canvas walls are
4:56
around it. And I got my cot and bedro by
4:58
Bertha of that old wood stove to where I
5:01
can stay warm.
5:03
And there's a stove pipe that goes
5:05
through a hole that has metal around it
5:07
where it don't burn the tarp. And when
5:09
the wind's blowing, it's scratching and
5:12
flopping all night. So, I remember this
5:15
night very much. And right about the
5:18
time I got up to cook breakfast, it
5:21
quit, which is very, very odd in our
5:24
part of the country over there. Usually
5:26
when you get up and or if it's blowing
5:28
in the night, it's going to blow for
5:29
another week. Seemed like,
5:31
>> but it just quit.
5:33
The It was cloudy. There was no snow,
5:36
none of that. all the crew come in and I
5:40
I used to used to kid them, you know.
5:42
I'd say I wish I'd go with you all
5:44
today, you know, and there was a lot of
5:46
days I wanted to go, but this
5:48
particularly day I remember old Chris
5:50
Morton turned around and say, "You don't
5:51
go today?" It was like 2°, you know. I
5:54
said, "I'm pretty good right here." So,
5:57
I them walls of canvas that close it in,
6:00
they just snap in at the top. So, I just
6:02
let down part of it. It was like drawing
6:05
the curtain in the bedroom, you know,
6:07
where I could see. It's not quite light,
6:10
but it's just enough light that you can
6:11
sort of make out figures as they're and
6:14
they mounted up and they was going to
6:16
top out of out of one bottom of a canyon
6:18
to get to the top rim.
6:21
And I could hear them even though I
6:23
couldn't see them when they'd be
6:24
thicking the mosquetses and the cedar
6:26
trees, I could still hear horses hooves.
6:29
I could hear people talking cuz it's
6:31
that quiet in the, you know, down there
6:33
in that canyon.
6:34
>> But as they went to top out, I remember
6:36
I get to see something that I'd never
6:38
seen before in my life. When a horseshoe
6:41
would hit a rock just right, climbing up
6:43
them edges, it'd make a little spark.
6:46
>> Oh wow.
6:47
>> Just a little light. And you had to be
6:49
paying attention. But I got to watch it
6:50
and I'd see it a lot coming across
6:52
there. And I said, "Thank you, God, for
6:55
this moment." Cuz I guarantee you there
6:57
ain't many people got to see that. M
6:59
>> and it's this is dead of winter time.
7:02
There's nothing green, but there's
7:04
beauty everywhere if we just open our
7:06
eyes and look, take time to see it. And
7:10
I think after the Paladura Canyon,
7:14
>> I've got one.
7:15
>> Let's go ahead.
7:16
>> The Lazy Tea
7:18
>> outside of 10 sleep Wyoming. And one of
7:21
the reasons I like this is so, you know,
7:23
we're originally based in Oklahoma and
7:26
so a lot of our ranch cooking was based
7:29
in that region. So we did a lot of
7:30
Oklahoma, Texas, um some New Mexico and
7:35
that that's the primary part of it. So
7:37
then when we got to travel north to go
7:39
to Wyoming, that's always fun because
7:41
you get a little different region,
7:42
different culture and this ranch was
7:46
unbelievable.
7:47
>> Yeah. Right in the Big Horn Basin. It
7:49
felt like we had traveled like four
7:52
different continents all on one ranch.
7:55
>> There were these really beautiful red
7:57
rock cliffs that kind of felt like Utah
8:00
and then you had more grassy plains and
8:03
like trickling creek and the cows are
8:06
eating the grass and they're happy cows.
8:09
>> And I just thought, is this real? I
8:11
mean, it almost felt like too perfect
8:14
there. I mean, it even changes elevation
8:16
quite a bit, too, because you get back
8:18
up there in the pines and the mountains,
8:19
you know, and you'd be 8,500 foot pretty
8:21
quick.
8:22
>> And elevation really can mess with your
8:24
cooking because it starves oxygen of
8:27
your cooking wood. So, fire is not as
8:29
hot, so it takes longer for things to
8:31
cook.
8:32
>> Breads don't rise, cakes don't rise. So,
8:34
that's kind of another element of
8:35
challenge.
8:36
>> Yeah. But there it was, it's so pretty
8:38
cuz I'd never I never knew that part a
8:40
while.
8:40
>> Yeah. Yeah,
8:41
>> I'd been up in there and cooked some to
8:42
where it was either in the flat lands
8:44
where the wind was blowing 9,000 m an
8:46
hour uh or it was freezing to death
8:49
somewhere else in Wyoming, but like you
8:51
said, the the canyons that we got to be
8:54
in where the wagon was setting that day
8:56
just just take your breath away. and we
8:59
were setting up. So, we had been up
9:00
there before, but we went back again to
9:03
cook for an episode for of our new
9:05
series on the outdoor cow uh outdoor
9:07
channel, cast iron cowboy, and it was I
9:11
think this was the second this is the
9:13
second episode we ever cooked on for
9:15
that show for season 1. And we go up
9:19
there and of course, like every time,
9:23
whenever the wagon rolls in, that region
9:26
is having the most bizarre weather. So,
9:29
of course, everything was fine. The
9:30
wagon rolls in and they're having an
9:32
abnormal heat wave
9:33
>> in June.
