Cattle Drives

I don't know the official definition of a cattle drive, or if it always denotes a certain minimum distance, so just to be safe, this post is really about "mini" cattle drives.

There have been about 600 pairs (cows and calves) up here at the Squaw end of the ranch this summer. These are the same pairs that we did branding on about a month ago (for the calves). They have had about 35 bulls in with them as well as some heifers (first year female cows). All of these cows together make up a group of over 1200 head, and need to be moved down to the lower end of the ranch in preparation for winter grazing. These cows are all owned by the ranch, and stay here permanently while the "yearling" steers are here just for the summer, are owned by an investor, and will be shipped out in the fall once they are done grazing in the mountains. (This is the group we will be gathering when we camp for 3 weeks in September).

Okay, back to the mini cattle drives.....the journey for the cows from Squaw to Whitehouse (the name of the lower end of the ranch-yes there is a white cement block building/house there) is broken into 3 trips. Last Monday, we moved the group from Squaw to Upper Clover. We started about 5 am, had 3 guys on horseback and me on the quad bringing up the rear. It was a really beautiful morning and much of the trip was through an area called Indian Springs, with interesting rock formations coming up both sides. The trip was about 10 miles, and took about

6 1/2 hours.

On Tuesday, we moved from Upper Clover to Lower Clover. Tuesday's drive was definitely more difficult. There were long stretches without any natural boundaries to keep the cows lined out, and they tended to just spread and start grazing as soon as the dirt road we were on didn't have sage brush boundaries on both sides. Also, it was the second day in a row, and was hard on some of the calves that as young as just a few weeks, and smaller than our chocolate lab knuckle. Many of the mom's and calves got spread out from each other, and none of them move as well when they are distracted looking for their partners. The day was hot and dusty, and the distance felt like it was much longer. That move took about 8 hours.

We gave the cows 2 days to rest, pair up, eat and rehydrate, then today we were planning on making the final, and most difficult move across what we call "11 mile". It is actually 13 miles down to Whitehouse with no water, no shade, and no feed on the way. (I'm not sure why its called 11 mile) Its a hard day for everyone involved: cows, horses, cowboys, and dogs. Brian has done 11 mile once already this summer with a group of yearlings, and it was a very long hot day.

Our morning started at 3:50 am today, I packed a breakfast, snacks, and water while Brian gathered and loaded most of the horses the crew would need for the day. We drove down to lower clover (about 30 minutes) and we were on our horses (mine is loud and has four wheels) gathering the cows by 5:45. By 8:30, we had gathered all the cows and were trying to get them lined out and start the big push across 11 mile. Once they are gathered and moving, it is about 8 more hours until we get to Whitehouse. Because cows are herd animals, if we can get the momentum going and get the front group to start walking, theoretically all the rest will follow. Unfortunately today, we couldn't get any of them to walk. They just kept balling up and standing there. We'd push, yell, holler, and whistle, and

they just stared at us like we were a bunch of idiots.

Truth is, I've found that the longer you try and get the cows to move, the closer you get to sounding (and looking) like and idiot. I think the profanities that have come out of my mouth in the last 3 days have completely exceeded my entire life count up to this point. The sounds, body language, whooping, and waving of the arms would look insane in any other situation. Even though we don't have a ton of experience in herding cows, we've done it enough already to know its usually not that difficult, and as Brian says "Its not rocket science". Ricarda, who has been ranching all her life said that today may have been either the most or the second most difficult day she has ever had in her life trying to move cows.

About 9:30, we decided to abandon ship. The only thing we were accomplishing was getting sore throats from yelling. The cows were just not going to do 11 mile today. Funny thing though, as soon as we put the smallest bit of pressure on them to turn around and head back in

through the gate into the field we had just come from, they cooperated completely. So, we came home, took a nap, and we'll try again another day! These are just a few pics of our moving cows efforts.

The Old Mines

One of the days on the quad, Brian and I had the opportunity to check out several old mine claims, and a newer one as well. Before the BLM had ever taken over management of

much of this land, there were gold mine claims that dated back over a hundred years. As we have spent time in the mountains, we have come across a handful of old mines shafts, shacks, and homesteads.

