August 28 - Sept 3: Summer Ranch Week

8/28/06 Monday

I made the trip to town leaving Jay and Nate the job of getting one horse pasture back working. My knee makes me a bit less than useless.

We have had to keep all the H.Q. horses penned at the barn corrals which is a wreak waiting to happen. We have the mares, foals and stud horse right next to four stud colts. It’s constant screaming and hollering from them all.

They got the big pasture useable and then late on Saturday went out to try and get the truck I got stuck last week. They got within about 50 yards of it and Nate said it was like falling through a trap door, just dropping to the axles. I know the feeling. They worked for hours getting Nates truck out. Having to jack it up, put boards under it set it down, drive a few feet, do it all over again. It was dark, it started raining, and they had no lights, only one chain and one jack. They finally got out about 11pm and just went over to camp and stayed the night there.

I picked up Tom from Kansas City; it’s always a pleasure having Tom shadow our doorway. Also this week Thomas is still here, his final week with us.

Today Nate and the two guys went out back to find a big 2-year-old steer of ours that is running with some of the neighbor’s wild cattle. It’s the same damn steer that I was accused of rustling last year. I had seen it over the weekend while checking some fences out back.

Jay and I stayed around here and started clearing fences getting ready to try and get the place put back together. We used the tractor and pulled the fence tight then went along and untangled and cleared the debris then dragged it back to the general area it belonged.

About noon we looked up and saw the riders were already back and had the steer penned. It was a lot quicker done job than I had expected.

The riders decided we needed a hand and turned the horses loose, grabbed gloves and headed down to the pens. Things went much quicker but still it was a long day. We had to dig new postholes, construct new H braces, drive new metal posts, clear debris, untangle old wire, stretch and splice each wire. We got all four wire cross fences up and called it a day at about 6pm. All of us slept well with a soft rain falling.

The days have only been getting up to about 60 before the rains start. It has rained every day for weeks now. I have never seen a monsoon season like this one. My big fear now is this precipitation cycle will continue into the winter as snow and end up killing us.

8/29/06 Tuesday

The crew went and helped our neighbors Don and Jeannie gather and move cattle to the west side of one of their pastures, they are getting ready to brand in a couple days. It was a kinda short day, they were done and home by about 2pm but had a good time riding some new country. Thomas got to see a bear a long the way.

I spent the day getting the backhoe running and then digging a new dump. It had been on my list for a year or so, and I tried a few times always finding the ground too hard to deal with. The top three feet were pretty good but then you get into a sandstone shelf that you just have to patiently chip away at. The machine is 30+ years old so all that combined for a long day but finally I had a good trench dug that’s 5 feet wide, 8 feet deep and twenty feet long.

Hi was close to 70, night was a damp 45. Rain in the evening.

8/30/06 Wednesday

Jay and Tom headed out today on a big loop and scout. I told them to head to the Steve canyon camp and drift any cattle that needed it back to the west. Then swap horses in the morning and head to Canyon Creek cabin checking fences and gates along the way and water in Pine canyon. Stay Thursday night at Canyon Creek and ride home on Friday checking fence and gates along the way.

It’s a loop I really would have loved to do. Just two riders, traveling a long way, traveling light, with a reason to be doing it.

Watching them ride off really made me envious. With this damn screwed up knee I haven’t ridden in almost a month now. I have missed the most beautiful time of year up here. I feel like the old camp cook, the crippled up cowboy who can’t ride any more, tends camp and watches everyone ride off every day wishing he could go along.

Nate and Thomas went out to get the stuck truck. This time they went with lots of chain and towing strap, come along, block and tackle, and jacks. They spent several hours at it with the help of the riders who happened to come along. They finally got it out and got it home. Good job by those two, just one of the many jobs besides riding that goes on a working ranch.

I spent the morning getting the roads back into shape…again. I used the loader and the dump truck and got everything looking and driving pretty well. I got done at about 3pm and there came the rain about an hour later messing everything up again. Not a huge blow out like before but enough to wash a lot of material I had spread.

