leanin' H
Well-known member
Most of you all know Cure from here in Utah who lives in Kamas, Utah and posts quite a bit. Well, apparently his supply of misery and sadness was running dangerously low, so he made a call to my cell phone and asked for assistance in getting it back up to acceptable levels! I immediately dropped everything i was doing and rushed south to aid him gather cows off his desert permit while also doing my best to irritate, frustrate and disgust him to the point his misery quota would be replentished! At days end he told me i went above and beyond his wildest dreams of misery and probably will never need to ever see me again. I aim to please pal! 
His desert differs from mine in lots of ways except our lack of moisture. We scattered out to look for cows in sandy, mostly flat country that had occasional bands of lava flow sprinkled about. Here's me and Reba working our way south.
Looking west through the Utah version of the sandhills. I never saw a single soapweed. Somebody must'a told him i was coming.
It was a fine April desert day. Got about a quarter inch of rain last night, which had settled the sandy dust nicely and made it easy to spot fresh cow tracks. The wind was steady but mostly mild.
I happened to look behind me and realized somebody a horseback was following me! :shock: Alas, it was myself and myself's horse whose hooves had left the trail over the dune. :wink:
This country has scattered pockets of juniper trees but was mostly sandy dunes with a really good amount of grass and browse. The cows were in fine flesh and content as we found them.
Bunch grass and native grass like indian rice grass was almost abundant.
Typical of gathering off the desert, you'd find 8 or 10 in little bunches scattered every couple of miles.
We started the day riding together, but it did not take too long until they'd had enough of me and decided we should split up in order to cover more country and possibly they hoped i would become lost. It's hard to tell from this distance, but both guys were suprised and slightly sad when i showed back up. They had nice Palomino mares as mounts even if they tried in vain to ditch me!
We ended up putting 11 head into a trap at a windmill. The solar panel is for a pump that sends water from this well and tank through a pipeline to another trough down the country a ways. We cut one cow with a brandnew baby off and loaded them in the stock trailer for a ride back to camp.
We followed our little bunch a ways and ended up finding 14 more all paired up, so we tucked them in and delivered them all back to the big pond and the trap by camp. Tomorrow, they will get a ride back up into the high mountain valley where Cure has his headquarters.
Reba was glad to see the trailer. We rode probably 12 miles or so and that ol' sand makes a pony work a bit.
Cure is the tall feller in the black vest. His wife told me he likes to wear tough, manly colors like black in order to try to compensate for also being a dairy farmer. :shock: :lol: He is a great guy with a nice bunch of cattle, a sweet, pretty wife and a lot of patience. The guy on the left is his cousin Kenneth who is a good hand and rode the beautiful buckskin mare also pictured. Scott is a good friend of Cure's who came out to help with the gather. He is originally from New York and even though i must of suggested it a dozen times, they wouldn't allow me to hang him! :lol: He now lives in Utah though, so it's probably for the best. And i am the guy on the right who the others are smiling in spite of.
That country is sure different. Driving back to the highway, i took some shots of the lava and the bands of old lava flow. Here's one from a ways away.
And the same place up a tad closer, via the zoom. Just a wall of old lava flow i guess. My geology degree is still trying to finish college by itself. It's probably getting better grades than i did while helping it!
The hay feilds run right up next to the lava. It makes for a contrast of color
Another shot of the feilds and the lava flow.
One last close up to show how jagged and rough the lava is up close. I can't imagine much would live out there but nature might have some secrets i don't know about. Thanks Cure and family, for getting with me and inviting me down today. Ya'll are a fine bunch and i really enjoyed getting in the way. Lets do it again if ya ever find yourself in dire need of a misery re-fill. Until then, have a fine evening.
His desert differs from mine in lots of ways except our lack of moisture. We scattered out to look for cows in sandy, mostly flat country that had occasional bands of lava flow sprinkled about. Here's me and Reba working our way south.
Looking west through the Utah version of the sandhills. I never saw a single soapweed. Somebody must'a told him i was coming.
It was a fine April desert day. Got about a quarter inch of rain last night, which had settled the sandy dust nicely and made it easy to spot fresh cow tracks. The wind was steady but mostly mild.
I happened to look behind me and realized somebody a horseback was following me! :shock:
Alas, it was myself and myself's horse whose hooves had left the trail over the dune. :wink:
This country has scattered pockets of juniper trees but was mostly sandy dunes with a really good amount of grass and browse. The cows were in fine flesh and content as we found them.
Bunch grass and native grass like indian rice grass was almost abundant.
Typical of gathering off the desert, you'd find 8 or 10 in little bunches scattered every couple of miles.
We started the day riding together, but it did not take too long until they'd had enough of me and decided we should split up in order to cover more country and possibly they hoped i would become lost. It's hard to tell from this distance, but both guys were suprised and slightly sad when i showed back up. They had nice Palomino mares as mounts even if they tried in vain to ditch me!
We ended up putting 11 head into a trap at a windmill. The solar panel is for a pump that sends water from this well and tank through a pipeline to another trough down the country a ways. We cut one cow with a brandnew baby off and loaded them in the stock trailer for a ride back to camp.
We followed our little bunch a ways and ended up finding 14 more all paired up, so we tucked them in and delivered them all back to the big pond and the trap by camp. Tomorrow, they will get a ride back up into the high mountain valley where Cure has his headquarters.
Reba was glad to see the trailer. We rode probably 12 miles or so and that ol' sand makes a pony work a bit.
Cure is the tall feller in the black vest. His wife told me he likes to wear tough, manly colors like black in order to try to compensate for also being a dairy farmer. :shock: :lol: He is a great guy with a nice bunch of cattle, a sweet, pretty wife and a lot of patience. The guy on the left is his cousin Kenneth who is a good hand and rode the beautiful buckskin mare also pictured. Scott is a good friend of Cure's who came out to help with the gather. He is originally from New York and even though i must of suggested it a dozen times, they wouldn't allow me to hang him!
:lol: He now lives in Utah though, so it's probably for the best. And i am the guy on the right who the others are smiling in spite of.
That country is sure different. Driving back to the highway, i took some shots of the lava and the bands of old lava flow. Here's one from a ways away.
And the same place up a tad closer, via the zoom. Just a wall of old lava flow i guess. My geology degree is still trying to finish college by itself. It's probably getting better grades than i did while helping it!
The hay feilds run right up next to the lava. It makes for a contrast of color
Another shot of the feilds and the lava flow.
One last close up to show how jagged and rough the lava is up close. I can't imagine much would live out there but nature might have some secrets i don't know about. Thanks Cure and family, for getting with me and inviting me down today. Ya'll are a fine bunch and i really enjoyed getting in the way. Lets do it again if ya ever find yourself in dire need of a misery re-fill. Until then, have a fine evening.