9:34
>> In June.
9:35
>> And that's the reason we went up there
9:37
in June because we thought, "Oh, it'll
9:38
be north. It'll be cooler." Well, nope.
9:40
And I remember Ken, you had to cook
9:44
caveman steak.
9:45
>> Yes, ma'am. And caveman steak, which you
9:48
all need to try, is when you cook a
9:51
steak directly on the coals. No grate,
9:53
no grill, straight on the coals. And you
9:56
have a great trick because it you're
9:58
actually starving the oxygen. So the
10:00
ashes don't really get on the
10:02
>> Take your hat off or something. Fan all
10:04
the ashes off coals to where they're
10:06
good and hot. And then when you lay them
10:08
stakes on there,
10:09
>> it's like a great It's direct sear,
10:11
right?
10:11
>> Yeah. you're and you're not going to get
10:12
a fire because there's it can't get no
10:15
air under there, you know, and if there
10:17
is a little ash on there, it brushes off
10:19
real easy.
10:20
>> It's a it's such a great charred flavor
10:22
that you get with it.
10:24
>> It's a really interesting way to do a
10:25
steak. And then, of course, we also had
10:27
some You were roasting veggies straight
10:29
on the fire. And so, it looked great. It
10:32
tasted great, but man, it was rough
10:34
cooking because
10:35
>> it was over that fire all them coals all
10:38
the time. But I remember as we got
10:41
through it come up a little shy and
10:43
remember that rainbow that went plum
10:45
over that canyon we would
10:46
>> Yes. Yes. If you guys are watching on
10:48
YouTube we'll add a picture because that
10:51
was like
10:51
>> Yeah.
10:52
>> That's the little blessing like you'
10:53
mentioned like you you work hard. We
10:56
were sweating. We thought it was rough.
10:58
But then when you just take that moment,
11:00
take a breath and get that little that
11:02
little nugget
11:03
>> because I I put you through a little
11:05
test today, but I'm going to give you a
11:07
little reward at the end. Yeah. Yeah.
11:08
And uh it was so beautiful. This episode
11:12
is sponsored by Better Help. And Shan,
11:15
did you know that May is National
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get you some good help.
11:29
>> I think um that's a really good point,
11:32
especially as we're coming in spring and
11:33
when the seasons change. I don't know if
11:35
you guys are like this, but sometimes my
11:37
mood or my like motivation kind of
11:40
shifts. And I think spring is a great
11:42
time to just like reinvigorate ourselves
11:45
and refocus. And you don't have to do it
11:48
alone. No,
11:49
>> it doesn't have to be something that's
11:51
making you sad. Maybe it's just
11:53
something that's posit positive that's
11:55
going on in your life and you want to
11:56
talk about it. Or maybe you just want
11:58
some help organizing your life. Um, I
12:01
think this is a great way and better
12:02
help with their therapists are there to
12:05
help you. You know, especially with
12:07
work, I get a little overwhelmed and
12:09
stressed and I always like to check in
12:13
with somebody else that's not a family
12:16
member, that's not a friend, that's
12:18
somebody that's like a outside source
12:20
that doesn't know everything that's
12:22
going on because I think they're they
12:23
give better perspective. And so that's
12:26
one great way to use better help. um
12:29
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12:30
change happening, that's another great
12:32
reason.
12:33
>> Got a problem, you're not in it there by
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12:36
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12:59
That's betterhp.com/cowowboy.
13:08
My next category
13:10
>> that is um I've kind of want you to
13:13
paint a picture for us is called the
13:16
feeling. And so of course we see the
13:19
land and we'll get to the people, but I
13:22
just want you or we both can talk about
13:25
what can we describe the feeling of what
13:29
it is to be on a ranch, to be cooking,
13:31
to kind of be reliving history and
13:34
sharing a tradition that's been going on
13:36
for hundreds of years. And I
13:39
specifically want to talk about the Bell
13:41
Ranch um in northeastern New Mexico
13:44
because this was a very this is one a
13:46
very iconic ranch. And this was iconic
13:49
for us because this was really the first
13:51
ranch that we had both cooked on
13:53
>> together at any length of time. It was
13:55
the longest ranch I've ever cooked on.
13:57
We were there for five and a half weeks
14:00
>> and this was the first time in over 50
14:02
years
14:03
>> that they had pulled out a wagon to use.
14:07
And they were you we were using it all
14:10
traditional. We hooked the the wagon up
14:13
to a team of horses and Kent and some of
14:16
the other cowboys drove the wagon around
14:19
the whole ranch during that time. Put
14:21
134
14:22
>> 144 miles on there.
14:24
>> Yeah. So this was super iconic and I I
14:29
for me not being raised in this, this
14:31
was monumental.
14:32
>> Yeah. And you could feel the history
14:36
there.
14:38
>> So I mean I can I back up a little
14:39
because I still think this is like a
14:40
game show, you know. So Shannon, I'll
14:43
take feelings on ranches for a thousand.
