Ever wondered what it's like to bond with nature and the community through hunting and fishing? Let's embark on a journey that stitches together the fabric of outdoor Texas, from the reflection on the hunting seasons to the anticipation of the upland season's close in February. Our boots may be dusty, but our spirits are high on inspiration from outdoor champions like TURTLEBOX, who make our adventures unforgettable. And there's a special place in our hearts for the transformative experiences of Black Outside's youth at Spokehollow Ranch, reminding us of the power of the great outdoors to shape futures.
As we swap stories from the field, grab your notepad for the lowdown on getting started with hunting—dove hunting, to be precise. It's the perfect mingle of sport and camaraderie for rookies, and we're not shy about spilling the beans on the essentials, like safety courses and clay range practice. But it's not all guns and game; we're also casting lines into the latest conservation currents. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is making waves with new river access points, and we're here to help map out your next fishing or boating excursion on the Brazos and Colorado Rivers.
Then, there's the entrepreneurial climb of Sam Nelson from Bar You Eat, who joins us to unpack the peaks and valleys of turning a snack bar dream into a delectable reality. Sam's tale is a recipe for persistence coated in sustainable packaging, from kitchen rentals to farmers' markets, and even a dash of love from his fiancée Olivia. So, buckle up for a ride through landscapes, laughter, and the love of local cultures.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Hunters of Color, Jam, Jimmy, Lydia
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife
US Fish and Wildlife Services
Find Josh on Instagram or Twitter.
Presented by:
Spoke Hollow Outdoors - find them on Instagram or Facebook.
For more great BunkHaus content, check out:
BunkHausPodcast.com | Youtube | Instagram
Ever wondered what it's like to bond with nature and the community through hunting and fishing? Let's embark on a journey that stitches together the fabric of outdoor Texas, from the reflection on the hunting seasons to the anticipation of the upland season's close in February. Our boots may be dusty, but our spirits are high on inspiration from outdoor champions like TURTLEBOX, who make our adventures unforgettable. And there's a special place in our hearts for the transformative experiences of Black Outside's youth at Spokehollow Ranch, reminding us of the power of the great outdoors to shape futures.
As we swap stories from the field, grab your notepad for the lowdown on getting started with hunting—dove hunting, to be precise. It's the perfect mingle of sport and camaraderie for rookies, and we're not shy about spilling the beans on the essentials, like safety courses and clay range practice. But it's not all guns and game; we're also casting lines into the latest conservation currents. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is making waves with new river access points, and we're here to help map out your next fishing or boating excursion on the Brazos and Colorado Rivers.
Then, there's the entrepreneurial climb of Sam Nelson from Bar You Eat, who joins us to unpack the peaks and valleys of turning a snack bar dream into a delectable reality. Sam's tale is a recipe for persistence coated in sustainable packaging, from kitchen rentals to farmers' markets, and even a dash of love from his fiancée Olivia. So, buckle up for a ride through landscapes, laughter, and the love of local cultures.
Also mentioned in this episode:
Hunters of Color, Jam, Jimmy, Lydia
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife
US Fish and Wildlife Services
Find Josh on Instagram or Twitter.
Presented by:
Spoke Hollow Outdoors - find them on Instagram or Facebook.
For more great BunkHaus content, check out:
BunkHausPodcast.com | Youtube | Instagram
Hey, just that slow, simple Texas, where it's like you underestimate them. But there are two steps ahead of you.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the Bunkhouse podcast broadcasting from the confluence of outdoor recreation and nature connectivity. I'm your host, josh Crumpton, founder of Spokalo Outdoors and the Los Avajos Food Truck. My life as a rancher, guide, foodie and conservationist has provided the opportunity to meet some really great people. The Bunkhouse is where we get to introduce them to you. Here we are, episode number 16 and it's the new year. The holidays have passed us by. Hopefully, you all celebrated them with loved ones and told stories over tables full of wild game. The beginning of the year can be bittersweet for many whitetail hunters in the north zone of Texas, because the season is coming to an end. If you're in the south zone, you've got a little bit more time, but it's still right around the corner. Either way, as you go through the motions of cleaning and putting away y'all's gear, I encourage you to reflect on the season gone by and start planning for the season to come. Oh and, by the way, the upland season in Texas is still rolling strong until the end of February, so call a friend with a dog and get out there. I want to take a moment for a couple of shout outs. Edgar Diaz over at Sightline Provisions looks like you guys had a great year. I loved seeing all the cool Colabs and all the great new products. If you don't know Sightline, you should McGow Jam. Here's to you becoming Texas Hunters' color ambassador. Jimmy Lydia, you had a great pick on that one. The Turtle Boys and Turtle Gows at Turtle Box, that Mossy Oak Colab, muay Caliente you guys are taking the world by storm and it's a blast to watch. To all the dove hunters who got into them during the second dove season, that secret dove season, good on you. And of course I want to send a little bit of love to the duck hunters hitting all those early mornings, as duck hunting is still rolling along. And finally, here's a special shout out to all my exes that don't live in Texas. It's very considerate to not force me to hang my hat in Tennessee.
Speaker 2:Later in this episode we visit with my good friend Sam Nelson from the one and only Bar you Eat. But first let's check in on some Spokalo updates. We're deep in the upland season of Wembley. January is just about sold out because we're off site for most of the month. If you want to catch up with us, your best bet is to come out west where we'll be hunting mule deer and flushing them scalies at our far west outpost Can't make it there. Don't fret, we're back in Wembley for February and if you get on it you could snag a spot before the season comes to an end.
Speaker 2:Fishing on the Guadalupe River is in full effect and we're running rafts for those Texas sized trout. Take a ride, give us a call or jump over to wwwhookandfieldcom to get your trip booked. In late summer our pal Chef Bijou Thomas visited Wembley and we gave him the whole enchilada of a hill country tour. You can join us as we take him fishing, foraging, cooking and dining around the hill country by checking out episode number five on his new show A Road Less Eatin' airing on select cable providers, roku and outside. Watch what's happenin' over at Los Savaje Food Truck.
