Unbranded

Four friends embark on a sublime, life-changing adventure. They are to travel on wild mustangs across the American West, from the Mexican to Canadian border through the majestic Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Glacier National Park. On an unprecedented 3,000-mile journey through the most pristine backcountry of the American West, four friends rode horseback across an almost continuous stretch of public lands, border to border, from Mexico to Canada. For their trail horses, they adopted wild mustangs from the US Bureau of Land Management, which were perfectly adapted to the rocky terrain and harsh conditions of desert and mountain travel. Chosen to inspire adoptions from the 50,000 mustangs and burros in holding facilities across the United States and to call attention to the importance of rangeland management, these animals became their riders’ transport, nemeses, and eventual trusted companions as men and mustangs traversed the immense landscapes of Arizona, Utah, Idaho, Wyoming, and Montana. A meticulously planned but unpredictable route brought them face to face with snowpack, downpours, and wildfire; unrelenting heat, raging rivers, and sheer cliffs; jumping cactus, rattlesnakes, and charging moose; sickness, injury, and death. But they also experienced a special camaraderie with each other and with the mustangs, the magnificent natural scenery of the nation’s enduring wilderness, and the not so romantic lifestyle of a romanticized bygone era.