It Takes A Team

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6/2/10 & 6/3/10

6/2/10, Cimarron, CO - The team and I had a very relaxing day off on the Bar E Ranch.  While they roamed around a nice pasture, I managed to stay occupied most of the day.

Most of the morning, I spent helping Linda work on the irrigation system The ranch waters about 500 acres, and irrigation is an endless chore.  The first task was to use the tractor to cut a shallow ditch to divert runoff to a section of a hillside that wasn’t being watered.  Then, using a shovel, small channels were cut in the ditch to divert a portion of the runoff water to the hillside.

The dots you see on the grass are some of the hundreds of cattle now being grazed on the ranch. In a few weeks, the cows and their calves will be driven down the road by men on horseback to the National Forest, 17 miles to the south, The cattle will spend their summer up in the high country, before returning to the Bar E for grazing in the fall.

After working on the new diversion ditch, we closed and opened gates on a 10 inch gated pipe to water a dry section of field.

When the irrigation chores were done, we took a trip to Montrose to pick up some supplies.

During the day, Linda took charge of a month old calf that had lost his mother.  Up until now, the calf was getting milk from a cow that had lost her calf; but, this involved putting the cow in a squeeze chute, twice a day, as she wouldn’t let the strange calf suckle naturally. The calf was pretty wild, so it will take some time before it doesn’t take two determined people to give it a bottle (like, in a few weeks, when it’s weaned!)

Cutting a new ditch to divert runoff water to the hill side below the ditch.

With time off for socializing and doing some chores around the wagon, my day off was pretty full. The lads had a good time munching grass and socializing with the other horses.

Gated irrigation pipe supplying water to the field below.

6/3/10, Montrose, CO - After a day of pulling up and down hills, the team and I are settled in at the Museum of the Mountain West, about 3 miles east of Montrose.  Of course, Barry will have my exact position plotted on the Google Map for the trip, as the GPS Phone he sent me is operating and providing him with realtime data of my location.

As soon as I was hitched up this morning, I backed the wagon up to the trailer and put us back in the ‘road travel’ mode.  Since I’m in the moutains, and water is fairly available, I first emptied the 30 gallon barrel on the trailer - this lightened the trailer weight by 240 pounds.

The team standing in front of the gate for the Bar E, with Linda Daniels, just before we headed down the road.

it was tough leaving the Bar E, as Linda and Cady have been such wonderful hosts, but, by 7:45 am, we were on the road. After driving to the small store in Cimarron, our big chore for the day was getting up and down Cerro Hill.  In the four or five miles after leaving the store, we climbed 1000 feet in elevation.

After a lunch on top, we then descended about 2000 feet, before arriving at the museum.  I think the lads were glad I did what I could to lighten up the trailer!

On top of Cerro Hill at 8000 feet above sea level.

With a 20 mile day, and Cerro Hill behind them, the lads were pretty tuckered out by the time we drove into the Museum.

The horses get another down day tomorrow, as I help the staff get ready for the event. On Saturday, there should be quite a crowd gathered for the “Tribute to Western Movies Day”.

Parked 100 feet the other side of my wagon is another wagon that was used in the filming of the movie “True Grit”.  For those of you that remember, it was the wagon with bars that was used to transport prisoners to and from the jail in Fort Smith!