This first picture is obviously one of the older shacks. It is about a 10' x 12' cabin with a lean to on one side. It has a few windows, an obvious place where a wood stove once was, and an old broken down metal springs cot. We checked it out a little, but there really wasn't much to see. Some of the glass in the windows was still in tact though. Outside the cabin was a small dried up creek bed that likely had water running through it this spring. Up the hill from the cabin was an opening to an old mine shaft that appeared to have been intentionally filled in.

The second picture is a newer shack. There is a tree near the cabin that has a series of years

carved in its bark, the most recent is 2008. It is a small cabin but has an additional outbuilding with a shower inside, and an outhouse off to the other side. It looks as if people still come here, but I don't know if there is any mining still happening. The bridge in the photo goes over the

creek near the cabin.

Because most of what we've seen is on BLM land, all of these older structures are considered archaeological sites and it is illegal to mess with them or remove anything you find there. There really wasn't much to find, but it is neat to imagine what it would have been like to live up there a hundred years ago, knowing it was at least a full days ride on horseback into Midas for any type of supplies. I wonder how many old miners were successful at getting a wife to live

with them?

A Day on the Quad

Earlier this week Brian and I spent a day on the quad, checking one of the fence lines a long the highest points in the ranch. We were at about 9000 feet, and the views that day were really beautiful. We loaded the quad on the truck and drove about and hour before parking it, unloading the quad, and commuting another 13 miles before we started our "work".

There is a dirt road that parallels much of the fence line and goes along the mountain ridge so that we could see down into the next valley and the neighboring ranch. The dirt road actually is on the neighbors property, and we were disappointed to come across several of our steers on their side of the fence. We checked as much of the fence as we could from the road, and found no open gates or broken areas in the fence where the steers could have come through.

Although any one of them could jump the fence, when there are as many on the wrong side of the fence as we saw, it is unlikely that they ALL jumped.

There was a section of fence that we couldn't see from the road going through a very hilly grove of aspens, and we guessed that was the area where the steers were coming across a break in the fence. At the moment, we still don't know where they were getting through because our plans to check that area of the fence didn't really work out.....

We left the road and started following the fence up the hill. Once it got pretty steep, I got off the quad to walk so Brian could tackle the terrain a little better. As he was riding along the highest point, with the downhill side of the mountain to his left, it started to get a little sketchy. Brian was no longer straddling the seat, but instead was completely leaning on the up hill side of the quad with both feet on the foot mount on the right (visualize he is looking straight down hill with the quad going sideways along the mountain between him and the downhill slope). He was using his right hand to continue to hold down the throttle and get to a more level spot. Unfortunately, the quad started to roll. Brian jumped off (on the uphill side) and the quad rolled through a patch of aspen seedlings, side over side three times before it stopped, upside down, with tree trunks woven through the frame.

I was close enough to watch the whole thing happen, and we both just laughed after realizing we probably had a long walk ahead of us. Thankful that Brian jumped off and didn't roll with the quad, we started working through our options. Some of the quads have a winch on their front bumper which would have been handy that day, but not this one. We were about 15 miles from the truck at that point, and it was 10 am- a walk in the heat of the day for the next several hours would have been pretty miserable. We tried getting the tree trunks "unwedged" from the quad frame with no luck, and the two of us pushing together could not force the quad back on its wheels against the strength of the aspens that strapped it down. I think Brian was ready to start walking, but I don't give up that easy--well to be fair, I don't give up on my ideas for what Brian could do...on my own, I would have been out of luck.

The only tools we had with us was a pair of fence pliers and a pocket knife. The fence pliers have a sharp point on one end, so I recommended Brian use it to try and "chop" the tree trunk that was most offensive in keeping the quad where it was. I must say, I supervised very well! (:-)).

It took Brian about 10 minutes to get through the tree trunk with the pointy end of the pliers, but it worked. Once it was out of the way, we were able to get the quad upright. We cleared all the remaining brush between the quad and the top of the hill where the fence was, and I got out of the way!