Speaker 2:Last week I stopped by my food truck at Desert D'Or Distillery for my weekly hamburger, gaysa, and overheard a rumor that someone found an extra stash of a little gem known as the Driftwood Cowboy. You might be wondering what a Driftwood Cowboy is. A Driftwood Cowboy is a special bottling of Sotole aged in a set of barrels hand selected by Garrison Brothers Master Distiller and used to create the Garrison Brothers uncut, unfiltered cowboy bourbon. These barrels add unique notes to the Desert D'Or flavor profile, resulting in a rich, vibrant, so-toll bursting with caramel, vanilla molasses and baking spice. But back to my burger. I'm not sure if y'all have heard, but Los Savaje serves up one of the best burgers in the hill country. This smashed-out burger comprises of two Nalgai, antelope and bacon, blended patties, melted queso americana, escobeche onions and sauce a special all resting between two sesame buns.
Speaker 2:Yeah like I said before, you should probably be on your way over there to get one right now by pocking the outdoors. What's going on over there? Black Outside visited Spokala Ranches past week. They're on a mission to expand outdoor programming for the Black Youth in Central Texas, seeking to diversify the outdoors and cultivate a new generation of participants and leaders. They achieved their mission through three primary programs. The CR Bloom Project focuses on providing healing justice for youth impacted by incarceration. Camp Founder Girls, america's first historically black summer camp for girls, provides an immersive week-long overnight camp centered on bravery, confidence, creativity and strength. Finally, brothers With Land is a program focused on connecting black boys to the power of the outdoors through leadership, healing and mentorship.
Speaker 2:Founder Alex Bailey and program director Thurman Hogan brought nine young men from Brothers With Land to get connected with nature here at Spokalo and we spent the afternoon hiking and learning to fly fish. Let's check in with Alex to learn a little bit more. Hello Alex, how's it going, man? It was good. How are you doing? I'm doing great. I was calling to check in with you. It was awesome having you and the kids out last week.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it was a beautiful experience. I mean weather was perfect, it's lots of laughter, lots of joy, lots of pictures. So it was, it was an amazing experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that the program I was telling people this is brothers with the land that came to visit the ranch right.
Speaker 4:Yes, yes, one of our three programs for black outside.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so tell me about, tell me about black outside, like what, what was the impetus for you starting that?
Speaker 4:Yeah, it started back in my was in college. I was actually a summer camp counselor, worked at a pretty, a Fluid camp in the Northeast and I loved my experience there, but I left there yearning in which he was more diversity. I wish more black and African-american. You could experience the magic of summer camp. So fast forward, after spending about seven years in the education system, finally just realized like we need to create the program that I was envisioning, right, and so that's where black outside came to be. The name is actually a lot of people don't have it Called this, but the name is actually a play on words, kind of like back outside the black outside. And yeah, and I really believe, given the history of black people in the United States, we've been outside the buffalo soldiers, harriet Tubman, even Dr Martin Luther King was actually a huge outdoorsman. If you listen to his features, that makes sense, and so, knowing that, I really want to honor that legacy and create a program that Really cultivated a unique experience for black youth in the outdoors.
Speaker 2:How long ago did you establish the program?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so I got together with some community educators and leaders in 2019 and so we're kind of a toddler program.
Speaker 2:Some folks have taught us still growing Well, that's a fantastic place to be, because that just means that you have an entire future ahead of you to make it yes something that is big, beyond big was brothers with the land. Part of the original Program, because there's three programs I was telling people on the show CR Bloom came found a girls and brothers with the land with, where they all three Founded at the same time underneath black outside.
Speaker 4:That's a great question. So there's a kind of funny quick coincidence of that. So when I started black outside or we started, like I said, our community I originally my first vision was like I want to start a camp for boys. Right, I was like I want to do this. And then, as we were emerging, we learned a story about camp founder girls, the first summer camp for black girls, which started in our home city of San Antonio in 1924. So when we heard about it, my one of my co-founders, I was like we got a Director's, we got to bring this back to life. So we focused our energy, our resources and creating this camp for black girls.
Speaker 4:Then, along the way that summer, that same summer, I met this amazing black woman named camber, who's from San Antonio, and she wanted to start a program to honor the life and legacy of her younger cousin, charles roundtree, who unfortunately was killed in the police shooting at a very young age and had this whole vision called the blue project for youth impacted by incarceration. So we partnered there and I was like would you, you know, have the honor of being kind of part of this black outside Collective that's emerging? And so all that to say brothers with the land was kind of put on the back burner until about Summer of 2021, when we really got a another group of boys together for our first camping trip. We think I will add, though, our first actual trip for black outside was a group of boys, but we just didn't really need it. It was just kind of a pilot experience, and so it's kind of full circle that you know like our last program that kind of emerged Was again our black boys, and that became brothers with the land later on.
Speaker 2:It's great being out there with the kids and you know these young men. This is my second year because I, you know, had the honor of being able to fish with you guys last year Out at Camp Capers and then this year being able to have you guys here at my ranch at Spokalo. There's really a fantastic Experience yes tell me how fly fishing came to integrate into the program and sort of what it is. What's your objective when you go out on an outing, like we Participated in the other day?
Speaker 4:you know it's wild. Going back to our boys, they had visit for a while during camping trips oh, we'd love to go fishing. And I was like, yeah, we'll try to make that happen. And it started with myself. I was out of outdoor conference, met some brothers and these brothers walked up to me and they're like, hey, you want to go fly fishing? It was like sure, I've never been, I never experienced that and you can relate to this, josh, that first time I put on waders and just felt the water like rushing along my legs, like it was that moment I was like, oh, our kids got a experience this right. And I was like, even though I don't even know how to fly fish, I got to figure out a way and so kind of came back, wrote down some plans and later that the group of brothers that I so went fly fishing with later became the film black waters, which I became a part of. So I became part of the supply fishing team because of that experience.
Speaker 4:But certainly back to black outside, when I felt that water against my legs and just the feeling of waders I wanted, are you to experience that? And so I worked for about six to eight months with some Partners to get the gear and everything ready. And then we crossed paths and I was like all right, let's do it. I think I could bring in the instructors to make this happen. And it was a winter of 2022, the experience that you have. That was our first fly fishing outing and it was a huge success for the board. They really enjoyed it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the biggest. You know what I think the biggest problem with it is? I Want more time. I want to be able to do it like three days in a row.
