Three Forks is where the Jefferson, the Madison and the Gallatin meet and become the Missouri. Lewis and Clark camped there in 1805. We figured it was a good place to build a fire.
The first time I saw XOVERLAND Ranch, ARB USA had brought me out to cook for their 50th anniversary. Somewhere in the middle of that weekend I told myself, I've got to do a Trail Feast here. Almost a year later, we did.
Every guest's ticket was a Benchmade knife engraved with 45.99008, -111.42947. That's where dinner was.
The ranch
XOVERLAND Ranch is 500 acres of open Montana built for people who like to get out and do things. There are off-road trails, an articulation course to get your rig off camber, a rock crawling course, and more than one gun range. They're a licensed firearms dealer with range safety officers on the property, so somebody who's never fired a gun can learn right there.
The place wears its history out in the open, too. Old log walls, a rusted pick leaning where somebody set it down a long time ago, and a creek cutting through the tall grass.
Rolling in
Rigs came in from every direction and parked out in the meadow. Rooftop tents went up. Some folks took the cabins. Our kitchen was the rig itself: awning out, cook line underneath, coolers stacked in the grass.
The first face most guests saw was Emily from Do Yoga Outside, with a spread already laid out. "I think she kind of set the tone for the weekend," Forest Higgins said. "Just such amazing energy."
Night one
The first night was ten courses, all cooked primitively over open fire. Chef Kiefer, Chef Dustin, Chef Payton and I each came out and talked through the courses we'd made. The drinks were built by hand, fireside by Chef Aaron.
A whole octopus hung over the flames until the tentacles curled and blistered. Beef Picanha took a hard sear. Plates went out in rows, dozens at a time, and Kiefer and I worked down the line by firelight. All of it under Montana's big sky.
A weekend of firsts
Forest and Nina Higgins drove over from Spokane. "We really had no expectations coming in," Forest said. Then he fired a gun for the first time on the range. An hour later, he went wheeling for the first time, in a souped-up 4Runner rented from Hatch Adventures.
That's how he ended up on Devil's Toboggan. With Mark riding shotgun and coaching him through it, Forest put it in four-low and crept over the top. "You can't see the trail at all," he said. "It's like a roller coaster ride. All of a sudden you tip over and boom, we're heading down." He tapped the brakes, felt the slide coming, let off and squared the tires. Only a few people were willing to take it on, and Forest set the fastest time down. In a rental.
Nobody has made it up Devil's Toboggan in a vehicle yet. I gave it a shot myself and made it a little past a quarter of the way before the ruts and the shale won. The record is still open.
Oysters at the hunter's shack
From there we wheeled up to a vantage point by an old hunter's shack. We roasted oysters, popped some champagne, and looked out over the whole ranch from the bluffs.
The lamb
Back in camp, a whole lamb from Your Friends Farm had been up on a cross all day, getting mopped every chance the crew got. We served it with pickled vegetables, a mint and pea stew, and naan Chef Dustin made from scratch.
Then guests pulled out the Benchmade Bugout knives from their swag bags and carved their meat right off the lamb onto their own plates. Nobody's going to forget that one.
Around the fire
After dinner, a few friends broke out guitars and harmonicas. We gathered around the fire and sang together. That's the kind of connection you can't schedule.
The last morning
Emily led yoga out in the field under the Trail Feast banner. Everybody got a good stretch, and Emily with her silly spirit decided a handstand was the right way to say good morning.
Then we sent everybody off with our Cowboy Congee: smoked pork belly, pickled watermelon, chilies, furikake, sesame and the chili crisp we make ourselves. After that came the farewells and last hugs.
Before they left, guests lined up to sign a big custom Trail Feast & Benchmade signature log. That log was a gift from Dan Pacitti of Rune Mgmt, a guest and a client of ours. It traveled to every Trail Feast this year, picking up names at each stop, and now it lives at Trail Feast HQ in Liberty Lake, Washington.
In their words
"Everyone was totally chill and just cool to hang out with, even though they were strangers when we first came in. So welcoming. The atmosphere was unbelievable." — Forest and Nina Higgins, Spokane
"This was definitely the highlight of my 2026. Can't wait for 2027 to do it again." — Taylor Guglielmino
The film
Carlos Antwuan of CA Films spent the weekend behind the camera and caught the parts we were too busy cooking to see.
