Cattle drive, installment 2 / Tuesday, October 30

Yahoo, we're going to drive cattle

Little did we know what lay in store for us. Maybe I should have read the synopsis of the cattle drive before we left, or booked it. Of course, I don't expect it would have included howling coyotes or the lovely sound of elk (I had no idea), both of which I heard our first night. Guess I didn't get to sleep right away. It also turns out that of the 25 largest mule deer on record, 10 of them have been taken in these parts. Hope Hobbs is paying attention to that. BIG deer. But his first love is whitetail. Maybe I'll see one.

The first real cattle drive day was going to be a long one. Our bodies, our butts, our lungs, our skin … all promised to suffer mightily. Good grief. We'd only spent an hour-and-a-half on a horse a few days before leaving. Prior to that, for both Flounder and me, it had been years since we'd been on horses.

While the afternoon before, we had help in getting our horses saddled and bridled, now it was time to put on our big girl panties, “cowgirl up” and do it by ourselves. The cowboys were helpful, but hey, this is part of what being on a cattle drive is all about.

Flounder and Blondie, ready to rock and roll.  She's wearing her proper desert hat since we're in the desert. 

The motley crew ready to ride and drive.

We were energetic, enthusiastic and incredibly naïve. By the end of 10 days, I'd get worn down, but I didn't know that yet. We were in the honeymoon stage.

I'm wearing my polar fleece hat since it's a bit cool, plus my FXRG motorcycle boots (waterproof and warm), long johns top and bottom, and two layers of fleece on top. I was a bit overdressed.  I'd change to my proper desert hat later in the day.  Luke was a gem, standing when I needed him to for photo ops.

The next thing on the agenda, after a hearty breakfast, packing a PB&J and an apple,and getting Luke outfitted, was to join the rest of the crew and go get the cows. There were all kinds, black, black and white, brown, brown and white. But they all had sweet faces. Except for the devil cow. I understand she's named because of some Disney movie or something. Black, with horns and no tags in her ears. But she's a leader and is always at the head of the herd.

Off we go, on our way to drive cows.  Whee, what fun this is. 

The crew started moving cattle. We had been told that cows have a comfort zone and if you are too close to them, they will stop, or move away from you. Who knew, a cow comfort zone?

About 950 cows, many of them pregnant, to drive.  Usually this drive is about 800.

Another photo of the crew.

Early in the day, before we were hardly started, Stetson's (one of the four young cowboys) horse spooked over something. It bucked, bucked and bucked again, then went over backwards. Stetson hit the ground, and it looked like the horse partially landed on him, got up and kicked him in moving away. Luckily, it looked worse than it was. Stetson seemed hardly to notice, he was up and then down on the ground. He got up, dusted himself off, put his hat back on and got back up on the horse.

Turns out Stetson's horse was green, and had only been ridden a time or two, so it was just getting broken in to being on the trail. (I found out later there were several green horses on this trip.) My heart was in my throat, and my stomach sick at the thought of something bad happening. Oh, for youth and resilient bones. I never saw him limp or gimp. I would have been laid up and begging for one of the trucks to transport my hurting, aching body to the next camp!

I do believe Stetson was a bit irritated with us all by the end of the day as we continually asked him if he was okay. By the time we got back to camp that evening the story was that he'd just gotten off his horse to retrieve his hat which had fallen to the ground. Okay. Whatever you say. You're one of our bosses. And isn't the boss always right? (Although I heard he had a couple more incidents, but he stuck his ride. Guess I'd give him a perfect 10.)

North ends of southbound cows.

Herman, one of the Austrians.  He's a postman.

Two of our youngest drivers, Emma (4) on the left, and her sister Esther (9).  These young ladies are the real deal, cowgirls from the hooves on up.  Esther rode the entire time, and Emma rode quite a bit.  She did sometimes pack with either Esther or her momma.  But these youngsters, and others, are troopers when it came to being out on the trail for 10 days, riding and eating dirt.

Up we went on a narrow trail with the cows. I was told I was too close and was breaking the movement of the herd. I had to get off the trail, but it was narrow, barely a couple of cows wide, with a steep hill and rocks on either side. I wasn't exactly comfortable with either the drive or my ride and didn't know how to get out of the mix, so finally just kept still and let them all go around me. I did way better next time, particularly once I was totally trusting that Luke would get me anywhere I wanted or needed to go. He was a gem and I fell in love with him.

Luke and me at the back of the herd.

Git along little doggies.

No fleece, but no proper desert hat yet.  Moving cows.

Kale was the cowboy who wanted me to move and later said he didn't mean to be harsh. Hey, I'm learning here, and need to be told. I grew to really appreciate Kale. He was quiet, but as with all the guys, knew exactly what he was doing. I wanted to be told what to do because these guys were my bosses. What I did on this drive would contribute to getting their cows safely to their destination, losing a minimum of weight. That's a lot of money on the hoof to not be doing your job right.

It was a beautiful and sunny day, but we had risen and went to bed in the cool darkness. It warms up during the day to make a pleasant and warm ride, filled with typical gorgeous Utah scenery. Riding 10+ hours today, setting up the tent in the dark, feeding, brushing and watering made for a long and tiring day. I was tired, tired, tired, and my feet and ankles ached. That would need some adjustment.

Even tired, one can't ignore the beauty surrounding you.

The moon again lit up the area like a streetlight and you could see the rocks and sand of the riverbed where we were camped. I didn't have any problem sleeping. I heard the coyotes again but nothing kept me awake. And I'm so glad I've not needed to get up in the middle of the night to visit the teepee.

I've figured if I don't drink anything at night, and eat lots of salt to retain water, that I won't need to visit this during the night.  There are animals out there ...