Speaker 4:Yeah, for sure.
Speaker 2:So do you plan on incorporating fly fishing or have you incorporated into any of the outings, like in Colorado or the camping trips that you guys have done?
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's a great question. So actually it's funny our girls Are saw like pictures of the boys live fishing and they're like how do we have it then? So they were kind of frustrated about that. So in April we're gonna, they're gonna go down there like kayaking out the River Bay. It's all I can say. We definitely want to start weaving it in. We've, like, really explored in the next year, even, bring you fly fishing Maybe it's a big then potentially for an opportunity, right, or just leaving into some of our traditional camping trips, we can bring that gear out there and just, you know, camp out either car camping or even like backpacking in primitive camping, depending on the location, to do some fly fishing Out there. So all that to say, I think we're now we see like the levels and you can take this and our kids and our youth and our team are really excited.
Speaker 2:Well, we're 100% here to help Incorporate fly fishing and whatever kind of deep level nature connectivity we can offer for you guys. You know it's an open gate and I appreciate you taking the time to visit with me and I appreciate you for Sharing the space and your program with us.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it was an honor. It was an honor to you. You know we believe in connecting to the land right and it was an honor to connect to the land alongside you was just such a beautiful day.
Speaker 2:Right on. Can't wait to see you out here next time. Thanks, yes.
Speaker 2:You've got mail. Jeff from Austin, texas, asks what do you recommend for my first hunting experience? Well, jeff, I'm a little partial to shotgunning. I recommend dove hunting, and here's why. Dove hunting is the first season to open in Texas and it's incredibly social, a lot of fun. You get to get out into the field, you spend time with loved ones Typically it's punctuated with a fantastic meal at the end. The pressure is pretty low and the shot opportunities can be fantastic. On top of that, when cleaning dove, they're not as bloody as, say, processing an entire deer. The opportunities are pretty easy to find and low cost. Shotgun shells are cheap and and buying an introductory shotgun can be something that doesn't have to break the bank as well. I would, however, recommend that you do a couple of things. One is be sure to take a hunter safety course. Even though you can defer for one year when hunting With someone who has taken a course, I recommend you go ahead and take the course. It doesn't take long and it sets you off on the right path. I Would also recommend that you try to get out to a clay range, I'd say about three months before season. Try to go to a range once a week or every other week, for a total of maybe 6 to 12 visits to the clay range and shoot like a box of shells each time you go, because, though the opportunities are easy for finding dove, hitting one is a whole nother story.
Speaker 2:Let's take a peek at what's coming across my news feed, a couple of key things that recently caught my eye. So here we go with in the news CWD in Kentucky. On December 7th, kentucky found its first ever case of chronic wasting disease when a whitetail hunter in Ballard County Submitted tissue from a two and a half year old buck. This finding, of course, has significant implications for Kentucky, but is no surprise to anyone watching this video. According to Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Rich Storm, though they had hoped the day would never come, their team of experts first developed a CWD response plan more than 20 years ago and has been enhancing Through the years using the best available science. What is CWD, otherwise known as chronic wasting disease? This is a disease found in some deer, elk and moose populations. Cwd is a disease that is known as chronic wasting disease. Found in some deer, elk and moose populations. Cwd damages portions of the brain and typically causes progressive loss of body condition, behavioral changes, excessive salivation and eventually death. Cwd is among one of the largest threats to the US deer population, an owl culled down in the northwest.
Speaker 2:According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, spotted owls in the Pacific Northwest are facing a population decline. One significant threat to the spotted owl is the presence of the non-native barred owl, which, since around the 1950s, has been expanding its range into the Pacific Northwest. These barred owls are out competing the spotted owl for food and nesting areas, therefore diminishing the population. The solution Blast some barred owls. I'm joking. Well, maybe I'm not. Us Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed shooting 500,000 barred owls over the next three decades, representing about 30% of the Northwest population. Does this mean open season on barred owls? I think not. Under the current proposal, land managers must petition the US Fish and Wildlife Service to let them remove the owls under the agency's protocol, training specifications and permit While at work. In four study areas in Oregon, washington and Northern California, killing barred owls brought spotted owls to almost stable populations, whereas in neighboring control populations spotted owls continued to decline by 12%. This study and its efforts are a great example of using one of Aldo Leopold's five tools of conservation the often overlooked gun.
Speaker 2:Let's talk Texas. In a rapidly urbanizing state with limited public lands, gaining access to the outdoors can take time and effort. Texas Parks and Wildlife Department works with private landowners to solve the problem by signing lease agreements allowing public river access across private lands. The effort is entitled River Access and Conservation Area Program and leases open these areas for fishing and launching non-motorized boats like kayaks and canoes. Recently, texas Parks and Wildlife signed on four essential properties that interest me.
Speaker 2:The Brazos River was called Rio de los Brazos de Dios by the Spaniards, which translates to the River of the Arms of God, and it's easy to see why they would have called it that. The Brazos is America's 14th longest river, coming in at 860 miles. If you think that's impressive, get this. The watershed extends a whopping 1,280 miles, stretching from the headwaters on Blackwater Draw near Clovis, new Mexico, down to the Texas Gulf. Tpwd is up the game on the Brazos by adding two new access points, one at Fullers Folly River Ranch and another downstream near Weatherford, texas, at Sandy Bottoms River Company, creating a 4.1 mile float just 45 minutes from Fort Worth. This float should provide a great day of fishing for bass, drum cat and sunfish species. So load up, roll out and get wild on the Brazos. If you think the Brazos is impressive, check this out.
