January 1 - 10, 2005: No Guests

1/1/05 Saturday

Happy New Year!

All that digging yesterday wore me out so I was in bed hours before the New Year arrived.

Today Gambler and I headed out to check the yearlings. The footing was terrible, mud and muck. I was worried Gam. would lose a shoe that was loose but he kept it on. We saw all the yearlings, which looked fine despite the lousy weather they had been through. We rode about four hours until Gam. was just worn out from the effort it took to get around. When we got home I gave him a big rub down then had a late lunch and spent the afternoon putting a new set of shoes on him. I swear if he had thumbs he could put them on himself he is so dang easy to shoe.

Hi 36 lo 23 sunny

1/2/05 Sunday

I took Annie out early this morning before things started thawing out. We did a loop through both traps and a bit out into 7HL pasture. There is water running everywhere, all the tanks we saw are full and over flowing. Drinking water for the cattle won’t be an issue this spring. We rode till about noon when it started getting too soft.

I was back at the woodpile again, there is supposed to be another storm coming in so I want plenty of dry wood on the porch.

Maggie got back from her cross-country trip late in the day worn out and glad to be home.

Hi 38 lo 19

1/3/05 Monday

I headed out to fill the yearlings feeder early today getting over the mud on the freeze. On the way home the dump truck died. It acted like it ran out of fuel tho gauges told me there was plenty. I walked home enjoying the short hike. Maggie later gave me a ride out with fuel which we put in put still it didn’t start so we just left it till tomorrow morning so we can pull it home on the freeze.

End of the year office work kept me busy the rest of the day.

Hi 37 lo 17

1/4/05 Tuesday

Rain started about sunrise and it rained hard all day. We really don’t need it at this point. I left the house early and headed to town for mail and a few groceries and a ton of horse feed. The roads were none too good. There was still a lot of snow in some places and ice on the steep grades down into town. It was not a really fun trip. I got home late in the afternoon and unloaded feed then went back to the woodpile.

Hi 35 lo 34

1/5/05 Wednesday

The rain ended early in the morning, another 2.5 inches and another close call by a few degrees from a major heavy snow.

About midmorning I gathered up some food and loaded my saddlebags and Dakota and I headed out to Fence tank for an overnight there. As I was getting ready to leave Maggie asked me if I really needed to go out there feeling bad for me what with the cold and all. I told her that I knew there are calves out there and at today’s prices I was hunting up a couple thousand dollars. Her enthusiastic response was “I’ll make you a lunch”.

We rode out checking cattle as we went. Everything looked good. There is only about a 25% snow cover out there so plenty of graze open for them. It was pretty late by the time we got to camp, I gave Dakota a good rub down and dinner then headed into the camper to get the same for myself. The camper out there has no heat so it was pretty cold. The Coleman lantern puts out enough heat to stay comfortable so long as you don’t take your coat off. The mice in the walls I think were glad I was there to take the chill off their house a bit.

Hi 36 lo 16

1/6/05 Thursday

I was up early, fed Dakota when it was light enough to see. I then made some oatmeal and packed a lunch and saddled up an hour later. We rode up over T Bar Ridge and down the other side into Canyon Creek pasture. Our mission today was to find a couple pairs I had seen there a few months ago right at the end of fall gather. We got to Juniper tank about three hours later. There we found some old track but with all the water around they have no reason to use the tank. We then rode over to Pine canyon and found nothing there. We rode back across S.S. Basin and went up onto Loco Mountain. I stopped for a late lunch of apple, cheese and jerky while I glassed the area. I spotted something black about a mile south and headed that way. We found a black bull that was lame, one we had left months ago because he couldn’t travel well. We started him towards Snow Lake trap about three miles away. Dakota had been pretty good all day, he hates just riding around unless there is a cow in front of him but he had been agreeable to everything I asked of him. Once we got the bull he was a happy guy. The bull was belligerent and stubborn, just the way Dakota likes them. He was happy to have something to bite and chew on and this bull sure needed it. The footing was terrible and the bull didn’t want to go anywhere. Dakota had to coax every step out of him. It was so slow going I several times thought of giving up on him but we stuck to it. As we were getting towards the end of Loco canyon near the Gates of Hell it was just about dark. A movement on the slope caught my eye and there was a big mountain lion watching us go by. He stayed where he was about a hundred yards away till our eyes locked, then he took off at a run. I hadn’t seen a lion for a couple years now. You see their tracks a lot but rarely ever see them. It’s a privilege. We saw wolf tracks off and on all day as we traveled. Late afternoon two golden eagles drifted overhead checking us out.

