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Tag Archives: I80

Leaving the Red Desert, on to shearing

sheep trailing under Interstate 80

It’s time for us to leave the Red Desert, as we do every year in mid-April. One bunch a day crosses a day apart for three days. This year road construction started on the third day, which meant to sheep had to be escorted by the pilot car. Since the railroad overpass can be dangerous and difficult, we were glad for the assistance. The ewes only have to travel about a mile and a half on WY Hwy 789 before they enter Rodewald’s pasture. Our neighbors, the Rodewalds, let us cross their private land to get to the Badwater Pasture, Shearing starts soon! (Photo credits to Meghan Lally and Linda Fleming

off the highway and on to the right-of-way

trailing south

Pilot car escorting the sheep

crossing over the railroad bridge

through Rodewald’s gate

1 Comment

Posted by Ladder Ranch on April 20, 2022 in Animals, Sheep

Tags: ewes, I80, Red Desert, Rodewald, sheep

Southering

20 Apr

Ewes ready to leave the Red Desert

We are heading south from the wintering grounds on the Red Desert. The first leg takes us to the Badwater Pasture. The shearing crew has assured us that they will be here in a couple of days, which means we can shear the pregnant ewes at Badwater. This is better for the ewes because they can trail the last 40 miles to the lambing grounds at Cottonwood without ten pounds of wool on their backs. It also means they are shorn well before they start lambing. Some years the shearers are late due to weather, equipment or misadventure, and we see lambs on the ground as we are trying to shear. With luck, all will go well. Stay tuned!

Seamus opening the gate

heading under I80

truck above, sheep below

passing through Creston Junction

between I80 and the railroad overpass

the orange flag alerts oncoming traffic

Joel bringing the ewes over the Union Pacific line (the trickiest part)

through the gate and into Rodewalds’ pasture

Pepe and John at Rodewalds’ gate

1 Comment

Posted by Ladder Ranch on April 20, 2021 in Animals, Dogs, Events, Family, Folks, Folks who help us out, Horses, Peruvian sheepherders, Sheep

Tags: I80, railroad overpass, Red Desert, sheep, trailing

North to the Red Desert

09 Dec

ewes heading for the Rodewald gate

The ewes have made their annual trek north to the Red Desert, where we have wintering ground on the Cyclone Rim and Chain Lakes grazing allotments. These allotments are part of the vast Great Basin, home to Greater Sage Grouse, desert elk, riparian plants and amphibians, feral horses, many many antelope and, part of the year, cattle and sheep. The Great Basin is named because it is a closed basin. To the north, the Continental Divide splits and runs in separate ranges until it meets again about 15 miles south of Wamsutter near the Haystack Mountains. The country south of there–Church Butte, Adobe Town, Powder Rim–is likewise amazing landscape, but it is not part of the Great Basin, the Red Desert. It is always a relief when we safely cross the overpass over the Union Pacific line and the underpass beneath I80 and head out across the open country for winter pasture. We are a week later than usual on the trail north. We had to wait for snow, since there’s not much water on the trail. Like Goldilocks, we want it to be not too hot and not too cold!

the sheep topping the UP overpass

between the tracks and I80

Almost to the underpass

under the interstate

passing the Department of Transportation shed

Pat and Oscar consulting

new drilling on Chain Lakes

on the Red Desert, at last

1 Comment

Posted by Ladder Ranch on December 9, 2017 in Animals, Dogs, Events, Folks, Horses, Peruvian sheepherders, Sheep

Tags: dogs, horses, I80, Oscar, Pat, Red Desert, sheep, trail, Union Pacific

Along the spring sheep trails

07 Apr

looking east from Powder Rim

We have started trailing from our wintering grounds to spring country where we have shearing and lambing in our future, and theirs.

The ewe lambs have spent the winter in the Powder Wash country. Yemerson has started them along the Powder Rim trail. In a few days, they will arrive at the Badwater Pasture, where they will hang out until early July.