Speaker 2:The Colorado River with its 862 river miles is the 11th longest river in America. But this river is particularly special to Texans because its source and mouth are both located inside the great state of Texas, making it the longest river in Texas. A fun fact about the Colorado River is early Europeans often confused it with the Brazos. When Francisco Jovacas de Coronado first encountered these rivers, he named the Brazos Colorado and the Colorado the Brazos. Later the river names were swapped, making the Colorado the Brazos and the Brazos the Colorado. Pretty confusing, right. But I can tell you what's clear. The new access point near Bastrop is called the Horseshoe, and it's pretty awesome. What's so cool about the Horseshoe is that it opens up two new Colorado river floats. One is 7.4 miles and starts upstream at Big Weberbell Park, and the second is 6.8 miles, headed downstream to Uteley, boat, rap. And finally, let's talk.
Speaker 2:Texas trout Anglers have a fantastic opportunity for rainbow trout fishing at Camp Oueco Springs on the Guadalupe River. This little spot between New Bromphills and Sattler offers nearly half a mile of accessible river bank, distinguished by alternating pools and riffles, and it'll be open until March 2nd. Remember, thanks to Texas Parks and Wildlife River Access and Conservation Area Program, all these access points are no fee and free to everyone. As I said earlier, sam Nelson SK the Bogan, my compadre from another madre and founder of Bar U Eat, visited the ranch. This guy is the real deal mountain man, river rat, global adventurer and entrepreneur. I've known Sam for a while now. I've enjoyed watching him grow his business and he has, in turn, been cheering as we build out the Spokalo universe.
Speaker 2:We talked about Sam's journey into the world of hunting and fishing back in Bonkhouse, episode Number 5. This time we're joined by Chris Cantrell as we discuss Colorado van life and dive a little bit deeper into Bar U Eat. Grab a glass, pour a strong one, kick back and, as always, let's get this thing started. Sam Nelson Bogan, sam the Bogan, it's good to have you here.
Speaker 1:I wish I could say the same thing.
Speaker 2:So, sam, living in Steamboat, colorado, did you have to buy a Subaru before you moved to Colorado?
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I did have to buy a Subaru beforehand. Strew cred is important to me.
Speaker 3:I feel like a Tacoma gives you more credit, bro, that's a big Subaru.
Speaker 1:I wasn't ready for the big Subaru. Gotta start small.
Speaker 2:No, he's got that now, don't you have that?
Speaker 1:now I have a Tacoma now.
Speaker 3:I always had the poor man's Tacoma for years. What's that? The Nissan Frontier? Oh nice, I thought you were going to say Subaru.
Speaker 1:Outback.
Speaker 2:No.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, nissan Frontier.
Speaker 2:That is the poor version of it. Poor man's Tacoma.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:I feel like you're pretty much not allowed to live in Colorado.
Speaker 3:Yeah, things attached to your car have to be worth double the price of your car.
Speaker 1:That is the rule Minimum yeah.
Speaker 2:Sam and I have been over at Los Avajos at the food truck a bunch this week. He came to record podcasts and work on some collaborative stuff and we just hung out at Desert Door and ate food instead.
Speaker 1:Is food truck life like van life? Is food truck life like van life, you know you got the food truck and van life and you've got your home and a restaurant Like today.
Speaker 2:Well, I don't know. Here's what I'm going to say. First of all, we've got two experts on van life here. One you're from Colorado, so obviously you're an expert. Chris is full time. Rver Matthew's stumbling around somewhere in the kitchen.
Speaker 3:Or RVers that's a stretch.
Speaker 2:I guess it's not an RVer. He's full time homeless. It's a 40 year old truck camper.
Speaker 4:RV makes it sound flavorous.
Speaker 3:Like, oh, you're in an air stream. No, I'm in a 1984 six pack standard cab over truck camper.
Speaker 1:Say it slower. With two dogs, can you say that slower?
Speaker 3:1984 six pack standard Deeper Cab over truck bed camper Did you all feel that. I bought it for $800 off.
Speaker 2:I'm not even going to ask.
Speaker 1:How many followers do you have? None, you should have a lot. That is so hard van life.
Speaker 3:I don't, I don't, I'm not. Nobody wants to see this on, only fans, so that's why I don't have any.
Speaker 1:I would see it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I might pay. I might, but I don't have to, I just go down in the business of giving refunds. You know van life. It's funny Like you don't hear as much about van life anymore, but for a while that was like hashtag van life. I'm just going to go out and live my best life out there and be free, and this is great, I think.
Speaker 1:I think I might know why the food truck thing feels normal to you, though? Because didn't you start van life? I didn't Aren't you the originator.
Speaker 3:I don't want to talk about that. A van life.
Speaker 1:I heard that before. When I get into people made van life cool, you were making it uncool. What was that like? I need to hear a lot of time van lifeing.
Speaker 2:But no, those are I really. I had to do some very tawdry things back in those days.
Speaker 1:Come on, give us like one little taste of Josh's early van life, before he got food truck.
Speaker 2:I will tell you that when I was, when I, when I lived in an RV, like that was and traveled, that was some of the most fun times of my life. Like I got eventually I kind of like stopped in New Braunfels, texas, and I lived by the river like a van, down by the river, as much like, and I just woke up every morning and swam, like I think that that's the deal with van life and like I want to make fun of van life as much as possible, but I can't because, like the idea is that like the, the, the bad ass part of it is. It's like this freedom and freedom being the outdoors and freedom to travel and the idea that you just pick up and leave wherever and go wherever you want.
Speaker 3:It's in my genes. My dad van lifeed it back in the 70s.
Speaker 1:Did you know that before you got into the camper?
Speaker 3:Yeah, well, he was back in the 70s when he was like doing rodeo and construction and stuff. He had like an old van and he's like I'd travel around and do construction and rodeos and then he might be upgraded to a truck with a camper on it, but not a cab over, just like a, like a tall camper, shell, and he lived in that for a while. I love the life he was like all right, my kids into this. What did I do wrong?
Speaker 2:That camper shell. Life is awesome.
Speaker 3:But he was like his was a camper but just didn't have the cab over component.
Speaker 2:Yeah, oh it was. It was a camper like. It wasn't like a camper shell, it was like it was a camp bed, like he had a bed like well, it's all the same, because I almost bought one like it, but it's yeah.
Speaker 3:So basically it's got the two benches.
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's just turned into the bed.
Speaker 3:But there's a stove and an ice box.
Speaker 2:They didn't have the dramatic critters back then.
