Battle Mountain in Summer
Battle Mountain with dandelions
Home Ranch
photo by Jack Perry
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Battle Mountain with dandelions
Home Ranch
photo by Jack Perry
View from Farwell Mountain, looking northwest
framed by beetle-killed pines
Routt National Forest, Colorado
photo by Pat O'Toole
In life, we generally assume that we will go on waking up in the morning, seeing our loved ones, accomplishing our work, enjoying our leisure, and going forward until some distant day. Every once in a while, we get a literal “wake up” call which makes us realize that this ain’t necessarily so.
Pat and I had just such an experience a few days ago.
All our sheep and cows are now on the National Forest permits where they graze for the summer. The sheep have herders with them full time, and we check the cows frequently as we move both species along in their slow summer-long grazing rotations. While the sheepherders usually live in their sheep wagons—a home on wheels which is adapted to rough roads and rugged country—sometimes the grazing is found in areas far from accessible roads.
Several of our permits require that the herder live for a few weeks in a wall tent, which we move along weekly with the sheep. Our highest roughest permit is the Big Red Park/Farwell permit in Colorado’s Routt National Forest. The sheep on that permit are herded by Pepe Cruz, who has worked for us for many years and knows that area probably better than any living human being.
Mule packed and ready to go
Silver City Creek, Routt National Forest, Colorado
photo by Sharon O'Toole
Pat, Plata and puppy
Routt National Forest, Colorado
photo by Pat O'Toole
Packing to Pepe's
photo by Pat O'Toole
For more text and photos, go to "Continue Reading."
Much of this permit is right up on the Continental Divide, in the shadow of the Zirkels, a mountain range that includes the Mount Zirkel Wilderness Area. To keep Pepe supplied as his sheep graze this high mountain pasture, we travel in once a week with pack horses and mules. They are laden with groceries, dog food, lantern fuel, mail and whatever supplies he might need. We then pack out his trash.
This trip is spectacular, as we climb up to these high meadows, and back down again, but we consider it routine. This week, the routine turned into the extraordinary, reminding us of the knife’s edge upon which we all truly live.
We have had almost no rain at home for more than two months. The forest has gotten some, but not enough to remind us that it used to rain in the mountains almost every afternoon. I thought that we were prepared since I had packed bug spray, sunscreen and extra water. We did not, although we know better, tied slickers onto our saddles.
Pat, our herder Nerio, and I saddled up and loaded up the pack horses. I had an extra passenger since Pepe wanted one of my dog Suzie’s newly weaned puppies. We left in sunshine but by the time we were a half mile or so from Pepe’s camp, the weather had turned threatening. The distant thunder suddenly was not so distant, but we were almost to our destination.
Just as my horse, Chief, was hopping over a fallen log, a lightening strike and a crack of thunder hit very near us. He and the other horses bolted. He is rock solid reliable, but the lightening scared him. Now I’ve never claimed to be much of a bronc rider, and I was clutching the puppy. In one of those slow-motion moments, I knew that I wasn’t going to stay on so I kicked my feet loose and let go. It probably looked like a cartoon in which the horse dashed on ahead while I remained in place before thumping to the ground. I landed flat on my back in a rock field. It was the only clear place to land so the Good Lord was looking out for me! The puppy rode all the way to the ground with me and was fine.
After the wreck, before the hail
Farwell Mountain
photo by Pat O'Toole
Hail, from under the tarp
photo by Pat O'Toole
Wildflowers and hail
Farwell Mountain
photo by Pat O'Toole
Wet dogs
photo by Pat O'Toole
Pat and Nerio got the rest of the horses under control and realized that Chief was riderless. It was starting to rain and lightening was still striking all around. I remembered our young neighbor who had been killed when he sheltered under a pine tree during an electric storm.
Soon, marble-sized hail began striking us. Nerio secured the horses and we picked the shortest tree we could find to seek refuge. When the hail finally turned to rain, the wind picked up and we started to chill. All over America, people were sweltering and we were worrying about hypothermia! Pat remembered we had a tarp on the pack mule, so we draped it over a branch and Pat, Nerio, Suzie, the puppy and I huddled there for a long while.
Finally, the storm moved on and we ventured out. We climbed the last short distance to Pepe’s camp. He reminded us that just two summers ago, he’d had thirty-three ewes killed by lightening just a short distance away.
Pepe greeting Nerio
Farwell Mountain
photo by Pat O'Toole
Pepe's camp
photo by Pat O'Toole
On top at last
photo by Pat O'Toole
Savery Stock Driveway
Medicine Bow National Forest, Carbon County, Wyoming
photo by Sharon O'Toole
Saddling up
photo by Sharon O'Toole
The ewes and lambs are settled on their summer grazing permits. In the past few weeks, we have trailed off of our lambing grounds north of Dixon and on to their summer pasture in the Routt and Medicine Bow National Forests. During this time, we go each day and move the sheep camps along to the next day’s camp site. All of us--sheep, herder, dogs, horses--must leave at first light to make the day’s trail before it gets hot at 8 or 9 a.m. The camp mover tries to move the sheep camp to catch up with the herder in time for his lunch. Some days we have to move six camps, and the guys know they are wise to pack a sandwich.
