Hooves on the asphalt. {the final trail.}

The last trail started with a 5am wake-up call (that probably should have been 4:30am, but I needed as much sleep as I could get), shoveling yogurt in my mouth and braiding my hair with my eyes closed. Oh, and how can I forget? The morning also included a 23 degree reading of the outside temperature gauge. These things started my mental list of things I won't miss however, just weeks from this trail that has become the Things I Already Miss List. 

I fussed about which hat to wear, and asked Jesse if I'd be warm enough in just a few layers. Also, of course the last trail is the FIRST trail that I remember to put some extra toilet paper squares in my jean pockets and remembered the bag balm for my lips!

Our wonderfulfantasticsupportiveawesome friends, Lorelyn and Trav came through our front door with smiles of support and excitement right on time and ready to go! Yes, we know how blessed we are to have friends that sacrifice their weekend and wake up at 4:30am to chase sheep 12 miles on foot! I'm telling you...these people are awesome.

We met our sheepherders at camp. They are ready to go and sadly didn't get much sleep with such cold temperatures on the eve of an emotional trail. It took us about 45 minutes to load their sleeping gear, the dogs and other items in the truck and the first sheep hit the road at 7:07am. We were off!

The first few miles Lorelyn and I front flagged together. As usual, I waited for the call on the radio that I was needed in the back. I dread that call, but I also love this call. It reminds me that I am needed and play (or played, rather) an important part in it all. This is when I have to get into marathon/professional sheep trailer mode and channel my inner mountain goat because I will be climbing up and down the sides of mountains chasing sheep and pushing them along.

I flank to the back of the large herd and the sheep just keep coming. There were so many more this year because a local sheep herder's sheep mixed with our herd while they were on the mountain so we were trailing a lot more than usual. As my wooly little friends walk past me, I take a few minutes to just appreciate it all. I took special notice of the sun glistening on their backs, the unique bleating of each and every one of these four-legged animals, I listened to their breathing and my heart smiled at each of the little lambs who managed to stick right next to their moms this far in to the trail.

I took special notice of their hooves on the asphalt and how it sounds like a rainstorm on a metal roof. This will be the last time I ever do this. Ever. After I take it in, I start sheep talking and walking and try to forget the tears welling up in my eyes.

Just before the picture above was taken a sheeptrailing angel (also known as one of our really neatsupercool friends) came to our rescue and offered up some coffee, tea, and hot chocolate. I asked her a few days before this day if she would be interested in taking some pictures of us trailing since it's close to impossible for me to catch any decent ones while running along the trail. She happily agreed and later gave us hundreds of photos to sift through and look back at. We will cherish these photos forever. The coffee, tea, hot chocolate and the use of her bike to help move traffic through the sheep were just added bonuses. Nice to know that we had been doing it all wrong all these years! Shoulda invested in a bike with a bell. Worked like a charm. ;)
 

We have some darn awesome friends, I tell you. Awesome.

When I was going through all the photos we got of this trail I stopped at this one and decided it was my favorite of all. I am so proud of this man and am so glad he'll get to take it a little easier on his body now - ranching is no joke, folks. I'm especially excited for him to be able to sleep in every now and again.

We finally made it to the major intersection of the trail. This is when the rest of the family met up to help. I see my mother in law with the grand-kids, my sister in law at the West side of the light stopping cars and my father in law on the East stopping cars. I stop and hug my mother-in-law (the sweetest, most genuine woman alive) and get a little teary eyed. She enthusiastically reminded me, "It's a good day!" and while I tried really hard to fight the tears a part of me wished this sheep herding thing would have worked out a little differently for our family. I had to remind myself of all the things that lead us to the decision we made and move forward.

I hurry over to my niece and nephew, give them kisses and snap a picture...if they don't remember this day, I'll show them this picture. You were there on the last day of a beautiful family tradition.

Just a few moments later the sheep are crossing through the intersection that we all are anxious to get through safely.
Now, it's the homestretch....

We keep the doggies in the trailer and off the road for their safety. If they don't look happy in this picture, it's because they aren't..they want to be with their sheep.

It wasn't long before we were heading down our county road which is all of our favorite part of the trail. Have I mentioned that we live in such a beautiful area? ;)

Just a mile from the house I picked up my nephew and he helped me trail the sheep to the ranch. The 4 hour and 45 minute trail went by pretty fast although, my knees weren't saying that the next day.