Speaker 3:But, so yeah, it's got that wild like old, kind of the same sighting like your RV, yeah we very much so, yeah, yeah, he rocked that for a while, probably years, because he would travel for work and rodeos, and so that's how we roll. I don't know why he ever questioned why I do things.
Speaker 1:Where do you think I got it from?
Speaker 3:It's in my dad, he's like damn it.
Speaker 2:Sam, you've um. He started a bar company.
Speaker 1:Yeah, don't you have a tagline for it? What's our tagline?
Speaker 2:Oh well, they're handmade, right yeah they're handmade, all handmade. All handmade, I know I think I really do think you should use a bar. You eat it's a hand job, I mean For your mouth. That's too much. You can't fit that on the package. Why did you start making these bars? I do want to know. People might give never mind, I don't give a shit, I'm just kidding. Tell me.
Speaker 1:No, tell me If I start talking. Are you guys not me again? All right, Bar you eat. I used to be a guide in Iceland. I mentioned that before.
Speaker 1:I think people followed you? Huh, people followed you. They did. I wasn't quite sure why, though, because I had no idea what I was doing. It was very clear I was under qualified to be guiding people. At one point, someone even told me I was possibly the worst guide ever. I didn't come very prepared. I didn't bring water or snacks or anything. Is that why you started making bars? No, the cafe we partnered with had bars, and people were like you should be bringing these. I know you're right, they're the best. Did you not like their bars? They were the best. Is that why you ripped off the recipe? I tried? They wouldn't give me the recipe, but so you just reproduced it.
Speaker 3:I didn't try to start a bar company.
Speaker 1:but I was leaving I was like, can I have the?
Speaker 2:recipe Is this cafe suing you?
Speaker 1:No, our bars are quite different. But you stole them from them? I didn't. I was inspired. Their bars are so good. They had these rhubarb seed bars Phenomenal, like best snack bar you've ever had, I told one of my teachers.
Speaker 2:I was inspired by the other students writing when I stole their paper.
Speaker 1:I didn't copy it, I was just inspired.
Speaker 2:They're like. We saw this paper last year I was like, yeah, I was inspired by it.
Speaker 1:It's beautiful, like an artist.
Speaker 2:Look, it's different. It has your artist.
Speaker 1:It has my name on it. You're so abstract. It says bar you eat. Well, I was not inspired, but I thought making bars might be cool. I moved back to the States and I was like by the divine hand, yeah, a higher power, higher power really Pushed me to do that. No, I was just making. I had coached sports and liked nutrition. I liked an active lifestyle. I wanted a different snack. There wasn't a good bar out there in the US and I was back in Colorado.
Speaker 3:There still really isn't Well there's bar you eat. There's bar you eat. Yeah, way to support your friend.
Speaker 1:Don't be an asshole. There's bar you eat. Did I interrupt you? No, ok, go ahead.
Speaker 2:But you started, when you started making them, you had like a bike route, didn't you? It was like you kind of biked around and handed them out.
Speaker 1:No, I worked at a paddleboard shop and so we just did stand up paddleboard rentals for the river and I had a mason jar and just a little side hustle my childhood best friend, Jason. He's always been artistic and creative, so I kind of just continued to ask him for favors. Can I get a design? Can I get a logo? Can I get a poster?
Speaker 2:I asked him you sold them in?
Speaker 1:bags. At that time, right, People came and brought their own reusable bags, their own Tupperware. They love that there weren't. There wasn't plastic packaging. They like the texture, the ingredients, they're just.
Speaker 2:They're really simple, Seriously you guys did start from renting a kitchen making bars to now.
Speaker 1:Got our own facility Team helping us out.
Speaker 2:What was that process like? How did you get the facility? How did you make all that happen? Because it took you a long time.
Speaker 1:It took time and I would say that we didn't really have a hard plan to really know what we're doing, just kind of wanted to see if it would gain traction, if people liked it, from those early days of just making them late night and building momentum. It involved a lot of farmers markets going out and sampling, just cold calling, going door to door, trying to get our bars into places, and, yeah, people were really into it. It started off as a bad user experience. We've always used compostable packaging. We started the Mason jar. People valued that and we learned that, although the user experience was not great, people were buying them. They liked the product.
Speaker 1:So it took us some time but eventually we got the calm tea bags and you got these. You know, like a literal tea bag, the bag that your tea comes in, sealed on three sides. That's what we got for our first bar rappers, and so hand feeding those bars into those rappers you're talking like he'd be doing thousands of bars a day. We've been doing fundraising and trying to get some help behind us to back it up. The idea, product, the story, really just selling. You wrote grants though. Right, we've been recipients of some grants. We've been recipients of some business loans.
Speaker 2:What was that like? I mean so had you written grants before Did?
Speaker 1:No, no, I've not written grants before.
Speaker 2:Did you write?
Speaker 1:these grants. Those first couple did write. We got a lot of help. We've got a great network of people who help out, from my partner Olivia, to other things.
Speaker 2:She's your fiance. She is my fiance. You're getting married. She's your fiance.
Speaker 1:We are one, say it Future wife, future wife.
Speaker 2:Have you said that before? Yes, when.
Speaker 1:It's my preference over fiance. I just don't think I'm fancy enough to say fiance.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you sound dumb when you say it. You should say future wife.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, it's a weird word.
Speaker 2:It was impressive watching you go through a grant writing process, and even before, I think, you had approached investors, you were already kind of going through the grant writing process, right? Or was that the same time?
Speaker 1:Grant running started off. We're in Northwest Colorado. It is a ski town but it's rural Colorado. It's cold country, so there's a lot of opportunities for business and industry to come about. So we had a lot of help from individuals in our community and from state trying to encourage business and growth. Yeah, I wish I could give you a more exciting story behind it, but just a really supportive community that allowed us this opportunity and still grind away. It's cool, steamboat Springs. A lot of entrepreneurship out of there For this little town. It's got I mean for us coming up there. You've got companies like Big Agnes, honey Stinger, smartwool, hall of Paddleboards, moods Bikes. It's impressive the companies that have been started and grown. Fishpond's officially there. Now Fishpond is now in Steamboat. Eagle Creek is now in Steamboat.
