from the Forest to the corrals–getting ready for winter
Tag Archives: Battle Mountain
some sheep, some cows and a coupla llamas
Some sheep, some cows and two llamas walked into a bar. . .not really, because they couldn’t get a ride to the Cowboy Inn
Ryan Fire
Ryan fire at night
It has been a summer of fire, with smoke hanging heavy in our Valley much of the time. Only one of these fires, on Baker’s Peak, was close to home. Some of our neighbors lost pastures in fires to the west of us. Fire crews have been hard at work all summer. Professional firefighters go from one fire onto the next, as they achieve control. Many local and volunteer firefighters have also stepped forward to protect their friends and neighbors, and their property. We are once again veiled in smoke, mostly from the Ryan Fire, which is actively burning on the Wyoming/Colorado border about 30 miles to the west of us.
Current Situation
| Total Personnel | 223 |
| Size | 15,477 Acres |
| Estimated Containment Date | Monday October 15th, 2018 approx. 12:00 AM |
| Fuels Involved | Timber Fuel Model. Beetle-killed lodgepole pine and spruce/fir. Pine contains 40-50% dead standing and abundant down timber available to support surface to crown fires. ERCs are near the 97 percentile. |
Terrain and fuel driven crown runs.
 smoke over Battle Mountain  smoke rising over Battle Pass |
Spring is rushing over us!
Spring has definitely sprung, if not with weather, then with spring work. After a dry winter, we have had series of spring rains and snows. In the meantime, we have lots of baby lambs and calves arriving. We are trailing sheep to spring country and preparing to shear.
Cows with calves at Powder Flat
Heifer eating afterbirth
Wild horses watering at developed well
windmill from the ground
ewes and lambs
docking the early lambs
bum lambs in a box
lambs warming up in a tub
rainstorm with Battle Mountain
Almost time for fall romance
Sunset over the Lemmons Meadow
The purebred Hampshire ewes are down from their summer pasture on the Johnson Ranch in the Routt NAfational Forest. It is almost time for the bucks to join them so they can have baby lambs in After a few weeks of romancing the ladies, the bucks return to their bachelor ways.
Ladies in waiting
Hampshire ewes with Battle Mountain
March
Squaw Mountain with mist
In like a banshee,
Be wary—the Ides of March
And out like a mist.
Battle Mountain with mist
Happy New Year
New Year’s morning and Battle Mountain
The year dawns new
and clean
and full of hope.
Sunrise sending
gleams of light sparkling
across snowy meadows,
shining up like
diamond shards—
crystal glimmers pricking
cool frosting spread
smooth across the fields.
In spring, these hills hide
baby calves with mama cows
mooing softly.
Summer hums with
growing hay, and tractors
rolling past midnight,
scheduled by dew upon
moonlit windrows.
Autumn brings lambs,
deer, elk, grazing on
harvest’s aftermath.
Then the long brown
quiet awaits
snow, and silence
and the shimmering
pallet waiting for sunrise–
painting the
New Year.
On the move–must be Almost Spring
The elk are checking out the high country.
The elk are starting to check out the feed which is opening up as the snow melts. These elk crossed the road just as we were heading home. They have wintered well, partly due to raiding our haystacks!
One bull appeared to be white, although not albino. Go figure.
Elk hanging out near the Little Cemetery.
The white elk
Ladder Ranch
