November

November 1-4 No Guests

Wednesday, November 2, 2000
The word exhausted does not adequately describe how I feel. Its been a busy week! Wednesday we rode and gathered and sorted cattle. Then in the afternoon we loaded out two semi loads. It doesn't sound that hard but it is lots of shuffling cattle thru corrals on foot, yelling and running up and down the alleys and pens. The semi trailers have six compartments of different sizes, one gets 3-4 cows with no horns, so they don't open up the roof. Another gets 5-6 small cows, then 16 any type, on the big deck on top, then 16 on the big deck on bottom, then last on the back we can get 4-5 small cows. The inside of the truck is ankle deep in liquid shit, you have to chase then in and put them where they should go closing this gate and opening that one. It's a bit scary in there. The alleyway to the truck can get pretty exciting too, we every so often have to scale the fence fast as a mad cow makes a charge. You always have to be on your toes and be aware!

Thursday we did the same thing, from can't see to can't see we loaded cattle. The rush is on as the weather is supposed to turn against us next week. This week we have been getting a steady supply of mud making snow, it snows an inch or two, the sun comes out and melts it. Then another inch or two. The corrals are just a disgusting quagmire of mud.

Friday, November 3, 2000
Went looking for strays, Lyndsey and I went into the wilderness area down the middle fork of the Gila river. It was a beautiful day and an awesome ride. The river was up over knee deep on a tall horse, we had to cross it on average 10 times a mile. We went down the canyon about 10 miles. No sign of cattle. But enjoyed every step of the ride. The canyon is a wild place of thousand foot cliffs, and eerie hoodoo type rock formations. We took the flying V trail out of the canyon, a tough foot-wide switchback trail that brought us out on top in Canyon Creek pasture. As soon as we got on top weather blew in. We saw it barreling down on us and within the time it takes to get a slicker on we were in the middle of a wind whipped sleet and rain mess. Of course we found cattle then. Six head, we pushed them a couple miles up over Loco mtn and to some corrals on the other side. We penned them just as it got dark.

Saturday November 4, 2000
Tanya and I went to Reserve to look at some horses a friend brought down from South Dakota. I bought 3 nice geldings, a dun 3 yo, a sorrel 4 yo and a bay 5 yo.

November 5-11 No Guests

Monday, November 6, 2000
Yesterday Lyndsey and I hit the road to Santa Fe. Dropping off Buck in Socorro who is headed to Fla. via commercial shipper. Then going on to S.F. and dropping off Stetson who was bought by an artist up there. We stayed in Albuquerque last night, did some errands this morning and headed home. When we got to Socorro we hit rain, then as we climbed out of the Rio Grande valley it changed to snow. The farther west we went the worse it got. it made for a slow trip. In Reserve there was about 3 inches, as we climbed the mountain home it got deeper. We finally got in at about 9 P.M. Glad to be home.

Tuesday, November 7, 2000
ELECTION DAY!
The snow fell all night, woke to a temp. of 25 and over 12" of snow. We've been caught! It's our fear every year to get caught with cattle on the mountain when the first big storm hits. It was a mad rush to get all the traps gathered and cattle in the lots to feed them hay. It seemed we had stepped into the pages of a western, you've read stories of riders caught out in a storm of blinding snow, well that was us. At times visibility was less than 100 ft. Frank, Tanya, Lyndsey and I worked the south trap which is full of trees, they were so covered with snow you couldn't see through them so we had to ride all over looking behind every tree and in every draw. Maggie went out on the snowmobile to try and help, we had never gathered using one so I was a bit skeptical. When I hit the top of the hill on my first loop there came cattle headed in. They were lined out, about 50 of them pretty as you please. It was obvious that someone had started them and they were looking for a place to go. I pushed them in and penned them then headed out again. It was hard riding, besides the fresh snow it was thick mud and bogs underneath from the previous weeks of moisture. Gambler acted stupid all morning, what with the fresh snow, nip in the wind, and his fear of bogs. He really irritated me with his spooks and crowhops. I was too cold to put up with it with humor and understanding. Soon on my second loop here came another bunch of cattle headed in. About 30 more and no rider. When I got to the corrals I could see by the added cattle penned that everyone was doing their job with great haste. I went back out and rode across the trap, about a mile following fresh tracks most of the way. When I got to the south fence I heard yelling and hollering and spotted Tanya on the other side with a bunch of cows and a couple really stupid heifers. There was nothing I could do to help with no gate handy so I watched as she did a great job keeping the main bunch going as she fought with a turn-around heifer. She was riding Creek a nice 10 yo bay Q.H. gelding who works really well and hard. The gate was down at the corner, I think over night during the storm the cattle drifted to the fence with the snow at their back then piled up in the corner breaking the gate. A lot had spilled into Negrito pasture and Tanya had been working all morning getting them as well as our bunch of 2 yo fillies back in. She was glad for the help pushing them home. The temp. fell all day. By the time we got to the ridge above the corrals I was really hurting with cold fingers and toes. The corrals were full of close to 200 cattle and all riders were in, John and Alan had arrived with hay from the lower ranch and we all took a break to warm up. Maggie was already home and like the sweetheart she is had chili made and the woodstove and fireplace cranked up. We all agreed that without her and the snowmobile we would have been hours longer. The temp had dropped to 16, the cattle were fed and we were exhausted calling it a day.