Speaker 2:It's a great place to be. It's close to Denver.
Speaker 1:But not too close, about three hours from Denver.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but it's close enough that you can go get to the airport relatively easy. And we're right by the airport. It's really cool. How far is it from Boulder?
Speaker 1:Four hours from Boulder. Yeah, it's pronounced Boulder.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Boulder.
Speaker 2:Boulder, boulder.
Speaker 1:Boulder. Boulder it's kind of like fiance.
Speaker 2:I live in Boulder. Yeah, I'm really like I'm feeling.
Speaker 1:I love Boulder.
Speaker 2:I really, like you know, I'm a straight up local. I've been here for like six months.
Speaker 1:Can't trust your face. Ok, Bold guard.
Speaker 3:I am.
Speaker 2:I'm a Colorado native and I can't stand this. Yeah, cantor, I was living in Ridgeway at one point in time. That place has changed.
Speaker 1:I love it too it's cool, I still love it.
Speaker 3:Current iteration I just can't afford it. Can't afford it. Average home in your eight counties $900,000.
Speaker 1:What kind of people used to visit your Ridgeway?
Speaker 2:Nobody, Nobody, yeah no, it was like where you stopped for gas.
Speaker 3:Yeah, like a lot of people still don't know, texans know you right, because it's got like Jeep trails and Mm hmm, yeah, jeep trails, texans love to do that in the summer.
Speaker 3:They like Jeep trails, we like Jeep and I asked people a lot and they're like, oh, ridgeway, where's that? And I'm like you know where your is. And they're like, ooh, ray, yeah, I know where Ray is, ray, and just for everyone out there, it's your right. And I'm like you know, if you go about 10 miles north, there's a stoplight on your way to Montrose Like, yeah, I'm like that's Ridgeway and that was that. Nobody visits. Nobody visited, like good, just people in the town. It's different, that's happening everywhere.
Speaker 1:I didn't even live in Wimberley but I visited Wimberley enough and hung out here enough with Josh and the fam that I could go into town get a sandwich, get a beer and by the end of the month I knew everyone, everyone knew me. I come back six months later and they still knew you. It was crazy. Wimberley was a small town.
Speaker 2:Small towns are rapidly changing. It's my childhood memories of Ridgeway. My grandfather had a ranch there when I was like eight. After he sold a lot of the property had an entire ride, he went down to Ridgeway. He was going away from the hippies. It's like I got too many fucking hippies in it. I'm moving out of here. I remember when he first went to tell you I was in the 40s and when they went up there it was like people would say, oh, the Texans are coming to town and their Texas week was my grandfather coming to town with the family. Nobody was vacationing there. It was not a vacation destination. The ski area wasn't even a thing. None of the ski folk town folk had lived there. It was coming off of being a mining town. The Box Canyon.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but he loved it for jeepin. He liked to go up there and go jeepin and he would go jeepin and they went into Tomboy and like they had to clear the roads up to Tomboy Mine and when they got up there the mine had been shut down and all of the furniture was in a big pile out in the center of the thing and nobody had gone up there at that point in time. But what's interesting is is like, as communities change and evolve, what I will say to the credit of the town that you live in, sam Steamboat, is you guys are that community is pushing back and is at least drawing some lines, and it's it's making room for small companies like yourself, small local businesses to be there that are locally owned, locally operated, locally founded. As an outsider, I see that as being the case. Is that really?
Speaker 1:how it is, I think I think so. It's hard in any ski town. We there's certainly some pushback. But the things that drew me from the first place, not many towns have it but although it's a tourist town Steamboat, then Crest, subute is another one of them Genuine community you like, loves, like Steamboat, loves Steamboat.
Speaker 1:Whether it was someone who lived there full time, had a second home or just visited you could tell that much. That stood out to me over anything on the I-70 corridor, from the veils to the Breckenridge's. Like Steamboat had community culture and love for it, and so there's a lot that's happened in the past as far as short term rentals, second home owners that have kind of created a riff and a divide. But the root of Steamboat is definitely trying their best to keep locals there, get families to start there, grow there, work locally. It's not a town that we have tourism. Tourism is a critical part of the community but we're not 100% dependent on it. I listed off all those businesses like good paying jobs in those town, cool businesses to work for. So Steamboat's trying to fight back, the community is trying to fight back. Just represent those individuals working hard, living there full time, whether they are working in tourism, hospitality, restaurant or working for these local businesses.
Speaker 2:Well, you guys have a lot of space.
Speaker 1:We do.
Speaker 2:That's the versus, like an Aspen veil.
Speaker 1:We want to keep that space, though that's the tough thing in a mountain town is. I go on a hike in town and I love getting up there and like seeing our little downtown, seeing a bunch of open space, seeing the ranches all around us and the ski hill, Like I love that open space. So I'm not pro development. I know development is inevitable to a certain degree and I'm. I want people who work in Steamboat to be able to live in Steamboat and it's a fine. It's a tough dance to make that happen. Are you running for mayor? Absolutely not.
Speaker 2:You sound like you're running for mayor. No, no, I just city council. No, no, no, that's development council. No, no, that's not Daddy development committee.
Speaker 1:I applaud all those people who do it. County clerk here's, here's why I care. I have a business there. I want to own a home there. I want my employees to be able to own a home there and work there.
Speaker 2:You're never going to own a home there. They're too expensive.
Speaker 1:That's how it feels. Don't tell Olivia that she's going to make me leave. Just where are you going to?
Speaker 2:I don't know a van oh, fucking van life. Dude, there you go, I'm in. Olivia wants to do van life.
Speaker 1:Dude, we can have a van life caravan. Come on. I'm always there. He's like I'm already in.
Speaker 3:I live in one right now Like it's not a giant leap for me.
Speaker 1:Like get off my bandwagon. All right, I like, I like truck camper life.
Speaker 3:Truck camper. Life is way cooler than van life.
Speaker 2:Fuck, yeah, it is Like you got a truck, yeah.
Speaker 1:First one you got a truck.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I have a Tacoma. Let me just reiterate I went from the Subaru to the Tacoma. I got a hard shell there, so I do sleep in the back of my truck. If we're looking for street cred.