It was a bittersweet moment for all, but it is so exciting to close this wonderful chapter and begin a new one. 

It's been just over a month since this final trail and while there is no doubt in our minds we did the right thing, we are sure missing our furry friends that have enriched our lives over the past years. We will never forget them and I personally owe them so much for teaching me patience, love, loyalty and most of all to enjoy all of the beautiful things this world has to offer, especially God's creatures. 

This story isn't over folks, I feel like it's just the beginning.

Save any sheep lately?

These pictures tell a great story.

 

Click here for article.

Baa-ing Before Breakfast {and a Bloglovin request}

The past two weekends (at a time that is way too early to even mention) Jesse and I, our herders and two of our most awesome friends oh, and 2100 sheep headed up to the high country aka summer range.

In years past I've always walked and front flagged the trails heading to and from our summer range. When front flagging you can't see the chaos of the herd; you don't see everyone working their butt off trying to keep the sheep on the road.

When front flagging you enjoy the beauty around you, the birds chirping, the deer roaming - you get the picture. In case you don't...

If you can imagine the very opposite of such a peaceful state, that is what herding the back of the herd along the road feels like. Complete and utter stress and chaos.

Imagine herding 100 cats. Impossible, right? Exactly.

This year I had the great pleasure of pushing the back. Jesse pushes the front group, two people the middle group and about three people push in the back aka run like crazy chickens trying to get these ewes and lambs back on the road. No offense to chickens.

Even with all the bodies there are challenges. Challenges that include rolling ankles or having to channel your inner mountain goat and climb up the sides of hills to get sheep back on track. Or getting heat exhaustion (which happened to one of our helpers this trail). Or getting sheep dung flung onto your face. Um, that happened too. Or, my favorite is being the lucky herder that gets to chase that one lamb through an open field with nothing but hope he/she will go where you want it to, all the while having everyone watch, wait and hope as well. It's a little humiliating to have your sheep herding skills on display like that. After all, we have a "leave no sheep behind" policy.

Or...getting peed on by this little guy. Don't worry, it dried pretty quickly.

The first of these two trails is a hard one because not only is it 13 miles while gaining elevation it's the first long trail for the lambs. This means they are tired and haven't learned to stick by mama and follow the herd.

This picture below was a great portion of the trail because there was fencing along this stretch and the sheep were a bit easier to keep on track. Keep reading and you'll see what happens when there isn't good fencing.

This was right about when things went completely haywire! I mean...clothes even came off!

Lambs are mischievous little suckers. They frolic into every field, up every hill, every garden. It's no joke. This picture below is a great example of lambs misbehaving. The horses in this field actually charged at the lambs and helped us out a bit. The quality of this photo is horrible, but it was the best I could do while running. ;)

The sheep cheering squad was nice....this was around mile 5 of 13 on the first trail. First time in 20+ years we've had signs! I love my community. Two weekends later the sheep are now on our first permit of the summer, but this doesn't mean the work is done. Just this week J got a call from his friend that saw a small group of sheep running up the road. Again, mischievous little suckers. Needless to say there have been several trips up and will be many more to search for the group on the loose (click here to read about our ewe that walked herself all the way home!). Oh, and did I mention it's haying season as well? My husband works too damn hard. He deserves a vacation!

Happy First Day of Summer and please keep our beautiful state in your thoughts as we have many fires burning and a lot of firefighters risking their lives to save ours. 

And another important announcement in case you didn't know - Google Reader is going away July 1st, y'all.
Follow my blog with Bloglovin!

Washington Day 2 and 3: Agvocating.

This is a write up that the Colorado Farm Bureau sent out in a newsletter. It does a great job of summing up the purpose of our trip since, let's be honest...I am totally not going to find the time to write something up on my own.
 
CFB Members Voice Positions in Washington D.C. this Week
On April 22-25, eight Colorado Farm Bureau members, along with Vice President of Public Policy Brent Boydston and Executive Vice President Chad Vorthmann, visited Washington, D.C., to learn about federal policy, meet legislators and visit two embassies. The group met  with AFBF staff to get the latest briefing on bills in front of congress. Then, they met U.S. Trade Representatives to talk about the Trans Pacific Partnership and the importance of trade to Colorado agriculture.  The participants met with Senator Udall to discuss issues and present him with the Friend of Farm Bureau award. After that they had the opportunity to meet with Senator Bennet and talked about immigration reform, and they finished the day at the Embassy of Ireland.