Each bunch is “counted on” as they pass into the National Forest. Until a few years ago, this was a big event, with the neighbors, the brand inspector and a Forest Service employee showing up to make sure that all was right. Now it is just our crew. We give our “on numbers” to the Forest Service, who believe us—a consequence of long experience.
It takes about five people to do the count: one to count the ewes, one to count the lambs, one to dodge out the marker ewes, and two to keep them coming. We can get by with four, if two of them are really experienced.
Ewes and lambs in the Government Corrals
Medicine Bow National Forest
photo by Sharon O'Toole
Waiting for the count
photo by Sharon O'Toole
Meghan & Seamus counting the ewes
photo by Sharon O'Toole
Guard dog checking the count
photo by Sharon O'Toole
We usually count on at the Government corrals, which were built by the Forest Service for this annual ritual. We take some time to do some final management before the ewes and their lambs go into the trees for the summer. We will always have a few undocked lambs which have been born since the last docking, so we catch them and lop off their tails, and other parts. We will usually find one or two “bum” lambs that don’t have a mother for one reason or another. These we take home to become bottle babies.
We dodge out about twenty ewes, put bells on them, and paint big numbers on their sides. These are the “markers.” Each bunch will have about one black and about four “numbers” for every 100 ewes. Morning and night the herder will “get the count” and make sure he has all his markers. Since sheep are herd animals, if all the markers are accounted for, he probably has all his sheep. If one or more markers are missing, it’s a good sign that twenty or more ewes and their lambs are gone.
One these chores are done, the sheep are ready to make the final trek to the high country for the summer, where they graze on fresh grass every day and sleep on a new bedground almost every night. They will graze and bed in same places year after year, but only for a short time each year. It is the ultimate in rotational grazing.
Siobhan in the chute
photo by Sharon O'Toole
After the count
Battle Mountain in the background
photo by Sharon O'Toole
Teachers: horseback and afoot
Home Ranch
photo by Pat O'Toole
In June, we helped host a course for Ag in the Classroom teachers. It was coordinated by our local Natural Resource Conservation District staff, and allowed teachers to take a for credit, continuing education course teaching them about agriculture and natural resources. These teachers then can incorporate these lessons into their daily teaching curriculum.
In our part of the program, Pat led teachers on a horseback ride to our stream, Battle Creek. Mark Hogan, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, showed them our cooperative project in which we built rock structures in the creek. These structures enhance our trout habitat and help with our irrigation systems. Other experts showed them how to sample water quality and examine the insect life which supports the fish.
After a barbeque at our ranch headquarters, the half the teachers (they switched) moved on to the Loco Creek area. Andy Warren from the Bureau of Land Management explained the improvement projects, involving burning, grazing rest/rotation and other management which has restored the creek from a treeless watercourse to a vibrant willow-filled restored stream. Jay Sheehan discussed invasive plants and weed control, and Meghan and I talked about our part in the grazing system on Loco Creek, where we lamb. Another rancher in our community hosted dinner.
The teachers were enthusiastic, and we were delighted to do our part to bring agriculture into the classroom.
Fording Battle Creek
Home Ranch
photo by Jack Perry
At the barbeque: teachers chat with Dennis Sun, Wyoming Livestock Roundup publisher; Sharon & Seamus
Home Ranch
photo by Pat O'Toole
For more photos, go to "Continue Reading"
Sisi, our Border collie matriarch
photo by Jack Perry
Teachers and staff relaxing after lunch
photo by Pat O'Toole
Battle Mountain with dandelions
photo by Jack Perry
photo by Sharon O'Toole
Antonio on the Savery Stock Driveway
Medicine Bow National Forest
Carbon County, Wyoming
photo by Sharon O'Toole
June is our busiest month, and it seems especially so this year. Our usual tasks this time of year include docking the new lambs, making up the summer bunches of sheep, and staging them for the trail to the National Forest grazing permits. We also brand the last of the calves and put the cows and calves on their summer grazing permits. We have a series of private and leased pastures where we move them along. In the meantime, we try to keep track of the bulls, who are escape artists as they know it is ALMOST time to join the cows.
Now that it is July, take a look at some of the photos that tell June’s story.
Setting up the docking corrals
Cottonwood BLM pasture, Carbon County, Wyoming
photo by Sharon O'Toole
Bringing in the ewes and lambs
photo by Sharon O'Toole
Into the corrals
photo by Sharon O'Toole
Assembly line docking
photo by Sharon O'Toole
Docking crew in full swing
photo by Sharon O'Toole
Meghan counting tails
photo by Sharon O'Toole
Most of the docking crew
photo by Sharon O'Toole
More docking crew
photo by Sharon O'Toole
Modesto the sheepherder, Wade the trapper, Meghan (with Seamus) conferring
photo by Sharon O'Toole
Lunch wagon
photo by Sharon O'Toole
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