14:45
Okay,
14:46
>> go for it.
14:47
>> Go for it.
14:48
>> What is a feeling on a ranch?
14:50
>> First one, I think there's a little bit
14:53
I won't say so much fear, but unknown.
14:56
>> I'd never been to the bell ranch before.
14:58
Yeah.
14:59
>> I didn't know any of the cowboys that
15:00
were on the crew. didn't know what the
15:02
terrain was like, what kind of wood we
15:05
was going to get to burn. That's usually
15:06
a thing that really gets in my mind
15:08
right on first. What's a fuel?
15:10
>> Because fuel is huge for us.
15:12
>> Yeah.
15:12
>> Um
15:14
we're really blessed. We have a lot of
15:15
mosquite. Mosquet's a good hot burning
15:18
wood. It's great for baking, for
15:19
grilling. You get out some of these
15:21
places and all they have is soft wood
15:23
and that's really stressful for us.
15:25
>> Yeah. I mean they we were fortunate
15:27
enough out there they had some mosquite
15:28
and we'd save them for steak nights or
15:30
something like that but we was burning a
15:32
lot of old cedar post and everything
15:33
else forever you know to get by each
15:35
>> I think we even did uh burn some cow
15:38
patties. Oh yeah. And uh you know going
15:41
down trails many years if old cookie
15:42
didn't find wood. That's what he used.
15:45
That buffalo when you first
15:47
>> get to a ranch especially something
15:49
that's that iconic that big and
15:52
everybody's gathered around before you
15:54
leave and they're loading up the wagon
15:56
and you're you're thinking to yourself,
15:59
"All right, we're cooking supper
16:01
tonight." And then it really starts.
16:04
>> Mhm. So, number one, I want to make them
16:07
feel comfortable, but number two, I want
16:10
them to feel full, but not just in their
16:12
belly. I want to feel their heart and
16:14
their soul.
16:15
>> It's I'm sure that it was tricky for
16:17
them, too, because this is a big deal
16:19
because this is for such a long cooking.
16:21
If you have a bad cook,
16:23
>> this is going to be a rough long time.
16:25
And um I'm sure that some of them had
16:28
heard of you.
16:29
>> Yeah.
16:29
>> And so, um but it was just it's just
16:32
amazing to be part of that. and and you
16:35
could feel it with all of them.
16:37
>> They knew like how important and how
16:39
cool this was that they were were
16:41
actually going to be pulling out the
16:43
wagon and doing it exactly like it was
16:45
done in the 1800s.
16:46
>> Oh yeah. I can remember Gary Morton uh
16:50
telling me one time we was moving the
16:53
wagon, you know, some camps you'd be in
16:56
2, three days, sometimes you'd move
16:58
after the first day.
17:00
>> Mhm. And we had a ramuda, which is a
17:03
band of horses or a cabbie as y'all
17:06
would call them in y'all's country of
17:08
the horses that they were going to use
17:10
during that 6 week period.
17:11
>> Mhm.
17:12
>> And wagon's always first, you know, I'm
17:15
headed out and then it's the cowboy, the
17:19
ramuda and all the cowboys bringing them
17:20
up.
17:21
>> Mhm.
17:22
>> And old Gary rode up there beside me and
17:24
he said, "Kent, did you see that?" And I
17:27
said, "What's that, Gary?" He said,
17:29
"Look at it." And I said, and I'm
17:31
looking all around in front of me and
17:33
everything and I said, "I don't see
17:34
nothing." He said, "No, look down at the
17:37
road sort of behind you." And I looked
17:39
back and I said, "That's a lot of
17:41
horses." No. He said, "Look at the
17:42
ground." And I looked down there and I
17:45
said, "It's wagon track." And he said,
17:47
"What I wanted you to see?" He said,
17:50
"There hadn't been a wagon track on this
17:52
road since 1957.
17:54
was the last time that they pulled out a
17:56
wagon because they couldn't find anybody
17:58
in the years ahead that could drive and
18:00
cook both. They feed out of an army
18:02
truck or an old trailer or something,
18:03
you know.
18:04
>> And it made me stop and think the
18:07
feeling that I got then was of
18:10
>> I'm not trying to brag, but was of
18:12
success,
18:14
>> was of pride,
18:16
but also of great humility.
18:20
I'm getting to make a track in a road
18:22
that some old cook had made 50 years
18:25
before I got there, 60, you know, going
18:27
to some of the same camps that them old
18:29
cooks used for years and years and
18:32
setting up there and passing on history
18:34
one plate at a time.
18:37
>> It was a trust in the team, too. Oh,
18:39
Mick and Minnie were such great horses.
18:42
Uh, but you you talk about the feeling.
18:46
I think the crew felt it maybe after the
18:50
first three or four days that we took
18:52
them in as family.
18:53
>> Yeah.
18:54
>> You know, and and that's a big part of
18:56
it.
18:56
>> You bond really quickly and and get to
18:58
know these people really well.
19:01
>> Wagon is a gathering place, not just for
19:03
food. Yep.