The next morning, they met with the House Judiciary Committee, where they talked about ag labor and the immigration bill. After that, they met with Congressman Polis's staff, where they discussed endangered species and the EPA. Then they met with Congressman Cory Gardner, and finished the day with a meeting at the New Zealand Embassy.

"This trip was very valuable to our members who had the opportunity to discuss policy issues with many of our legislators and review federal legislation that affects their farms and ranches. We had a great experience, learned a lot and most importantly did an outstanding job representing Colorado's farmers and ranchers," said Vorthmann.  

Wordless Wednesdays - The Home Stretch.

This past week the very pregnant sheep came home from their winter range. This was their home stretch.

You know you are a rancher's wife when...

this conversation happens weekly.


                        me:     I'm going to jump in the shower.

                        hubby: O.K.

                        me:     Are you going to shower tonight?

                        hubby: No.   Didn't sweat today.

I can tell you that he did shower the day this photo was taken.
Thank God.

Raising awareness...

Last week I mentioned I was putting on an Ag Day Event at our local library in honor of National Agriculture Day.

I started getting super nervous that no one would come and J and I would be eating baked potatoes for weeks to come, but to my surprise we had about 40 people attend.

Although forty people isn't a ton and I'm sure more than 40 people in the county eat food or use products that are directly tied to agriculture production, I feel like the event was a great success.

We raised awareness about the agriculture industry, partook in a Baked (locally grown) Potato Bar,

listened to a Cowboy Poet,

and watched the movie Temple Grandin. Have you seen Temple Grandin? Such a great movie!

On top of all the fun we provided important and interesting information about the industry.

Considering the county I live in is rural and we are all surrounded by farms and ranches, I am a little surprised more people didn't come. I think a lot of people just take the abundance that agriculture provides for granted and some just don't care.

I obviously can't change the world, but if one person left my event this past weekend feeling grateful toward the agriculture industry, then I guess I did what I set out to do.

I plan on making this an annual event and I can't wait to watch it grow.


If you missed the Ag Day/Week celebrations don't fret, in the words of fellow blogger, Crystal Cattle, "...you can celebrate farmers everyday!"

Sheep Camp by Baxter Black

Baxter Black is a Cowboy, a poet, a comedian and one clever dude.

No, I don't know him personally, but I love everything he has to say!

For those of you to whom the word "sheep camp" conjures up a pastoral, nostalgic, even romantic vision of shepherds watching over their flocks by night, I suspect you've never spent a night in one!

Sheep camp, in the real world of shepherding, is the wagon where you sleep, live and eat. It looks like a small covered wagon, a round top on a box. There is a built-in-bed with storage underneath. There is a small stove-heater propane unit and a drop-down kitchen cabinet behind. A lantern provides light. The roof could be canvas or sometimes fitted tin. The wagon has four tires and a tongue and is usually hauled or pulled to the grazing area.

In its heyday, the mid-1900s, sheep camps were as common and handy as Airstream motor homes. It was the best years for the sheep business.

I worked in the ION country (southern Idaho, western Oregon, northern Nevada) in the '70s near the end of good times for sheep business. I worked for an outfit that ran 20,000 sheep on the high desert sagebrush. In the summer, the herd would be divided into bands of 2,000-3,000.

One man with his sheep camp, dogs and a saddle mule or horse would watch over his band. He would keep moving them to good forage and try to protect them from predators. When it was needed, he would hook up his horse and drag his camp to a new location.

The boss would drive with the supplies, including water, at least once a week, maybe more. These were self-sufficient, hard-working immigrants, often Basques from Spain. Over the years I watched the Basque improve their lot and be replaced by South Americans. In Wyoming, I have known of white American sheepherders, but that was uncommon. Suffice it to say the kind of person who is fit to that life and can do it well, has to be a no-frills kind of person.

Fast-forward to the sheep business in the United States today. We import our lamb from Australia, we no longer subsidize the eco-friendly natural resource wool, and we have posted a mountain of regulations protecting predators, wildlife, grazing land and the New Zealand sheepherders.