It was dark when we got that bull into the trap and the gate shut behind him. I rode up to the spring and let Dakota rest abit, get a drink and have fifteen minutes of grazing before heading back to camp. It was a long way back no matter how we went. We could go back out of the canyon and cut across Loco flats or we could stay down and go up the canyon which would probably be a bit shorter but a bit risky due to the rocks and willows and darkness. We decided on the short risky route. It was so dark I couldn’t see anything, Dakota made his way along as if he had headlights. It was a bit spooky in there; several times we heard rocks clatter as some unseen animal ran away ahead of us. The night was cold and down in that canyon all the cold air settled driving a chill into me. I figured it was about 18. It took a bit over two hours to get back to camp. We had been moving for over 12 hours covering about 30 miles and were both worn out. I rubbed him down well and gave him an extra bait of grain and huge pile of hay. He is such a damn fine horse.

I checked the thermometer and it was right at 18 degrees, I’m getting pretty good figuring temperature.

Hi 29 lo 14

1/7/05 Friday

It was 19 in the trailer when I woke up at 5am. All my water was frozen; I had to melt some to make coffee and to brush my teeth. I fed Dakota at 6am and we were riding at 7am. He was still pretty tired from our long day yesterday so I wanted to take it easy on him and had planned on just riding home. But while I was feeding him I had heard a cow lowing from off in Pitchfork pasture somewhere. In the crisp still dawn sound really travels so it was hard to guess just how far away the cow was. We rode up the valley passed Pit tank and all the way out to Doubtful tank. I looped to the north up Witch draw and there found tracks in the frost on the grass. It was easy to follow the trail of several cattle and an hour later caught up with four head. We pushed them back to Fence tank and put them through the gate back into 7HL pasture where they belong.

We took a break for lunch at camp and then started out for home. The wind kicked up and of course it was right in my face but once again my winter gear was enough to keep everything warm but my face. I figure the wind chill was about -5. Dakota picked up his pace once we got passed Elladean tank and we made the trip in about three hours. As we crossed the main road above the H.Q. I saw two sets of human tracks in the snow on the road. It made me wonder who and why but I didn’t feel like taking the time and riding them out. Not with a warm house and real meal and my wife just a mile away. It was discouraging to tell Maggie all I had found was an old bull and didn’t come home with a payday. Things get pretty lean around here this time of year.

Hi 25 lo 14 windy and sunny

1/9/05 Saturday

We went out on the freeze this morning to pull home my dump truck that had been up on the main road for days now. When we got there we were surprised to see that it had just recently been lived in. Who ever made the tracks I had seen last night on the way home had stopped and taken shelter in the truck. They had built a fire using gas I had in a can in the back, we found a pair of socks drying next to the fire remains. They had eaten all the food in the truck and drank the water. There were tracks of a truck coming by who had obviously picked them up. They had been there at least over one night by the size of the fire remains. I’m glad my misfortune had helped someone out. I figure they had a car stuck somewhere.

After we got the truck home I chained up my F350 and hooked to a trailer to go get a load of hay. As I headed out I knew I wouldn’t get the load home today, it was pretty muddy on my way out and I knew that it would be worse as the day warmed up. It was a quick turn around, plenty of help at the farm to load. I ran into thick mud about an hour from home and unhooked the trailer in Y canyon just past Don and Jeanie Jones house. I chained up all four tires and just barely got through the mud and home. But I couldn’t make it up the driveway and had to walk from the shipping pens.

Hi 40 lo 20 sunny

1/10/05 Sunday

I was out early headed back to get the trailer of hay while the roads were still frozen. I got home about 10am and unhooked that trailer then hooked to another one. After a short lunch I headed off for another load of hay. It was late when I was coming back so the roads had set back up with the freeze and I was able to get the load all the way home. Getting there about 8pm. I wanted to unhook this load of hay in the hay corral at the shipping pens. I pulled off the driveway went about twenty feet and sank. I had broken through the frozen crust of what was now a bog and in a mater of a seconds truck and trailer both sank to the hubs of the tires. The wheels weren’t spinning, I was just mired in and even that strong diesel engine wouldn’t budge it or turn a tire against it. It’s there till another hard freeze.

Hi 36 lo 29