19:04
>> Uh there's camaraderie, there's talk,
19:06
there's business meetings, you know, but
19:10
I've always prided myself, me and you
19:12
both in just not about food for us on a
19:16
ranch. It's about sure I I like to run
19:19
it the old ways, keep things sort of
19:21
like they was,
19:22
>> but I love to visit with people.
19:24
>> I love for people to feel at home
19:26
because like you said before, a good
19:29
cook and a good crew make for good
19:30
works.
19:32
Hey Kent,
19:33
>> how would you like to take the people
19:35
for 200?
19:36
>> I would love the people for 200.
19:39
>> Okay. Our next
19:39
>> just a daily double.
19:40
>> This is our No, not yet.
19:42
>> Okay.
19:43
>> How much are you going to wager?
19:44
>> I'm going to wager a thousand.
19:46
>> So, our next category is the people,
19:48
which we've talked about is is really
19:51
nearly as important as a a pretty
19:53
picture that you get to look at every
19:55
morning. This one was also a ranch that
19:58
we hit for Cast Iron Cowboy. And this
20:02
one has a lot of meaning behind it
20:05
because we we traveled to Nebraska
20:08
outside of Alliance, I believe, and we
20:10
visited the Lumis Family Ranch,
20:12
>> Circle Ale.
20:13
>> This was important because one, this was
20:15
the very first episode we ever shot for
20:18
our new series.
20:20
Number two,
20:22
just maybe three days or four days
20:24
before that, we lost our house in the
20:26
houseire
20:27
>> and the beagle
20:27
>> and the beagle had passed away. That was
20:30
a lot. And then we're thinking, "Oh
20:32
gosh, we have to go cook. We have to be
20:35
happy. We have to be on." And the Lumis
20:39
family,
20:41
I might get a little sad. They were
20:44
unbelievable.
20:45
>> Yeah. They they took us in from the very
20:49
first minute we met them. Naomi was like
20:52
somebody I thought I'd known all my life
20:54
and never met.
20:55
>> They were just so welcoming
20:58
and um just a good, you know, you get
21:02
that sense of salt of the earth people,
21:05
hardworking,
21:07
making out a living on the land, and you
21:09
just appreciated it so much. And I I may
21:13
need to also put them in the land
21:14
category, too.
21:15
>> It's beautiful.
21:16
>> We were in the sand hills of Nebraska.
21:18
And I didn't know what that meant
21:20
because I had no idea what the sand
21:22
hills of Nebraska was like. Beautiful.
21:24
>> Oh, yeah.
21:25
>> Like a painting.
21:26
>> We And we had the best camp really in
21:29
there was not a tree in sight.
21:30
>> No.
21:31
>> Uh I'm glad Smoky Woods was furnishing
21:34
wood. We' have been burning cowpies for
21:35
a long time. But I remember that camp
21:38
there was a windmill and an old stock
21:40
tank. Mhm.
21:41
>> down there, you know, behind camp. And
21:44
uh Na and them told me that that's the
21:48
best water on the ranch.
21:50
>> Oh.
21:50
>> To drink, to cook with, to bathe in,
21:53
everything. And I remember going down
21:55
there that first day and getting coffee
21:57
pot full of water. And I had me a cup
21:59
and I was
22:01
I thinking we could just serve water.
22:03
This is the best meal I ever had in my
22:04
life, you know. But I know we have a
22:06
picture where the moon was so big and
22:09
bright behind that windmill and you can
22:11
see it and it's like it's sitting there
22:13
waiting for the first breath of air to
22:17
give the first breath of life to
22:19
something who drinks that water.
22:21
>> It was like living water. I mean it was
22:23
so good.
22:23
>> They and they were so excited to have us
22:26
there and they were so gracious and they
22:28
helped us unload the wagon. They helped
22:30
us set up camp. And I remember though as
22:32
we're setting up, we're like, "Oh,
22:34
that's uh looking a little dark back
22:36
there." And kind of kept watching. I'm
22:39
like, "Well, that storm looks like it's
22:40
getting a little closer." And by the
22:42
time we had just You had just like
22:45
nailed down the last teepee. And I
22:48
remember the camera crew is like, "Uh,
22:49
we're going to leave." And they got out
22:51
real fast.
22:52
>> Yeah.
22:52
>> And the wind hit and it blew the
22:56
teepee's over. So then we all got in the
22:58
trailer.
22:59
>> Yep. And then all of a sudden we we're
23:01
looking we're peeking out of the trailer
23:03
and
23:04
>> we see over the horizon this like the
23:08
ground is moving and I'm thinking
23:09
>> it's different colors.
23:11
>> What is coming at us? It was a whole
23:14
herd of goats that like stormed camp and
23:17
they wanted in the trailer. They kept
23:19
trying to get in the trailer with us and
23:22
I remember we slept in the trailer that
23:23
night and the thunder was unreal and it
23:27
was just shaking the ground and I'm
23:30
thinking is this okay that we're in this
23:32
metal trailer? But that was for sure top
23:35
people.
23:35
>> Oh yeah. And while we're mentioning them
23:38
too, folks, if you're watching this, uh
23:40
there was been so many big fires in
23:43
Nebraska and Naomi and them along with
23:45
other ranchers, they lost a lot of
23:48
country.