Now this year the Department of Labor has taken it upon itself to write an official sheepherder job description and other requirements, with the object of restricting the hiring of "foreign shepherds." These regulations assure that hiring foreign workers won't deprive any of the 14 million unemployed able-bodied Americans, of a job.

My question is, what able-bodied, evicted, food-stamped, credit-revoked, receiving-government-checks American standing in the unemployment line today, is going to apply for an outdoor job on Blizzard Mountain, Idaho, where you are on call 24 hours a day, knows how to bed down 1,800 sheep, can identify Halogeton, and castrate lambs with his (or her) teeth?

Maybe before we pile any more regulations on the overburdened handful of sheepmen left, the Secretary of Labor should spend a night on Blizzard Mountain in a sheep camp with a box of matches, a roll of Downy and a shaker of louse powder. I think she would be assured there is no real danger of foreign workers depriving our "nanny state" privileged citizens of proper employment.

Besides any Americans that would make good sheepherders are already at work on the Great Northern Gas Fields, Iraqi pipelines and Afghanistan security patrols. Like I said, it takes a no-frills kind of person.  - Baxter Black

A tipping tractor.

We woke up to snow last Sunday - it was a wonderful sight and very welcomed. We need the moisture. We need it bad. I prayed it would snow all day so I had an excuse to stay in my pj's, but as the wonderful state of Colorado would have it - the sun came out.

If you stay inside on days like this...SHAME.ON.YOU.

It was a very relaxing morning, but let me tell you how that changed in the blink of an eye.

J was out blading our roads and I heard a door slam - I assumed he was all done with the chores for the day. I got my Bogs and jacket on and went to meet him outside so we could go for a walk, like we had planned. As I head outside I see J stomping up to the door. Something was wrong. So wrong.

"Everything okay there, Cowboy?"


"The tractor is going to tip over."

Um, what?!
The $40,000 tractor?
The tractor that is your dad's?!
The tractor we could never afford to replace?

Needless to say, my very relaxing snow day turned into what was almost a heart attack at 28 years old.

I must say while the picture doesn't do it justice you would have almost died too if you saw this:

I am so glad my father-in-law doesn't read my blog.

A huge Thank You to our awesome neighbor who came over with his tractor to help out! Unfortunately, I didn't get pictures of him pulling the tractor out because I couldn't bring myself to watch.

I can be such a wuss sometimes, but I deal with these types of situations best when my eyes are closed.

When I did open my eyes I was happy to see this: 

I'll be baking brownies for said neighbor this weekend.

Happy Friday, ya'll!

*also, a very good friend and fellow blogger will get a free portrait from her photographer if she gets 50 comments on this blog post. Would you take a minute to do that? I know she would be forever appreciative! Besides, who doesn't want an excuse to stare at a two gorgeous little girls for a few minutes?

Coming Home.

The alarm buzzes and I think, It can’t be time already.

As I stumble through my morning routine I am ready within minutes for Rambling Ewe Ranch’s big day.

The moon fills the sky and sheds enough light so we can find our way to the truck.
Orange flag in hand, Camelbak packed, we load up water and lunches for the herders. J checks the trailer to ensure proper hitching and we hop up in the truck.

We pick up Alberto, he lives nearby on the ranch. Elias and Daniel are waiting for us at the mountain.

Our herders are used to this early work, it’s a daily occurrence for them. For me, it's a little tough and I find myself unable to hold back the yawning.

As we all make our way up to where the sheep, Elias and Daniel are waiting, the excitement begins to build.

The mamas and babies are coming home!

Make way B-town…Sheep on Road!

I am dropped off about a mile ahead of where the sheep will get on the road and  I find myself smiling with excitement. It’s just me, the horses in the field nearby out this time of day and the road is quiet. Soon enough cars will be making their appearance. I sure hope we have happy drivers today.

It’s important the cars see me as they are driving.  My sole purpose as flagger is to alert cars that sheep are ahead and to PLEASE slow down.

Most cars slow down and enjoy the drive through the sheep. Some smile and wave and roll down their windows. Some want to chat with you about the sheep and ask how many we have this year. Many times children poke their heads out of the car to get a better view of the sheep. Other cars take heed to our signs that are posted the week prior and avoid the street altogether. That's fine too.

Some forget the sheep are on the road and are either pleasantly surprised or grumble the whole way through.

