Destination: the sagebrush sea
Every year at this time, we are almost there with the final leg of our 150 mile trek as the sheep trail from their summer country in the Medicine Bow and Routt National Forests to winter pasture in Wyoming’s Red Desert. Each way, spring and fall, we must cross the overpass across the Union Pacific line, and the underpass below Interstate 80–both coast to coast trails of a different sort. We make this part of the trail on WY Highway 789. For several miles, we share the highway with cars, pickup trucks and trailers, motor homes, and semi trucks hauling everything from livestock to oilfield supplies. We flag the road, ‘fore and aft, to warn traffic that the sheep are on the highway. We’ve only had a few near wrecks over the years, due mostly to inattentive or inexperienced drivers, and sometimes bad weather. Mostly we see our neighbors, who wait and wave, fellow travelers, and folks who stop and take photos and ask questions. I always send up a prayer of thanks when sheep, dogs, horses and humans have safely threaded the needle, and are on their way to the Red Desert. Then I pray for a good winter, good feed and a good living for all.
at Rodewald’s gate
Jean Carlos on the run
Filo on the railroad bridge
headed East
passing the Fireworks Stand
sharing the road
Prima Express–dos direciones
Under I80
Ovcharka livestock guardian dog sees them through the gate
trailing crew–Rhen, Pepe, McCoy and Pat
more crew–Pepe, Tiarnan and Meghan
Tiarnan and Modesto headed north on adopted wild horse
Ladder Ranch
elliek
December 1, 2015 at 10:50 AM
How many sheep are you trailing these 150 miles? Do you lose many sheep on this move? Looks like an interesting move to take on.
Ladder Ranch
December 1, 2015 at 12:03 PM
Each of the three bands has more than 1,000 ewes. We really don’t lose any. If a ewe is lame, we load here into the pickup and give her a ride. You can see that they are tended by people and dogs.
Scott Clark
December 1, 2015 at 6:52 PM
Happy trails and good feed with plenty of good water
Cathy Weatherford
December 3, 2015 at 8:07 AM
Way cool. We are originally from Smith Valley in Nv. There were some sheep producers there, and in the Bridgeport Ca area where we summered cattle. This posting brought back a lot of memories. Great pictures. Big job. We only saw one sheepherder who rode his donkey. The rest walked. That was in the day when then lived in tents. I don’t think they allow that any more. Wonderful times in our life. Thanks for sharing, and keeping the sheep industry alive.
Ladder Ranch
December 3, 2015 at 12:27 PM
We still use tents in inaccessible places in the summer.