23:48
>> They've had
23:49
>> lost a lot of grass, a lot of feed, a
23:51
lot of pins. So when you're saying your
23:54
prayers at night, pray for rain and
23:56
healing for that old country, but pray
23:58
for courage for them folks that went
24:00
through it.
24:00
>> Absolutely. All right. So, are you ready
24:02
for our next category?
24:04
>> Yes, ma'am. Do you want to put money on
24:06
it or you just want to go for it? It's
24:08
>> I got a dollar left.
24:09
>> Okay. Yeah, just you you're doing good.
24:11
>> Yeah.
24:12
>> This this category is interesting. I'm
24:16
calling it work and challenge.
24:19
>> Work and challenge.
24:20
>> So, we've said this, you know, not
24:22
everything is sunshines, rainbows, and
24:25
roses, right? Um there is beauty, but
24:28
sometimes you have to work for it and
24:29
you have to look for it a little more.
24:32
And this ranch, um, I think falls into
24:35
that category. This is the Babbitt Ranch
24:38
in Arizona. And this was for another
24:41
shoot you did. And I was really bummed
24:43
because I didn't get to go on it because
24:45
I was having gallbladder surgery.
24:47
>> Um, but super iconic, expansive ranch.
24:52
>> Yes.
24:53
>> Take us on it. It's
24:55
north of Flagstaff and a little, let me
24:59
see, a little back east, but there is a
25:02
mountain there by Flagstaff called the
25:04
San Francisco mountain. And uh I had
25:07
seen it from another ranch we was on at
25:09
that time doing a shoot, but it was 47
25:12
milesi from me. We were cooking on the
25:14
Diamond Aise and you could see it way
25:16
over there. Well, I didn't know that's
25:17
where the Babbbit was. Somebody Yeah,
25:19
you're going over yonder. That's the
25:20
Babbbit country, you know. So, we get
25:23
over there and we drive. There's a lot
25:26
of volcanic rock in there. Uh, and we
25:29
drive through these pastures and keep on
25:31
winding around because they're they're
25:33
gathering pasture the next day. Probably
25:36
150 200 head of mama cows, you know,
25:39
getting the calves off of them, branding
25:40
them working. So, I'm knowing we're
25:42
going to be have to come into a set of
25:44
pins somewhere. And all I'm seeing is
25:46
just these big old rock mountains, small
25:49
mountains and hills, you know, and some
25:52
green grass and some mosquite trees, you
25:54
know, but I I ain't seen nothing that
25:56
just reaches out, grabs me, you know.
25:59
And uh our one of our cameramen, Nate,
26:02
is very particular on where we set the
26:05
wagon. if it's half inch out of degree
26:08
from the north pole at the 37th
26:10
parallel, you know, and uh he's getting
26:14
better than I am too for putting up with
26:15
it. But um we finally come around this
26:18
corner and got down there and there's a
26:20
set of pins
26:23
and there's big old jagged rock looked
26:26
like volcanic rock just sticking out
26:28
sort of there. But there's a flat spot
26:31
and looking sort of to the west
26:33
northwest
26:35
you can see forever seemed like. But
26:37
when you turn and look a little to the
26:39
south
26:41
that's San Francisco mountains there
26:43
>> just kind of shining
26:44
>> and it's snowcapped.
26:46
>> Oh wow.
26:46
>> Yeah. And it is beautiful. And there
26:51
there's not a sound to be heard.
26:54
>> Um there was no wind. None whatsoever.
26:58
And I remember Clay, our producer, he
27:00
said, "Ken, now we got rooms up here at
27:02
this hotel." And I looked up at there
27:05
and I sky and I looked around. I said,
27:07
"I'm sleeping here tonight. This will be
27:10
probably the calmst, quietest place I've
27:12
been in a long time." So me and old
27:14
Chris Morton, who was helping, we just
27:16
set up our tepee and we stayed out
27:18
there.
27:18
>> But the calm didn't last forever.
27:21
>> No. You ever heard about the calm before
27:23
the storm?
27:23
>> Is that what happened?
27:24
>> We had the calm and then we got storm.
27:28
Then they were going to come eat
27:30
breakfast.
27:30
>> Okay.
27:31
>> You know, but it was going to be after
27:32
they gathered the cattle.
27:33
>> Mhm.
27:34
>> Well, at light, which 6:00 that morning,
27:39
they was a little breeze. Not bad. At
27:41
7:00, they was a little more. At 8:30,
27:45
when they showed up to eat breakfast
27:46
after they'd got them cows pinned, it's
27:48
probably blowing 30. And then mother
27:51
nature says, "Let's see what kind of
27:53
cook you are."
27:55
And it was probably blowing sustained 50
27:58
mph constant.
28:00
>> And you have no windbreak. There's no
28:02
trees. There's no getting out of it.
28:05
>> And I want to say wind is probably the
28:09
hardest thing to cook in.
28:10
>> Yeah. And I look down there at them pens
28:13
and them cowboys. It's so dirty down
28:15
there you can't hardly even see them.
28:16
Yeah.