I radio J on the walkie-talkie and ask them what his status is. He replies back, "They are on the road!"

I wait to see the first sheep around the bend and start walking!  "Okie dokie! Here we go!"

Soon enough we are rocking and rolling.

J will trail the back of the herd in the truck. He slows traffic behind him as he pulls our horse trailer full of our dogs that were working on the mountain. There is an orange, bright sign on the back of the truck that says, Sheep on Road. We don't let the dogs trail on the road, we've had a car hit one of our dogs once before and want to ensure that doesn't happen again.

They want to be where the sheep are. They aren't happy campers when they aren't.

Last year the sheep wanted to run home (all 12 miles) and this year was a bit better. They weren't in such a rush.

Jigs did come along for the ride, but slept most of the time in the car. She gets by on her looks, not her hard work. ;)

Along the way, I enjoy the view of the foothills of the San Juans. It’s a lovely sight and there is something about leading hundreds of sheep to a place they love, that makes your heart happy.




And so, I am reporting back with news of a good and successful day. Today is a milestone for J and I. We made it through our first full year of sheep ranching! It's a wonderful feeling and I want to say thank you to everyone that has offered us their support, prayers and words of encouragement over the past few months.

Tonight our herders are proud of their work (as they should be) and our sheep are happy. 

"Trailing 2011"

Poo On Road. Use Alternate Route.

It's that time of year...the leaves are changing, kids are back in school, the crisp fall air surrounds us and the sheep make their way back to the ranch!

If you've been around here long then you know that the sheep coming home from the summer range up in the mountains is one of my favorite times of year! (The other is when the sheep come home in April from the winter range.)

Our herder, Daniel did a spectacular job tending to the sheep this summer and for his first year on the mountain he far surpassed our expectations! We are grateful for his hard work and dedication to the ranch. Very grateful.

Our sheep will be coming home Sunday, October 2nd and yes, once again I will be leading the pack (aka flagging oncoming traffic while I say about 100 yards ahead of the herd). I'm not worried though...I've been mentally (not so much, physically) preparing for this trek all year long. Bring it on!

If the sheep want to run all 12 miles home, then running it is! I.am.ready!

Back to the story at hand...

This weekend was our towns annual Heritage Days Festival. The history of our town is celebrated in the park and is kicked off with a 5K Fun Run and the annual "Trailing Running of the Sheep!" The other sheep rancher in the area brings his sheep off the mountain a week before we come off and times it so the sheep make it through the main street around 9am on Saturday (sheep time).

I, unfortunately didn't get many pictures, but this will give you an idea...

Our sheep used to be the sheep that came through town, but we can get another week of feed on the mountain and we have to take advantage of that! 

After the trailing and the road is covered in poo, there is a parade through town then vendors in the park. There are several events including a car show, a redneck fashion show, music and this year there was a lamb roast, the lamb provided by yours truly.   :)

It was yummy!


It's truly a great event in which my mother-in-law helped start and I do plan on having a more active role next year. It's important to keep this tradition alive. It's what this area was founded on!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

An Update on the Sheep

I haven't had any sheep related posts the last few weeks so I thought I would give ya'll an update.

The sheep are currently up in the high country and will be there until early October.
You know...when I help trail them down aka my unintentional half marathon last year!

I was able to take my family up there a few weeks ago. It just so happened J needed to move camp while mi familia were in town and I jumped at the opportunity. We also took an unplanned trip up there the next week to pick up one of our herders. More on that in a sec.

The sheep look good. Really good. They are grazing away, loving their lives.

It's beautiful up there.

 Here comes Gringo to say hello!

Let me give you an idea of what it is like for our herders up on the mountain. They have no running water and the water they use is freezing cold. They sleep in tents in the middle of the forest and are  frequented by bear and coyotes (thank goodness for our awesome guard dogs!).

Now while they do have cell phones, the service is spotty and their battery has to last until the next "move". This is when J will bring their cell phone home and charge it. He takes it back to them the next move.

Their job up in the high country is to keep the sheep in a certain area (we'll go over this in a bit) and tend to them as needed.

Our Forest Service permits allow us to be at certain places on the mountain for a certain amount of time.

When our time is up (or there isn't enough feed) we move camp to the next location. "Camp" consists of our herder's supplies and sleeping quarters (tents). J goes up every week, takes our herders supplies and moves everything to the next spot. It's really a tedious process.