It took a few tries to get enough momentum to start the quad moving uphill, but once it was in

motion Brian started yelling like a cowboy on a buckin' bronco as he raced straight up hill and almost ran into the fence before taking a sharp turn to the right. We made it out without much more excitement, and decided that section of fence would need to be checked another day.

On our way out, we took a different route back to the truck and went by an old sheepherders camp. It had a brick oven that someone had made out of concrete several years ago, a nice creek along one side, and a large cleared area beneath some really large aspens that had lots of shade. There were names and dates carved in several of the aspen trees, and the names (like Juan, Alvarro, Jose) reminded us that most sheepherders, even here in the states, are actually Peruvian. The oldest date we saw was 1954, but we know there were sheep herders in that area even before that.

The other kind of neat structure to see that day was the tie shack. The tie shack is a rectangular cabin with one door, three windows, and a lot of history. We've met people in their 50's and 60's who when we mention we work at Squaw, ask us if the tie shack is still there, because "back when I was 15, I spent 3 months up there all by myself", or "after 3 weeks in the tie shack, I decided I didn't want to be a cowboy any more".

It is constructed of railroad ties with white chinking in between. It is about 14' x 20' feet, still

had the stove pipe in place from the old stove (but the stove is gone), has two cots with mattresses, some old books and magazines, and a shelf full of Bisquick mix, instant jello, and various cake mixes. There is an old propane refrigerator outside, and the frame of what used to be a screen door still hanging on the hinges. Written in pencil over the old white paint on the front door is the message "Jo, on Thursday move the cows down to Lewis field. Mo. Today is Monday". Not sure how old the message is, but it was fun to see the practicality of just writing it on the door in a setting like that. I don't have a picture of the tie shack, probably a good idea that I didn't take the camera with me that day as it likely would have been lost in the down hill detour the quad took.

The pictures here are a grove up aspens in the mountain allotment- the area where the quad occurrence happened and where the tie shack is, a chuckar that just

happened to be right in the road when we came around the corner ( it had several friends with it that flew away once we were closer), and a few wild flowers that have just recently shown up. Interesting observation about the yellow flower- we saw fields of it down near lower clover about two weeks ago, but it has only blossomed up here at squaw in the last few days. There is over 1000 ft. difference in

elevation, so I'm sure that's the explanation. It seems as though the season is rolling up the mountain a few days at a time.

Preg Checks

This last week we had another "new" ranching experience. Preg checks, or pregnancy checks, is when we check all of the heifers (first year female cows) and cows (not first year female cows) to see if they are pregnant after sharing a field with a few bulls for a while. You might wonder how we actually do that...well....let me tell you.

After the cows that are going to be checked have been gathered into the corrals, one of the buckaroos lines them up into the alley, then one at a time moves them into the "squeeze chute". The squeeze shoot is a mechanical piece of equipment that is like two metal gates lined up along the cow's sides, and they open and close with a hand control. At the head end, there is an opening for the cow's head to go through then another "gate" that closes around the cow's neck to hold them still for what's about to happen. We actually use the squeeze chute for several things, it is just the best way to get a full size cow to hold still in one place so you can give them vaccines, "doctor" them if there is an illness, do preg checks, etc.

For the preg checks, we had a vet from town come out to the ranch. When he got out of his truck he immediately put on a pair of coveralls and latex gloves (he, unlike me, knew what was coming). Next, he put on another glove on his right hand that extended all the way up to his right shoulder. He positioned himself next to the squeeze chute and once the first cow was in place, he proceeded with the preg check.

I was there to give vaccine boosters to any of the cows that were pregnant once the check was done, so I had a close up view of the vets technique. It involves (brace yourself) sticking his right hand through an opening in the chute into the cows rectum, usually as far up as the elbow, and feeling the uterus (which lies below the colon when the cow is standing there) for the presence of a growing calf. The process usually took no more than about 3 seconds, but sometimes a little longer. Unfortunately, if the vault was full of manure, it had to be emptied before he could accurately do the preg check. He would just pull it out with his gloved hand, and continue on, but the pulling out process often splashed manure to the nearby vicinity. By the end of the day I had splashes of manure on every piece of clothing, my cowboy hat, and I had even wiped a few spots of my face.

