Sunday 9/11/04

We were up and at it early. I drove T posts while the younger guys tamped posts. About mid morning Maggie showed up to help and I was sure glad she did. Now we could work in two teams. The posts went up, wire got rolled out and stretched, stapled up and stays put in. we were hard at it all day not even taking a break for lunch. When it was time to head back and meet the next crew we had it all done and it looked great. Hi was 70 lo was 36.

Monday 9/12/05

A good-sized crew for this week and some of our favorite veterans are here. Dave and Seth from Ma. and Carol from Ca.

Linda is here for her second week. First timers are Christine from New Zealand, Doerte from Germany, John and Rick, brothers, one from Al. the later from Ca. And Keith a friend of theirs also from Ca. As usual Jay came for one week and called in to work and stayed a second week. I’m sure his employer has just come to expect it.

We trailered out to camp trying to get an early start but it just never works. It wasn’t till mid afternoon that we were in the saddle.

Our goal this week is to get the rest of the cattle out of Loco pasture and then do some more vaccinating and branding later in the week.

We got a few head moved and everyone set with their horses.

Tuesday 9/13/05

Burrrr it was cold last night! Our first frost and it was way beyond a frost. It was a good solid freeze with a low of about 27. Real ice on the water tubs and the pipe from our potable water tank was frozen till mid morning.

We rode out into Loco pasture hunting up strays. Over night we heard coyotes howling close and often. If you hear them enough you get to be able to tell if they are just calling or on a kill. I knew they were on a kill. We rode looking for buzzards on our way to the basin to find calves to work. Dave spotted some at Juniper tank so we rode over and sure enough there was a dead calf on the banks of the tank. Kinda ruined my day.

Lindsey's crew went to Big Loco tank and found a dozen head there. Nate went with his crew on the south side of Loco Mtn. where they found another dozen or so. I took my veteran crew and went on the north side of the Mtn. getting a short dozen out of there.

It was a long day of riding but dang sure worth the effort. The weather was perfect. Fall is really here tho it seems the summer was too short. The shrub bushes are starting to change color and the aspen trees on the mountain are starting to change. As much as I’m not ready for winter I sure love riding on a splendid fall day.

Hi was 65 and mostly sunny, a bit of a breeze.

Wednesday 9/14/05

We rode out into the basin to gather a few for branding.

As we rode we spotted and old cow we call Sacaroid Belly. She has big lumps that hang off her belly. She’s really old but has been a great cow for us. She had a newborn calf and her bag was huge and teats swollen. By the looks of the calf it hadn’t nursed yet. We’ll keep an eye on her.

We gathered up a bunch and early afternoon we had a corral full. After a break we set to work. The new pens make a huge difference in our efficiency. We worked all day and as usual it was a rough and tumble time of it. The crew worked well together and things started to click along. The injury of the day was mine when I got too close to a bunch of calves in the corner of the pen and one kicked me in the knee. My kneecap dislocated but popped right back in but let me tell ya it smarted a bit. Sweat broke out on my head and heat flashes rushed over me. It was a long time before I could put any weight on it. Maggie came out to deliver messages and watched for a while. It was sure good to see her.

Hi was about 70 after an overnight low of 29.

9/15/05 Thursday

We gathered and branded another bunch. Having to ride a little farther to get in enough to keep us busy.

The crew is clicking along. It’s a dang good thing we have young stout Seth here and Jay to jump in on getting the big calves down.

Jay and Seth rode a couple steers putting on a good show. Jay broke Lia’s record by riding one out till it quit bucking. A funny thing was Seth rode the same steer that Lia had ridden earlier in the summer. The steer was a lot bigger but at least Seth’s landing ground was a bit softer than Lia’s had been.

We worked right up till it was too dark to work and got everything done with no time to spare. Hi was 65 low as a bit warmer, about 33.

9/16/05 Friday

We went out into the basin and started gathering. Blue and Jay went to wolf camp to get some panels off the branding pen there and moved down to the new pens at camp to form a wind to help get the cattle in. While out in the Basin we hunted up the cows with the weak calf. It took about an hour to find here and the timing was perfect. Jay and Blue were coming back with the panels on the truck. We set up the panels off the back of the trailer forming a pen and eased the pair over to it. The cow wanted nothing to do with going in the little pen but her calf was so hungry it was hunting a meal wherever it could find one so started following Nates horse around. I told Nate to ride into the pen and the calf followed him right in and the momma cow didn’t have much choice. Right on the trailer they went and got hauled back to camp.

We had a pretty good bunch of cattle in and among them were about 20 yearling steers. We are taking the steers to a sale on Oct. 7 th so we need to start getting them closer to the H.Q.

We sorted off two loads of steers and loaded them in the two trailers, which Blue and Jay drove back to the H.Q. I gave Jay the choice of driving the F350 which basically has no brakes or the Dodge which has no window, the Turbo doesn’t work and the steel is showing through the tires. He chose the Dodge and later was wishing her hadn’t since he had a flat and got an experience of ranch life when he had no jack. Of course some know you don’t need one to change a trailer tire, you just use a block on another wheel to raise up the flat. But city man that he is he didn’t know this. He also had a tire iron that wouldn’t fit. So he had to unhitch and go to a campsite and collect the things he needed. It made a long day for him. It was a long day for everyone else as well as we continued to work in the pens.

Late afternoon we got done with the first bunch and I told folks that we could head home or go out and find some more. Everyone understood the time pressure we are under so most opted to go find more and keep working. So we did. It wasn’t till dark that we finished. Finally it was time to head home. We loaded the calf in the truck; it sat in Seths lap going home.

We all got in about 9pm devouring a steak dinner and hobbling off to bed.

Hi was 68 low was 32.