For instance, today J moved camp. He left at 7:00 this morning and spends hours on the 4 wheeler taking in supplies (since obviously we can't drive right to the "campsite"). It was a long day for him.

It's 11pm and he literally just walked in the door.

Some trips he'll trade out dogs. Today he took Nell to the mountain and brought Sage home. Duke and Nell, our newest pups are spending their first summer up on the mountain. Hopefully they learn the ropes!

J also brings me an update on how things are going. He is sure to tell me how all the dogs are doing - Wito, Embre and Gringo are the guard dogs currently up there. They are doing a good job keeping the bear and coyote away. Daniel says we've had bear and coyote almost every night. Yikes!

I am proud to say that I've gotten him in the habit of putting some treats in his pocket for the dogs on "Camp Moving" days.

If only I can get him in the habit of packing a lunch and a Nalgeen. He came home super dehydrated and starving.

Sleeping Single in a Double Bed.

It's haying season and our tractor only plays cassette tapes.

Unfortunately, J and I both the world stopped buying cassette tapes and made the switch to cds about, I dunno ten years ago?

Needless to say our cassette tape collection is non-existent. There is one cassette tape around these parts and it lives in the baler's tape deck. It's been in the baler's tape deck for a very long time. A very long time.

You might be wondering how I know this and what the name is of the lone cassette tape?

Well, I know this because J comes in every night singing and whistling the same tune from said cassette tape. It is pretty catchy, I'll give him that, but still quite annoying.

Take it away Barbara....

He's going to soon find himself sleeping single in the guest room.

I'm looking forward to whenever it is that haying season ends!

Mutton Mondays - "Sweetgrass"

I recently had the opportunity to watch a documentary on sheep ranching. The film is titled, Sweetgrass and although it is a purely observational film (aka sans narration) I found it interesting to watch.

I welcomed Aubrey Gallegos the Community Engagement and Education Department at POV to give a brief synopsis about the film. Hope you enjoy and check it out!

Here's Aubrey!

This summer, POV, a social issues documentary film series on PBS, is including in its 24th season line-up a film about a dying tradition in sheep ranching. Sweetgrass, which is now streaming on-line for free, follows the Allestad family who, in 2001, led three thousand sheep and five dogs through Montana's Beartooth Absaroka Mountains for the last time, due to public land grazing policies. Described by the filmmakers as "an unsentimental elegy to the American West, Sweetgrass follows the last modern-day cowboys to lead their flocks of sheep up into Montana’s breathtaking and often dangerous Absaroka-Beartooth mountains for summer pasture. This astonishingly beautiful yet unsparing film reveals a world in which nature and culture, animals and humans, vulnerability and violence are all intimately meshed."

]

For a quiet film about sheep, Sweetgrass has stirred up quite a bit of conversation concerning its unique observational style, which does not mince around the realities of sheep ranching. Sweetgrass is a sensory ethnography, applying anthropological and ethnographical research methods to filmmaking in the telling of this real-life story. The film forgoes narration, even during the more startling scenes, such as the unsentimental sorting of lamb orphans to pair them up with ewes, docking tails, and shearing the sheep. The result is a meditative film, unadulterated by commentary, interviews, or explanation, that puts the viewers in the midst of these massive herds of sheep and the raw, solitary life of the people who lead them 150 miles through the mountains and back again.


In a Live Chat interview on POV, one viewer asked directors Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Ilisa Barbash, “Were you ever concerned that the purely observational style of the film would lead some viewers to false or premature conclusions about the rough handling of the sheep by the herders?” Castaing-Taylor responded, “Not really. The advantage of observational styles is that they let viewers come to their own conclusions, rather than being spoon-fed something by a journalist or producer. Anyone can draw conclusions, false or true. Many urban folks whose experience of non-human animals is just of pets or in zoos have little idea of human-animal interactions over the last 10,000 years…Narration is a way to control and disempower the viewer, to tell them what YOU the filmmaker want him/her to think and know and feel. Fiction films don’t usually have an omniscient narrator or on-screen commentator. No reason why documentaries have to use narration as such a crutch either.” Barbash adds, “We did not want to tell people how and what to think. We have too much respect for viewers…We wanted people to sit back and watch the film for themselves and have their minds changed again and again...”