Wednesday, November 8, 2000
The sun was bright and clear and the temp was 2 above this morning. The snow was beautiful and blinding. Alan arrived with more hay, we fed and then he and I started goose necking cattle to the top of Deep Creek so they could drift down the mountains to the lower country. Its about a 2 hour round trip, the last 5 miles up a steep, bad road to the top. There was at least 2 feet of snow on the rim. We made 4 round trips, it was pretty exciting driving. Tanya and Lyndsey rode the traps again getting in a couple dozen we missed during the storm. Frank worked on frozen water lines. We really got caught with our pants down with this big storm and extreme low temps.

Thursday, November 9, 2000
Another day trucking cattle to the rim. John came up so we had three trucks pulling. We can get 9-10 head on each trailer, but its really a load through the mud and snow. There is a deer hunt on so lots of slow moving traffic. We have some steep hills to pull and go down, these hunters just poke along not looking at the road, as we are trying to make some time with 15,000 lbs pushing us in brakeless trailers. We've had some close calls!

Lyndsey, Tanya, and Frank rode for strays getting in about a dozen. Tanya rode late getting in just before dark with all the mares and foals. Lyndsey said it was a calendar shot as she came in with a herd of 20 horses, the sun setting and all the snow.

Friday, November 10, 2000
The girls sorted the mares getting ready to wean next week. Frank hauled cattle with Alan, Maggie and I went to Albuquerque. for Drs. appointment. I GOT MY CAST OFF!!!!!!!

Almost 6 months! I now have a removable splint, but to be honest I feel very insecure with my arm uncovered. We did errands and as we drove back on Saturday the ranch got 7 more inches of snow, it's sure piling up.

November 12-18 No Guests

Sunday, November 12, 2000
The girls all worked on Lyndsey's house painting and such. Frank and I took the snowmobiles out hunting strays. Saw lots of tracks in the Negrito Triangle so we will have to get in with horses as it's too steep for the sleds.

Monday, November 13, 2000
One degree above this A.M. Way too early for this kinda cold, I think it's going to be a heck of a winter. With all the snow and ice feeding takes a couple hours now, sledding hay, busting ice on tanks, cleaning snow out of feed tubs. We are feeding about 40 head of horses here at the H.Q., about 20 are still out, and five lucky ones are down below. The girls went out riding for the strays whose tracks we saw yesterday. They got in 14 cows 9 calves and a bull. Frank and I took two trucks and trailers down to the lower ranch, he was driving my Ford with John and Alan's horses on the trailer, Sug, Max, and Little Mare. I had 6 cows on my trailer driving Maggie's chevy. The roads were bad with ice and packed snow. I was behind Frank and about 10 miles out I watched him begin to slide going thru a tight down hill turn. He jackknifed so hard the truck came up on two wheels. The horses were ok and stayed on their feet but all three had bloody noses. The truck got about $ 10,000 in damage to the passenger side, both doors and the bed are demolished. If it had not been for the steel headache rack I know the cab of the truck would have been sheared off. We got it straightened back out and continued on our way. We got to the lower range and it was like summer, mid 60's. We branded 17 big calves and then worked a few cows cutting bad horns and such. We got done with that at about five and went down to Pleasanton, loaded 200 bales of hay, ate dinner and headed back up the mountain. The trip back was stressful but uneventful getting in about 9:30 pm. A long day!