All in all though, from a ranchers perspective, it was a good day! Five bulls had spent about 45 days with 111 cows, and 88 of them were pregnant. Very productive bulls.

I apologize that I do not have pictures of the process. I didn't have my camera with me that day, and if I did, I'm not sure I would post them. :-)

Desert Camping

More than one of our readers has reminded me that it has been over 2 weeks since our last post. So sorry....I have lots of excuses, camping is one of them, Internet connections being bad, and the fact that I spent 3 days cleaning out a huge old ranch house down at lower clover.....you'll have to decide if you can get over the silence. :-)

Camping in the desert was a nice variation to the summer, but definitely had its downside. We loaded up on a Monday morning and headed up to the campsite with two trucks and two horse trailers, one full of horses, the other with our gear and supplies. Our "camp" was about a 1 1/2 hour drive from the ranch. We set up temporary horse corals, a 12 x 18 wall tent, our own personal tent for Brian and I to sleep in, and a 10 X 10 pop up to give us some shade during the day. I think it only took about 3 hours to have camp totally set up, then we spent the rest of the

afternoon doing a little exploring.

Brian and I went on the quad and rode about 9 miles up a very bumpy single "track" dirt road. The road went up a beautiful valley and we saw quite a bit of wildlife (chucker, sage grouse, snakes, and mule deer, as well as the normal varmints we see every day). We rode the dirt road

all the way to the top end of the ranch and checked the gate that separates our ranch from the next one over. The round trip took about 3 hours, and on the way we came across 3 more quads coming down from the mountain with some folks who had been "quad camping" up there. Since this was on BLM land that the ranch leases for grazing rights, it was not unusual to see others up there. In fact, there are several hot springs on the ranch that often get visitors from town.

Once we got back to camp, Jake was there waiting. Jake, the other guy camping with us, had gone on horse back to check some other fences and gates. He found 5 open gates, and unfortunately it meant that many of our cows were in the wrong place.

Shortly after we got dinner started, the weather began its attack. At first there were just a few gusts of wind, but within about 2 minutes of the wind starting, it became strong enough to completely lift our pop up of the ground and catch it in the wind. We watched as it blew about 60 feet off the ground and vigorously whipped around a few times before landing at least 100 yards up the valley. The frame of it was completely destroyed in the process. It was brand new, purchased just for camping, and its shelf life had expired! It was definitely not "buckaroo proof".

Unfortunately, the wall tent (which was also new) did not come with stakes, so it was blowing like crazy, and our little light weight dome tent was no match for the wind either. All 3 of us started working on getting the stakes from our tent and putting them on the wall tent and taking our tent down before it blew away with our clothes and sleeping bags inside. About then, it started to rain.

Eventually, it all worked out. While Brian and I did our best to stabilize the wall tent, Jake made several trips on the quad to the creek, collecting large rocks to set around the edges of the wall tent because even the stakes weren't going to hold it for long. It was a cozy night, all 3 of us and our two dogs hanging out in the wall tent waiting for night fall.

The next day Brian and Jake left early on horseback to go ride fences, and I hung out at the camp with the dogs and the extra horses. Mid morning I took the dogs for a walk for about an hour and came back to 20 cows eating the alfalfa we had brought up to feed the horses. Luckily, Sue is already sharpening her skills, and as soon as I told her to "get em up!" she chased the cows over the hill and into the next valley. That day was very hot, and without the shade of our pop-up (and it was too hot to sit in the wall tent) I ended up with quite the sunburn.....but I did read 2 books!

The rest of camping was pretty uneventful. After 3 days of heat and dust, combined with spraying Off! on my legs every 3 hours, I was soooo ready for a shower. We figured out a makeshift shower set up, and decided we had enough water to spare, so all three of us got cleaned up and felt like new again!

I received great compliments on my cooking (what college kid wouldn't be thrilled to have someone cooking for him?), and we learned a few things to prepare for the "big" camping trip that will happen in September. It looks like it will be about 3 weeks in the mountains, but lucky me, I'll have to come back to the ranch every few days during the day to stock up on food, water, and ice....I think I'll make time for a shower too!

(this last picture is Jake)