Speaker 2:It's so.
Speaker 1:Colorado.
Speaker 3:Thank you. No, like if he was drinking the hardcore Kool-Aid, he'd have one of those overland systems.
Speaker 1:He would Car camping, that's all. Overlanding is his car camping, I know so, but like way more expensive, way more expensive. Yeti forever changed the world.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeti.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Seriously. I mean they told the world that, like all the things we know, we can make better, charge way more than they should be charged and because of lifestyle, mm. Hmm, people will buy it. Mm hmm, mm, hmm, yeah. Yeah, you think I can do that with bar you eat, like right now. You can buy bar you eat for $3, but if we made it a lifestyle brand, you think people buy our bars for eight bucks seven.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like the bar I need to make them heavier, the bar of overlanding you need to call them artisanal.
Speaker 3:Overlanding bar scratch made artisanal Energy supplements. That's a different market.
Speaker 2:That's not. That's not the overland market, but that's a whole nother market. So no, if you, if you want to go overlanding you got to make them lighter. Yeah, you gotta make them all.
Speaker 1:I gotta make them really light, am I gonna?
Speaker 2:It's just the bag. Yeah, it's just the bed. We've condensed them into a pill form. It's an almond.
Speaker 1:Oh yeah, it's a long almond. Yeah, it's a little deceptive. You're like it's an almond. No, no, no, it's a bar, it's an almond bar for overlanding.
Speaker 3:It's an ultra light over like.
Speaker 1:There is four calories.
Speaker 2:I actually forget it. Like just make a hand-selected almonds Like we. I mean I sifted, we sift through a thousand almonds a day and find the almond that is the lightest, most calorie dense almond.
Speaker 1:I think we gotta add welding into the mix. How can we incorporate our welding ability?
Speaker 3:You could put it in like you could put it in a back to your reusable Containers.
Speaker 2:No, you put them in little carbon containers. So there it's like a little.
Speaker 1:Carbon fiber we're gonna go the we're gonna go the full opposite direction of sustainability in the environment.
Speaker 2:We're going it's a carbon, it's the lightest, strongest almond package that you could possibly take on the trail with you and you can connect them onto your, onto your Molly board, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah. That's the key they're modular and they connect on to your board and they you need to like it's gonna be incorporated into leveling your truck when you're sleeping, Okay so I load 12 bar you eat onto the right side of my car and four onto the left and I find that that gives me the right balance.
Speaker 2:That's what you need on my truck if I can 750 a bar. Yeah well, if I put, if I put three boxes in the back and two in the front, it really smooths out the ride going up the trail. It's a versatile product.
Speaker 1:I really is. I Was like that WF strong story about the rancher who goes to New York and that's a good one, brings his truck in. I'm gonna butcher it. You remember it?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, how does that thing go? That's really a rancher.
Speaker 1:Is from Texas, yeah it comes into this big, expensive bank in New York City with his truck. He's like hey, you know I'm a little little low on cash these days, but I've got this truck fully paid off, $80,000 truck, I'll leave it here. If you could front me the money, I'll leave it with here with good, gives him the whole run, gives him the whole run down in interest. He's like I think that deal worked for me and so gets approved for it. He leaves, he comes back one week later, brings the cash interest, gets his truck back and, gentlemen, he's like I'm, sir, I'm not really supposed to ask this, but I Did some digging while you were gone and you don't need this money.
Speaker 1:Why, you've got land, you've got other vehicles, you got a whole business. Why why'd you do this? He goes oh well, I didn't want to pay $100 to park there at the airport, so I figured I'd just bring in here and leave it with you guys instead. Hey, just that. That's that slow, simple Texas where it's like you underestimate them. But there are two steps ahead of you, are you?
Speaker 2:getting to this good story. So, sam and I I'm taking him to Yellowstone and to Idaho for like a trip and I meet him in Durango, colorado, and I'm like, hey man, this is so perfect, because this is just like. So this is, this is an East Coast guys version of trying to pull a Texan Move in New York. And this is what happens. So the simple Texan pulls his deal off in New York. Well, sam, I meet him and this is before he even knew the Texan move. I meet him and I'm like, hey man.
Speaker 2:So so we met in Durango and he jumped in the car with me and we were ahead of the Yellowstone and we're gonna meet his now partner, good friend of the time, and I don't think this is the first time I met Jason. We're gonna meet Jason Yellowstone. And we were going to Idaho to go fishing and this was the first time I think you'd flyed fished and Jason Yep. But so we get to Durango and I'm like, hey man, we can just go to the end of town and you just park your car, we're gonna be gone about.
Speaker 1:It's like three weeks.
Speaker 2:We can take it to the airport or 10 bucks a day or whatever it was put at the airport. He's like no, no, no, no, no, no, I got an idea. So he goes to this shop and he's like I'm gonna put it in the shop for some work and we're gonna leave. I was just gonna get an oil change, so yeah so he just put his car in the shop, do you mind?
Speaker 1:I'm gonna. I need an oil change. I'm gonna be gone for a couple weeks, is that fine? Yeah, you guys can look. I got these two things. They're like a little wonky, been on the road for a bit, but I just need the oil change. Let me know what you find.
Speaker 2:I just want you to know. At this point in time, I told him this is a dumb idea, brilliant, oh yeah. Yeah, let's play.
Speaker 3:Let's play this out. So what happened next?
Speaker 2:So what happens next? He gets a call and he's like oh, it's the shop. And they're like your oil change is done, and I think they had something to say about the wonky things. And he's like uh-huh, Uh-huh, uh-huh.
Speaker 3:I'm like driving.
Speaker 2:He's like yeah, yeah, yeah, cool, cool, cool, uh, if you could you just look at that. Or, um, yeah, just maybe like give me a quote on that and get back to me.
Speaker 1:I'm just listening to you know sometimes mechanics, they talk really fast, they've got power tools going on behind them. I couldn't hear. Well, I'm like thanks for the oil change. Yeah, check those out for me, let me know what you find. Give me a quote, like just give me posted, but just take a look, yeah this friend, jason like, works on cars.