- Aubrey Gallegos, Community Engagement and Education Department at POV

This video is the first observational film I’ve watched. I do wish the video offered some narration, for purely educational purposes. One that doesn’t know sheep might misinterpret some parts of the movie, but I also understand the goal of the producers.

There are quite a few similarities between the family in the film and how we run our sheep. So if you are interested in getting an idea as to how our ranch is run or about the sheep ranching industry, this film is for you! 

If you’ve seen the film I would love to hear what you think. If you haven’t you can view Sweetgrass on-line here until October 4th.

I was not compensated for this post.

Wordless Wednesdays - Lunchtime Photo

I ran home for lunch today and snapped this photo with my cell phone.

It may be a VERY hot 85 degrees today (even hotter in my car because the A/C is broken) but even on the hottest of days this view never lets me down.

Happy Wednesday!

Wordless Wednesdays - Summer and Sunbathing Sheep.

In honor of our Mexico trip I thought I would show you what sunbathing sheep look like! 

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of the week and a fabulous weekend.

Almost there...

You haven't lived until you've trailed sheep. For reals.

The anticipation absolutely sucks, but the reward when the sheep get to their destination is like no other. The camaraderie is amazing because it takes every.single.person to get it done successfully. 

Last Sunday was the last leg of the big trip and it started early. We were up and at 'em at 5:30 am and met where the sheep were taken the night before. After a quick, "Good Morning," I continued on to my destination which was the intersection on the main highway. It was a chilly morning and I found myself doing jumping jacks to stay warm.

I waited there for about 20 minutes in the middle of the street with my flag. When I heard the baa-ing I knew it was "go" time. The sheep came around the corner, I started waving my flag and stopped the first car. Thankfully, the car wasn't in a rush to get anywhere and wasn't pissed that she was stuck behind sheep. You see, some people will get super angry and annoyed and others will say things like, "Oh, neat!" or "Wow, that is a lot of sheep. How fun!"

The sheep were only on the highway for about 30 minutes until they got on the county road.

Once they got on the county road it was a piece of cake from there.

We trailed about 2 hours and hit our first rest stop. Pop and J arrange our stops beforehand since some people may not be up for a visit from the sheep.

The people that owned this lot didn't mind one bit and they want us back next year!

2.5 hours later we hit our lunch spot.

We wanted to take advantage of the feed there and give the sheep, our herders, J, Pop, Gell and myself a break so we stayed here for about 4 hours.

After that long break, we were on our way again!

See Pop's truck and sheep camp up front? He was front flagging in the car and I was trailing behind the sheep. I've learned it's best to front flag because in the back you see everything! Every time a sheep or lamb would go off trail my heart would start pounding. On top of that, any stragglers get put in the back car (my car) to be taken back to the ranch.

From now on, I want to front flag (walking) like I have in the past.

It's so fun to see all the families that make an event out of it. We had families with their lawn chairs, in their robes and some that came out to shake hands with our herders. These kids were pretty excited. 

These llamas were pretty excited too!
It never fails that animals along the way walk up to their fences to see what is going on.

People tend to try and help along the way. This guy was "helping" on his 4-wheeler keeping sheep on the trail using a rag.

The view along the way is always so beautiful. This house is just gorgeous, don't you think?

Once the sheep got to where they would stay for three nights I was able to breath again. All of the sheep (except the one mama and three babies we had to take back to the ranch) made it safely.

Thank goodness!

Here they are at their last stop for the next three days!

We took two guard dogs, Embre and Gringo up to the high country later that evening since there are bear and coyotes up in the high country. The dogs will help ward off predators.

"Take me to my sheep!"

There you have it, the sheep are up in the high country and they are happy, safe and have GREAT feed.

Funny story...

Once we got to the location above a man drove by and told us there was a bear wandering in a nearby field. I decided to try and find the bear, in my car, of course.
Smart, I know.

I snapped this picture thinking I found it!

Turns out that was a tree stump. :(

Huge FAIL on my part.

As timing would have it, just when I get this post published it's time to move again! J did a move yesterday and there is another move on Sunday. Now it's just a matter of getting them up in the mountains. We spread these moves out and stop along the way when the feed is good and if the people along the way are up for a visit from the sheep. This year is a good year for feed and the landowners up the way don't mind the sheep, so we are taking advantage of that. :)

Happy trails and wooly white tails!