Friday, November 17, 2000
PAYDAY!!!!
The whole year came down to this day. We spent Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday moving calves to the shipping corrals in Alma, slogging thru bottomless mud in the corrals. It wore you out just walking across one, my legs ached at night. This morning the buyer from California showed up at 8:00 am with three semis. All our work sorting and sexing was worth the effort as it ended up being the easiest shipping day we've ever had. By 2:00 pm the calves were loaded and on the way to California and we had checks in our hot hands. We stayed at the lower headquarters, I must say it was nice having electricity and gas heat!

November 19-25 No Guests

Monday, November 20, 2000
Spent the weekend fixing fence on the lower range, the heavy rains flooded the canyons taking a lot of fence down canyon. It was a real mess getting it back up, lots of wading in ice cold water. Today we were back up top riding for strays, I went into Canyon Creek and Lyndsey went into 7HL. We both found cattle coming up with about a dozen. Just when we think we found them all we keep finding more.

Wednesday, November 22, 2000
Yesterday another day of stray riding, I didn't find any, Lyndsey found four pairs. Not so nice a day, it was mostly sunny but with a cold wind. High was about 25, the last couple days have been pretty nice cold at night, about 5 each night. Still a lot of snow, I had a bit of a wreck yesterday. Gambler and I were headed into a canyon easing off the rim in snow about knee deep when he took a step and we kept right on with nothing under us but a snow drift. He fell about 5 ft, I came off and landed on a my back on a big rock. I was proud of Gambler as he got up and just stood looking at me as I moaned and groaned in the snow. It would have been a long walk home!

Today I hauled the cattle we had found down to the lower range, just a long day in the truck.

Friday, November 24, 2000
A good lazy Thanksgiving. Just Maggie, Lyndsey and I eating ham...thanks Miriam...cold outside so we stayed in all day and did nothing.

Today I trailered down to Snow Lake, rode all over heck and found 6 pairs which I pushed into the trap there. We will push them home tomorrow. A beautiful day, temp about 50, just lots of mud.

Saturday, November 25, 2000
Lyns and I trailered down to Snow Lake gathered up the cattle I had found the day before and pushed them home. It was an easy 4 hour push as they all moved well and seemed to want to go some where. It was sunny but cold with a bit of a breeze. She rode Vaquero and I was on Doc, both 2 yo's did really well considering they had not been ridden in awhile. We only have about 45 horses here up top now, all the rest are down below with Frank tending them. He called last night just to pull Lyndsey’s chain and tell her it was over 60 degrees there. About half the snow has melted here, yesterday we would be walking in snow then mud then ice then snow, a good work out for a young horse.

November 26-30 No Guests

Sunday, November 26, 2000
A busy one! We got all the mares and foals in and weaned today, a very stressful time for them and us. We put them in a wood rail corral here near the main barn then cut the mares off and moved them down the long alley to the shipping pens. They are about 1/4 mile apart but they can still hear each other so there is lots of noise around here. That took most of the day, then we separated a load of cattle and got them ready to load at the crack of dawn to take to the lower range. A really nice day, got up to about 50 and no wind.

Monday, November 27, 2000
Another terrifying day on the mountain roads! Left early with a load of cattle, all went well on the way down. I dropped them off, chatted with John a bit, then went to the H.Q. and chatted with Frank then headed home. Once again did not make it up one long icy grade and slid backwards. Stuck the truck in the ditch on the inside to stop it. I then tried to ease back and started sliding again. Speedometer said 45 but I was sliding faster and faster back. I put it in park and jumped out, stood watching the rig go down. The trailer headed over the cliff, a drop of about 100ft. By some grace it stopped when the tires went over the edge and the bottom of the trailer caught on the rocks on the canyon rim. I unhooked and headed home to get chains and salt. I salted the area then hooked a chain to the trailer and dragged it up to the top, tearing up the landing gear but I was not going to hook to it till it was off the ice. I have one more load to take tomorrow and hope to hell it doesn’t happen again.