Speaker 2:He built. He built his own car. Yeah he built a race car. So like Jason's calling, he's like they say I need this and this and just like you don't need that in that.
Speaker 1:He gets another phone call. They're like don't worry, we fixed that thing that we were looking at.
Speaker 2:And they found another problem and he's like we have a cool, call me and give me a quote.
Speaker 1:Let me know, give me a quote, though. Yeah, I'm like pretty much the long story short as we get back. And all the time.
Speaker 2:I'm like dude, this is bad.
Speaker 1:How much did you have to pay? I feel like I spent two grand to park my car.
Speaker 3:Oh my god, how long did you have the Subaru after?
Speaker 1:Afterwards yeah, oh, I had that Subaru probably another Four years, whatever he overpaid for the work that was done.
Speaker 2:It was.
Speaker 1:I mean, I hate to like bring up something. It was a far enough way that we can laugh about this.
Speaker 4:It was gonna cost me $200 to park it.
Speaker 1:I'm just saying like I didn't have to pay that 200 bucks, so you might have got a couple extra years out of that Subaru because of it.
Speaker 3:Oh my god.
Speaker 1:No, no, it was great. It was a great deal. I clearly remember the record show. It was a great default. I clearly remember.
Speaker 2:Jason's say it was not a great deal. I clearly remember Jason saying I could have done that you overpaid this and this didn't need to happen it was almost a great idea.
Speaker 3:It's almost it was a concept.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I mean that I needed the oil change.
Speaker 2:We had a really good trip though we did, we could have gone to like Europe for the amount that you've spent parking your car. Yeah oh, can we do a bar tasting?
Speaker 1:Yeah, where's your? Where's your overlanding rig? There should be underneath tire there.
Speaker 2:Well, the bars are on top of these yeti go boxes right here which are ready to be loaded into my overlanding rig.
Speaker 1:Yes, hungry, always, always. All right, you need a cutting board. No, no, these are just gonna get thrown at you guys have tried them. You can try whichever ones you want. I've never had any of these. Is the first time. Yep, you're full of shit. That's true. We've got four flavors of bar you eat. We have our original. Has almonds, cashews, delicious, comes in a green wrapper. We've got our oatmeal raisin, cinnamon raisin kind of says good morning. It's like a cookie, but without all the bad stuff.
Speaker 2:Is there cinnamon in here? There is cinnamon. Yeah, that really comes through. I get more breakfast and this one's
Speaker 1:my favorite one. I can tell you won't pass it to me. Mm-hmm. Peanuts and cherries is our own little take of a PB and J. This is perfect. I think this might be my favorite one. You know it's tart cherries. And then the coffee pecan. We made this for Texans who visit Colorado. Texas pecans in here, like coffee roast. We love to. We love pecans in Texas, you love Texans in.
Speaker 2:Texas. We love Texans outside of Texas all of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so got these all those at you. There you go.
Speaker 2:I feel like the coffee one to me is got like these sort of rich, dark notes. The pecan you get a little bit of like tannin from the pecans. You get that like nice Coffee, mm-hmm.
Speaker 3:Looks like there's other stuff.
Speaker 2:This one's my favorite one. I.
Speaker 3:Couldn't take them on a favorite honestly. I mean, if I was gonna gun to my head peanut and cherry.
Speaker 2:Why would somebody put a gun?
Speaker 3:to your head for the bar. Yeah, people are weird. Man Say it might do it later. I was gonna tell me a favor, cherry, lay off. It's a bar, it's not a bar. This is my life. Are you eating? This is a bar you eat.
Speaker 1:Where's the name from? It's not just a bar.
Speaker 3:It's a bar. You don't want to talk about the name. It's a story, it's a lifestyle. What kind of bar would you classify these as?
Speaker 1:granola bar. That's a great question, though, because it's a granola bar, it's a granola bar, we've settled on granola bar, and I say that, and I thought it was a snack bar. It was a snack bar. It was a nutrition bar. It was an energy bar. It's it's a granola bar. It's a granola bar. That's what they are. That's what we're calling it, but it can be anything. Honestly, we've decided it's a granola bar.
Speaker 3:You have to have an answer.
Speaker 2:It was my Friday night date. Coffee's a good coffee.
Speaker 1:I mean anything, a little coffee and look.
Speaker 3:I love peanuts.
Speaker 1:Say it fast.
Speaker 3:I just dip and lab.
Speaker 1:You asked about the name. Yeah, bar you eat. Yeah I, we made a bar that you eat, and so I'm a pretty simple, literal guy, like those Texans who are a little bit more clever than you think they are, and that's all it is. Is that where you're going with this? No, no, bar you eat. We have a chairlift, an old two-person chairlift At steamboat resort called bar you E. We're in Texas. You can visualize the cattle brand bar you E, and so Are you have a cattle brand on that lift?
Speaker 1:No, our stickers on there with the cattle brand. You made it, I've made it. Are you making beef bars? Not yet, but that name bar you E that ranch. The Warner family is one of the founding families of steamboat.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I'm a really was their ranch for that founding family of steamboat, and and and it's just a really cool way for us to tie in the history of steamboat from the agriculture to the recreation. Little tip of the hat. Yes, sir, yeah. So bar you E chairlift and then had this bar, literal simple guy. That's my favorite lift.
Speaker 4:How high?
Speaker 2:were you when you came up with that? How, what, how high were you when you came up with that?
Speaker 1:I was about a and were you in your Subaru. Oh no, it's about Somewhere around 9,500 feet up on Mount Warner sitting on bar. You E chairlift, so they say everybody in Colorado is high.
Speaker 2:Sam, thanks for being here, thanks for playing, thanks for bringing bars the stories. Maybe you'll be in steamboat soon. Oh yeah, with the rest of the Texans. Yeah, we're terraforming you guys. You guys know that, right? I just want to be clear. That's why everyone's you know you have water burger. Once the Buckeys is complete, we will be showing up and taking Colorado back.
Speaker 1:It will be suitable for us then well, like guy Clark, I'm gonna adopt the Texan. I've got a passport so I think I'll be safe. I