28:16
>> Wind's blowing.
28:17
>> How far from the pens are you?
28:19
>> Oh, 250 yards. You know, something like
28:22
that. But we were doing something I
28:25
really love to cook and that's an
28:26
enchilada burger.
28:28
>> Let's just give a little Can we just
28:29
give a little preview of what that is?
28:30
>> Yes.
28:31
>> So, we have a video of this if you guys
28:33
want to look it up. But an enchilada
28:34
burger, just a regular burger, but then
28:37
you fry corn tortillas. Put that on
28:39
there. Um
28:41
>> the burger meat has enchilada sauce in
28:43
it
28:43
>> and then you've got enchilada sauce on
28:45
it.
28:46
>> Do you have a fried green chili on it,
28:47
too? I don't know. It's amazing. Anyway,
28:49
>> it is good. But we was going to start
28:51
that about 11:00. you know, we' got
28:53
breakfast d they want they was going to
28:55
eat like when they got through working
28:56
which is probably going to be twoish
28:58
long in there. So we get the dishes sort
29:03
of cleaned up and uh we go to thinking
29:06
about lunch and if I think you can show
29:10
them a picture of this because if you
29:12
look at Bertha and right besides Bertha
29:14
there is a metal pole and that metal
29:17
pole runs up there to a top ring which
29:19
holds it down but it has to be metal so
29:21
it's close to birth. It ain't going to
29:22
burn down,
29:23
>> right?
29:23
>> Mother nature kicked it up another more.
29:25
She said, "If the speed limit in Arizona
29:27
70, I'm going to give you some 70."
29:30
>> And it just kept on it. I mean, it just
29:32
beating you to death. You couldn't keep
29:34
nothing on chuck box lid. Things was
29:36
flying everywhere. And I was trying to
29:39
get around to drive a steak a little
29:40
deeper in the ground cuz you could see
29:42
it pulling on them stakes all the time.
29:44
>> And I went around behind Chris Morton
29:46
and about that time I just seen him hit
29:48
the ground.
29:50
>> Chris just hit the ground. Yeah. Got
29:52
blood running down his head, you know,
29:54
and he sort of his eyes roll back in his
29:56
head. Chris is he is a stout man. Been
29:59
through a lot, you know, seven hip
30:01
replacements, shoulders. We call him
30:02
bionic cowboy.
30:05
And when there's something to knock him
30:06
out for a little bit, it's hurt. It's
30:08
bad. And he's when he sort of come to
30:11
and he's looking at me and he said,
30:12
"Why'd you hit me? Why'd you hit me
30:14
for?" I said, "I didn't hit you. That
30:16
pipe blowed out
30:17
>> and got him." So we got him took care of
30:20
and I can remember was having them corn
30:22
tortillas laying them and they blowing
30:24
off the chuck box lid like frisbes like
30:26
he was shooting clay pigeons and said I
30:29
said don't worry you ain't going to find
30:30
them they're gone.
30:31
>> So you just kept trying to cook and keep
30:33
everything down
30:35
>> burgers on a on a grill and the wind had
30:38
flipped. I mean this is I've been in a
30:40
lot of weather but this was probably the
30:42
worst I'd ever cooked in windwise. But
30:47
you look over there at them cowboys,
30:48
they're working in it.
30:49
>> I I'll tell you, um, when I've been out
30:51
cooking, the wind will kill your soul
30:54
faster than anything because you can't
30:56
get out of it. It's ruining all of your
30:59
plans. You trying to figure out how to
31:01
cook.
31:02
>> So, how did you find beauty in that me
31:05
moment?
31:06
Well, when they come up to eat and they
31:10
getting behind every little rock they
31:11
could to get out of the wind and there
31:13
was
31:15
they were of all ages. I remember there
31:17
was these two I took a picture of two
31:19
little fellas that's out there eating
31:20
this behind this rock, you know, and I
31:23
said, "I hope you fellas are enjoying."
31:26
And they turned around and one of them
31:27
had that enchilada sauce running down
31:29
his chin a little bit, you know, and he
31:30
said,
31:32
"Cookie, this is probably the best meal
31:35
I ever eat in my life."
31:37
>> That's when you find the beauty.
31:40
>> Because
31:42
I'm not thinking it's the end of the
31:43
world, but I'm thinking I'll be glad
31:45
when this day is over to get out of this
31:46
wind to actually take a bath, not have
31:48
to stand up cuz you're fighting just to
31:50
stand up in it, you know, all the time.
31:54
But to hear the compliments,
31:57
to see the gleam in their eye, to hear
31:59
them little kids saying, "I wished you'd
32:01
stay on. We could eat here again." You
32:03
know, so beauty, as as they say, is in
32:07
the eye of the beholder, right?
32:09
>> Mhm.
32:10
Well, for me to be sitting there
32:12
beholding myself to hang on to
32:14
everything that was trying to blow away
32:17
and then getting to see those folks come
32:19
through, eat, and tell me it's the best
32:22
food I ever had.
32:23
>> That's
32:24
>> that's worth right there.
32:26
>> Yeah.
32:26
>> And uh so there's storms of all kind.
