leanin' H
Well-known member
On October 13th we started the fall gather on the mountain. It rained (YIPEEEE) all day and most of the night friday so things started kinda soggy. Nobody complained at all. 
My mount for the day contemplating the forecast.
The clouds were low and the ground kinda muddy, which i will admit was dang strange. :shock: But ya gotta find cattle even if they hide in the fog, so away we went. By the way, this pasture has not been grazed this year yet. What feed you see is what we left last fall. Pretty much nothing grew this year, but this storm should sure help.
We broke out into the sunlight as we gained altitude in Cottonwood Canyon. Phil and Wayne led the way while Chance and I rode rear guard. Thankfully we were not attacked from either direction.
A scenery shot of a patch of oaks. Mother nature sure dresses pretty this time of year. And that ol' gal like loud colors!
Still going up Cottonwood. Used to be a road up it to the forks but it's all gone now. We keep a saddlehorse trail trimmed up the bottom.
Chance on "Rooster", a young horse he's bringing along nicely. Good young man right there. The next generation will run the ranch in more than capable hands.
It takes awhile to gain 2000 feet in altitude and cover 8 miles up the canyon. Sure was a fine day though!
When we hit the forks, Chance and Wayne took the right fork while Phil and I went up the left. We met up on top in what we call the deathflats. Kind of a basin/flat up near the top of the mountain and a favorite spot for cows this time of year.
Looking back toward the "rough hollow". It lives up to its name. :shock: We found one cow that belongs to a neighbor but she was too loco to try and move her. They get eating frozen choke cherry leaves and it makes them drunk almost. They cant walk and really have a hard time standing. I've seen them roll halfway off a ridge if ya push em. We'll let her "sober up" and get her another day as she was on water and had grass.
We started down there about where that road hits the dark green band of cedar trees. It was a good loop and we saw lots of country. But we learned where the cows arent. Didnt find a cow on the cottonwood side. Such is life on a desert gather.
Riding along behind Phil like i was Soap! Looking east toward the black peak in sheeprock canyon.
Desert Mountain looks like a desert island from up here. We trail the cows through that pass in late December on their way home to Delta.
We met our compadres and dropped over into Hard-to-beat canyon. We did find a crippled calf up high by water. Her mother had abandoned her so we went up with a 4 wheeler and rescued her since she was right on an old mining road. Her mother will be headed for town. :x
Heading down and out the mouth of the canyon. Covered about 20 miles in our loop and had a crippled heifer for our labor. Good thing we arent getting paid by the cow or we'd be broke. Wait a minute...... We are broke! :shock: But a fine ride with friends in fall desert canyons is plenty of payment.
Made it to cowcamp at dusk and the sunset was a swell way to relax and have supper while the coyotes sang me a serenade. And to think some folks live in little apartments in Chicago, ride the subway to an office cubicle and never care to roam the less civilized spots on the map. Have a fine evening.
My mount for the day contemplating the forecast.The clouds were low and the ground kinda muddy, which i will admit was dang strange. :shock: But ya gotta find cattle even if they hide in the fog, so away we went. By the way, this pasture has not been grazed this year yet. What feed you see is what we left last fall. Pretty much nothing grew this year, but this storm should sure help.
We broke out into the sunlight as we gained altitude in Cottonwood Canyon. Phil and Wayne led the way while Chance and I rode rear guard. Thankfully we were not attacked from either direction.
A scenery shot of a patch of oaks. Mother nature sure dresses pretty this time of year. And that ol' gal like loud colors!
Still going up Cottonwood. Used to be a road up it to the forks but it's all gone now. We keep a saddlehorse trail trimmed up the bottom.
Chance on "Rooster", a young horse he's bringing along nicely. Good young man right there. The next generation will run the ranch in more than capable hands.
It takes awhile to gain 2000 feet in altitude and cover 8 miles up the canyon. Sure was a fine day though!
When we hit the forks, Chance and Wayne took the right fork while Phil and I went up the left. We met up on top in what we call the deathflats. Kind of a basin/flat up near the top of the mountain and a favorite spot for cows this time of year.
Looking back toward the "rough hollow". It lives up to its name. :shock: We found one cow that belongs to a neighbor but she was too loco to try and move her. They get eating frozen choke cherry leaves and it makes them drunk almost. They cant walk and really have a hard time standing. I've seen them roll halfway off a ridge if ya push em. We'll let her "sober up" and get her another day as she was on water and had grass.
We started down there about where that road hits the dark green band of cedar trees. It was a good loop and we saw lots of country. But we learned where the cows arent. Didnt find a cow on the cottonwood side. Such is life on a desert gather.
Riding along behind Phil like i was Soap!
Looking east toward the black peak in sheeprock canyon.Desert Mountain looks like a desert island from up here. We trail the cows through that pass in late December on their way home to Delta.
We met our compadres and dropped over into Hard-to-beat canyon. We did find a crippled calf up high by water. Her mother had abandoned her so we went up with a 4 wheeler and rescued her since she was right on an old mining road. Her mother will be headed for town. :x
Heading down and out the mouth of the canyon. Covered about 20 miles in our loop and had a crippled heifer for our labor. Good thing we arent getting paid by the cow or we'd be broke. Wait a minute...... We are broke! :shock: But a fine ride with friends in fall desert canyons is plenty of payment.
Made it to cowcamp at dusk and the sunset was a swell way to relax and have supper while the coyotes sang me a serenade. And to think some folks live in little apartments in Chicago, ride the subway to an office cubicle and never care to roam the less civilized spots on the map. Have a fine evening.
