No, not me. I am home. But the cattle who have happily grazed on the Salina Creek allotment this summer have suddenly decided it is time to go back to the pastures of the Oak Spring Ranch. Their scheduled return is for tomorrow, but no one bothered to tell them that and in all their anxiety, they come down off the mountain and wa...la, they come upon a major road (which happens to be the coal mine road). Now the trucks coming down and going up this road are not expecting to come around a bend and find a cow and her calf sauntering across the road in the middle of the day (or any other time, for that matter). We have been very lucky, so far, because Friday Brad hurried up the canyon and ushered them into a coral.
Saturday, Scott and I found about 15 head with their calves who were bent and determined to go all the way back to the ranch. We tried several times to turn them back, but to no avail and so Scott gave me a stick and told me to follow them while he drove ahead and opened all of the gates and for 2 hours and about 6 miles I followed them up the access road eating their dust as we went. I must have been a sight for sore eyes because every once in a while we would come around a bend and they would decide they were tired and wanted to quit, so they would stop and then turn to see if I was still following them. They would immediately turn around, shake their heads and trot down the road. I kept telling them that they were the ones that made this choice to go home TODAY instead of Monday when it was scheduled and they could travel with all of their friends instead of just this elite group, but NO they had to go home today!
A few hours later Scott finally returned (I have no idea where he had been while I had been accosted by hunters, 4 wheeler parties, and honked at by truckers) but we continued to follow them in our truck until Clint and Cory relieved us and took them the rest of the way in.
It was a great adventure and even though I moaned and groaned with sore muscles last night, I must admit I loved seeing the beauties around me. The sky was cloudy intermittently and the thunder rolled over the mountains to the south. I marveled again this week at the many colors that dotted the mountains and the beauties of the canyon as a whole.
Today right after church I received a phone call. The nice man on the other side said, "there are about 5 head of cattle on the mine road. I am afraid they will get hit." "Someone will be right there to get them", I promised. So Clint and Brad, thank you for giving up your nice Sunday nap to go rescue those cattle for one more day. Maybe a bridge over the mine road would be a good idea.
4 comments:
Hi Carol Lee! Your page is so cute!
don't you love the stubborness of cattle? Gotta love it and the drama it creates! Love your blog!
thanks for your good example to our family
What were you doing to make the truckers honk at you? And Nanc want's you to remember that every movement counts
Just when you think that life gets easier (no kids to "round up" at night), you get the cow! This story needs to be published in some farm magazine. Too cute!
P.S. Congratulations on a new grandchild!
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