32:29
You're going to face wind. Wind going to
32:31
try to blow you down. But if we to give
32:34
up, what would happen? everybody goes
32:37
hungry and then you feel really bad and
32:39
then Yeah. Um, speaking of bad storms,
32:43
you had also mentioned that one of the
32:46
other most trying challenging times
32:49
you've had was on the Rocker Beach.
32:52
>> Yeah. You know, that's West St. Angelo
32:54
out there. Um, it is a place that is got
33:00
a lot of mosqu trees and cactus,
33:03
but we'd been through two weeks already
33:06
and we was doing three and we just like
33:08
three or four nights.
33:09
>> But I remember you on the phone when I
33:11
could get you.
33:12
>> Yeah.
33:13
>> Kind of recapping me.
33:14
>> I mean, I love a good thunderstorm. I
33:18
do.
33:18
>> They're the best in a teepee because you
33:20
get that rumble and then the little
33:21
pitterpatter on the canvas and it's very
33:24
calming. This wasn't Peter Patter.
33:26
>> No, you know what I mean? And uh
33:29
probably with the worst lightning storm
33:31
I'd ever seen in my life. Um it felt
33:34
like coming plum through teepee, you
33:36
know? You you'd see it come in the door
33:38
and go out the window and uh but
33:41
to lay there and I listen to it forever
33:43
and ever and I mean it was raining so
33:45
hard you couldn't even hear yourself
33:46
inside the tepee. And uh everything was
33:50
leaking. And uh I remember getting up
33:55
after it sort of passed and that's
33:57
another calm after the storm to where
34:00
that big old massive thunderhead had
34:02
moved by but it's just right past you
34:04
and it's just a constant flash of light.
34:08
Jagged streaks of lightning coming down
34:10
out of the sky that are actually hitting
34:12
something. wanted hit part of a an old
34:14
oil deck over there and we had pretty
34:17
good explosion that night. But to watch
34:20
them hit the ground, the brightness that
34:23
they have and it would light up camp and
34:26
I could see up there camp was a wreck,
34:28
you know. Uh, so I knew it was going to
34:30
be a little challenging to cook
34:33
breakfast, but there's
34:37
there's something in that storm that
34:40
wasn't just I'm going to give you some
34:43
beneficial rain. I'm going to give you
34:46
some lightning,
34:48
but I'm going to make you I'm going to
34:50
make you trust yourself a little here.
34:52
Can you weather this storm?
34:54
>> Can you get through it?
34:55
>> Cowboys all abandoned their tepee and
34:57
got in pickup trucks. Oh, did they?
34:59
>> Yeah. They didn't tell me that till the
35:00
next morning. Uh, but you can if you've
35:03
ever seen it behind a big thunderhead to
35:07
where you get to see that lightning, but
35:09
you can see the tops of them clouds,
35:11
them big old thunderheads just rising up
35:14
forever and ever, you know, and the
35:16
taller they are, the more severe. And
35:18
these look like they're 50,000 foot up
35:20
there just going strong. But they just
35:23
such a beauty to see. Um, it was wet.
35:29
It was a little harsh at times, but when
35:32
the sun come up,
35:34
hey, it's just another great day to be
35:36
alive.
35:38
>> Um, the moment is always a little
35:40
different than the memory, isn't it?
35:42
>> Yes.
35:42
>> In the moment, you think, "This is never
35:45
going to end. I'm never going to get out
35:46
of this."
35:47
>> But then when you look back, you kind of
35:49
even like you can laugh at it. You can
35:51
think, "Well, that wasn't that bad." Or
35:53
>> there'll be one worse.
35:54
>> Yeah. or like, hey, this is what I
35:56
learned from that.
35:56
>> Yeah.
35:57
>> Um,
35:58
>> yeah, that's for sure. It and and we've
36:01
been through a lot of storms, sent a lot
36:02
of things on wagons. There's always been
36:05
some beauty to go with it, even after it
36:07
was over.
36:09
There's there's a there's a lot of
36:11
things in life that you think, I don't
36:13
know how I can get through this, and
36:14
there sure won't be any blessing. I've
36:16
got some of the biggest blessings in my
36:18
life by God testing my faith through
36:21
something that was really hard to go
36:22
through. Is there a ranch that sticks
36:24
out in mind or maybe just a situation
36:26
where at the time you were thinking like
36:29
there there is no lesson in this. This
36:31
is just making me angry. This is just a
36:33
really hard time. I don't I don't have
36:36
any benefit from this. But then maybe
36:38
looking back you're like okay I see the
36:40
message.
36:41
>> I I've got angry with the wind a lot.
36:43
>> Mhm.
36:44
>> You know
36:45
>> the wind will always challenge you. I I
36:48
can remember and y'all heard me talk
36:49
about the Pelador Canyon a lot, but I've
36:51
been in it so many times cooking and it
36:53
was just constant day after day after
36:56
day and you get to where you
36:59
>> like what's the point, you know?