8/31/06 Thursday

Nate and Thomas went on a long mountain ride up in Bearwallow pasture. They were looking for trespass cattle, checking to see how much erosion was going on and closing gates. Bow hunting season starts this weekend so I want all gates closed and hopefully people will leave them as they find them.

Also it was a chance for Thomas to see some new country. He’s been here four weeks now and almost all of it spent in the open grasslands. I wanted him to see some new country on his last day. It’s like being in Montana up there, tall spruce, Aspen, and fir trees. They got up to almost 10,000 feet and saw some great views. He came back saying it was just great and beaming.

Nate had enjoyed himself as well, he hasn’t spent too much time in that pasture and also saw some new country.

Thomas is leaving a day early for business so this was his last day in the saddle with us. We sure do thank him for all his help, from riding and gathering, to fence repair, truck unstucking, camp chores. He was a huge help in the branding pens.

We are assuming all is going well with Jay and Tom out there on the loop. There have been some big storms out that way and I’m sure they have been a bit wet at times.

Maggie went to Silver City for her once a month overnight laundry and shopping trip.

Late in the day Nate and Thomas along with Nates sisters and nephews who came up for the night drove out to Canyon Creek and took the riders some dinner I had made up for them. I had just cooked one chicken with stuffing thinking it would just be the four guys out there. I guess it worked out, Nate said his family didn’t eat and there was plenty tho he forgot to take the salad and dessert.

I spent most of the day trying to stay off my leg. I have used it too much this week and have set back healing.

Hi was 63, rain in the evening, low was 40.

9/1/06 Friday

Nate left early with his sisters for a visit to other family in Az. Thomas pulled out soon after them slipping away as I was feeding the mares and foals. I missed bidding him an adios and thanks. But I assume he knows he will always be welcomed back.

I spent the day collecting debris out of the pastures and also from up in the canyons a ways above the fences to try and cut down on the amount of stuff that will wash up on them the next big rain. But finally I realized it was just a waste of time. Hell there’s 50,000 acres of burn debris around us and a third of the watershed comes down through the H.Q. valley. It’s going to be a problem for years and I have to make some design and construction changes to the fences to keep them from washing out. I think some time I will drive a bunch of T posts across the canyons just where they open up into the valley. Put them a few feet apart to try and catch the big logs and rocks up there. It will just be something else to clean out and maintain.

Late in the afternoon I was starting to watch the trail for Jay and Tom coming in. About 3pm it started raining pretty hard and lightning pretty close. About 4pm I got Jay on the radio, they were still about an hour or more away. Maggie got back about the same time.

The riders had a great three day loop. Saw lots of country, had lots of different weather, saw lots of wildlife and got a real taste of what a line rider went through a hundred years ago. Including a lunch of cold canned chili in the rain. Tom said it was the best week he has had here. I knew he was just the man to send out. They reported fences in good shape, gates closed, all tanks filled, grass to horses knees and most importantly no wolf sign. The route they took and all the side trips to check gates I figure they covered about 60 miles.

We are going to start gathering and moving cattle into Canyon Creek pasture next week and my worry was that the Saddle Pack of wolves that tore us up so bad there last year were there waiting. The reports I had been hearing from neighbors was that they had moved a bit to the east. The lack of sign makes me think we may be in the clear for a while over there.

The next two weeks we will still be in Steve Canyon camp but then we will move over to Canyon Creek cabin. It will be nice to get over there with a solid roof over our heads.

This unusually heavy rainy season has made camp life a bit more unpleasant than past years. Normally we have no problem with wet camps and such, often just sleeping under the stars.

But all this had made me decide to get my ass in gear and do something I had planned for some time now.

Over the winter I am going to construct some Sheepherder Wagons. These are wagons that are solid roofed, 14 to 16 feet long with bunks and heat and lights. They have 7 feet of head room and are very comfortable. Next year we will still be camping just as much but everyone will be up off the ground, dry, be able to stand up, and I will set each up with a small solar hot water bag and a wash basin so we can clean up every day.

I just wish I had done it for this season. I will get them made and next year we probably wont have any rain.