In the meantime, the ewes who wintered on the Chain Lakes allotment on the Red Desert have started south. Their destination is the Cottonwood lambing grounds. In a few weeks, we’ll have wool in the bags, and lambs on the ground, God willing.

ewe lambs watering on the Powder Rim trail

nooning at the reservoir

leaving the Red Desert

between I80 and the railroad overpass

Pepe giving an early lamb a lift

catching a ride

over the Union Pacific bridge

almost to the Rodewald gate

Timmy–ready for green grass

Headed for the Promised Land

30 Nov

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

5 Comments

Posted by Ladder Ranch on November 30, 2015 in Animals, Dogs, Events, Family, Folks, Horses, Peruvian sheepherders, Sheep

Tags: dogs, Filo, highway, horses, I80, Jean Carlos, livestock guardian dogs, Modesto, Ovcharka, Pepe, Red Desert, sheep, trailing, Union Pacific

Trailing over the UP line and under I80

30 Nov

Coming through Rodewald’s gate

It’s that time of year. Pat asked, “Are we going to post ‘Trailing over the UP line and under I80 ‘ pics again?”…because, except for the weather, it looks pretty much the same every year, and I am grateful for that. I have said on this blog before, and I say again, this stretch of our long trail from summer to winter country, and back again, is one of the most dangerous things we do all year. The scariest part is heading up the railroad overpass. Even though we are flagging, fore and aft, sometimes it is hard to convince folks to slow down, especially before they can see the sheep on the road. So when the sheep are safely through the gate north of Interstate 80, I breathe a sigh of relief, and send thanks to the Lord. We trail three bunches, a day apart, so the crossing takes place three consecutive mornings. A difference I see this year, with the sudden drop in oil and gas prices, is the reduction in oil field traffic through the sheep as they thread their way through this needle. Soon we will be settled on our wintering grounds on the Red Desert. Next we will pray for a “just right” winter–not too much snow, not too little–not too much cold, not too much wind, and lots of good grass.

heading for the gate, and the highway

We’re headed north. The truck is headed south.

My flag, through the windshield, bringing up the rear

Creston Junction, just ahead

Under Interstate 80

Dances with Border collies

As one motorist observed, “a Wyoming traffic jam!”

not West, but true north

Oscar, Eutemio and Eduardo–a successful crossing!

1 Comment

Posted by Ladder Ranch on November 30, 2014 in Events

Tags: Border collies, danger, Eduardo, Eutemio, I80, Oscar, sheep, trailing, UP line

North to the Red Desert

09 Dec

Sheep ready to cross onto the highway

Once again, the sheep have crossed the UP line overpass and the I80 underpass at Creston Junction, Wyoming on their trek north to spend the winter months on the Red Desert on Cyclone Rim and Chain Lakes. We crossed three bunches one after the other. The first two bunches were one day apart. Fog and snow meant that bunch three had to hold up a day. Our neighbors, the Rodewalds, told us to hold up an extra day on their pasture. They had planned to ship calves that day, but had to cancel the trucks due to road and weather conditions. The next day dawned bright and clear, if bitter cold (-23 degrees) and we made the passage without incident. It is always nerve-wracking, due to heavy oil field traffic. We flag front and rear, and sometimes run into over-eager truck drivers. Luckily, this year, the truckers helped us and we crossed without any problems. On the same day, we got our first load of corn in. Corn is necessary to sustain the ewes through the cold cold weather, and to flush them since we plan to put the bucks in in a week or so. It is important that they are increasing their nutritional level just ahead of the breeding season, in order to increase the conception of twins.

Under I80

Border collies at work

Pepe, Salomon, Modesto, Christian, shadow

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Ladder Ranch

Tag Archives: I80

Leaving the Red Desert, on to shearing

Southering

North to the Red Desert

Along the spring sheep trails

Headed for the Promised Land

Trailing over the UP line and under I80

North to the Red Desert

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