37:00
>> I'd get in I'd get in the pickup every
37:02
once in a while, shut the door, and you
37:04
could still hear it, but it wasn't
37:06
beating on you. There wasn't a canvas
37:08
wall hitting you in the face at night or
37:09
something like that. But it there's
37:12
always something in there that teaches
37:15
me something. I don't care what I went
37:18
through. There's always something at the
37:20
end of it that says you made it through
37:23
this. You persevered. Why did you do
37:26
that? Number one, you had faith. Number
37:28
two, you prayed a lot to God to get you
37:30
through it.
37:31
>> But I think it goes back to patience
37:33
more than anything else.
37:34
>> And u like you said at one time at the
37:37
bail when we've been blowed to death for
37:39
three or four days and you was sitting
37:41
in a chair, turn you back to that old
37:43
wind like an old horse to a cold
37:44
norther. And uh there was tears running
37:48
down your face cuz I could see the dirt
37:49
getting cleaned off. And you looked at
37:52
me and took your sleeve, wiped that tear
37:54
off, and you said I said, "Go to the
37:56
pickup. Go to headquarters. You ain't
37:58
got to be in a 70 mph breeze." And you
38:00
looked at me and she said, "This is what
38:02
we do. And we do it better than anybody
38:04
else. If you can't take it, maybe you
38:06
ought to go to headquarters." And I
38:07
said, "Yes, ma'am. I'm going to stay out
38:09
of here and get after you."
38:10
>> You got a little pep talk, did you?
38:12
>> But you you've been through those. Mhm.
38:15
>> There's always something at the end of
38:16
it to where somebody will come to you
38:19
and say, "Thank you for what you went
38:21
through to put this on the table."
38:23
>> Mhm.
38:23
>> You know, and it there's always going to
38:26
be that in life, I think, to where
38:28
there's a storm, there's an incident,
38:30
there's something that happens bad, but
38:33
they going to be some blessing at the
38:34
other end if we just look and we pray
38:36
about it. I think that's what's the
38:37
hardest thing is if if when you're
38:39
really in something and you're knee deep
38:42
or head it's over your head and you
38:45
think I I can't see what the message is
38:47
here. Um it's just you don't have to see
38:51
the big message right then, but what's
38:53
the little blessing? What's the little
38:55
thing that you can find to just give you
38:58
a little hope to then be able to get
39:00
through it? And I think uh the little
39:02
blessings
39:03
>> I look for them all the time.
39:04
>> Mhm. And uh I found out through life
39:07
sometimes I used to not look for them
39:09
cuz I never expected them. And that's
39:11
when you don't get to see them. And
39:12
that's when a lot of times you're not
39:13
going to have them because you didn't
39:15
have the faith. You didn't have the
39:17
courage.
39:18
I didn't pray enough to God to get me
39:20
through these storms.
39:21
>> Or you just didn't stand still long
39:24
enough and open your eyes to see him. I
39:26
think that's what a big problem is. I
39:28
know I have is just slowing down enough.
39:31
>> Yeah.
39:31
>> To to look around.
39:32
>> Put it in reverse.
39:33
>> Yep. Let's back it up. Beauty doesn't
39:36
have to be a painting. Doesn't have to
39:38
be a picture.
39:39
It doesn't have to be in a museum.
39:42
>> It's out there and we get to see it if
39:45
we just take time to look for it. Look
39:47
around where you're at today. I
39:49
guarantee you there's something there
39:51
that'll put a gleam in your eye.
39:53
Something you'll see. It could be a
39:55
little old baby sparrow hopping across
39:57
the road or something, you know. But
39:59
there's little blessings in life that
40:02
sometimes, like you heard me say, we so
40:04
often take for granted or overlook.
40:08
>> Mhm.
40:09
>> Slow down,
40:11
have the patience, seek the beauty, and
40:15
you will find peace and comfort.
40:18
>> I think you did really well on this game
40:20
show, Kent.
40:21
>> Did I win a prize?
40:22
>> You didn't win a prize, but you'll find
40:24
the little blessing in that,
40:27
guys. Thank you so much for joining us.
40:29
This was a great episode. Love taking
40:31
you all down the trail with us. I hope
40:33
you felt like you were welcomed into
40:34
camp because you always are. Take us
40:37
with you wherever you go. YouTube,
40:39
Spotify, iTunes,
40:42
whatever you got.
40:43
>> We're everywhere. So, we'd love for you
40:44
all to just take also a little moment
40:46
and give us a rating or a like. It
40:48
really helps us out.
40:49
>> I do have one thing I'd like for folks
40:51
to remember, Shannon. those people we
40:53
mentioned in Nebraska, not just Naomi
40:56
and them folks at the Circle L, but
40:57
there were so many ranchers and families
40:59
affected by them large fires.
41:01
>> Keep them folks in your thoughts and
41:02
prayers. I'd appreciate it. But it is
41:04
with pride, honor, and privilege that I
41:06
tip my hat to all our servicemen and
41:08
women and all the veterans that have
41:10
kept that old flag of flying no matter
41:12
where we at. We commend you. We do every
41:14
day. We lift you up in prayer. God bless
41:16
you each and everyone and we'll see you
41:18
down the podcast trail. Find a little
41:20
peace and happiness.
41:31
Pioneer
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