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Tag Archives: routt national forest

Counting on, Modesto’s bunch

ewes and lambs in the Johnson corral

July 1st brings the on-date for the Forest grazing permits. We worked Modesto’s bunch at the Johnson corrals, in the Routt National Forest. We not only counted the ewes and lambs, but put numbered paint brands on the “marker” ewes, and gave Rhen an opportunity to practice his mutton busting.

Cora keeping an eye on the sheep.

Belling number 2, Juan supervising

numbering the marker ewes

Rhen practicing mutton busting

Siobhan and her team of Border collies

Counted, belled and numbered–heading for summer pasture

2 Comments

Posted by Ladder Ranch on July 2, 2019 in Animals, Dogs, Family, Folks, Sheep

Tags: Border collies, ewes, Juan, lambs, Modesto, Rhen, routt national forest, sheep, Siobhan

Snow after drought

10 Oct

Aspen Alley in the fall

Snow settles on ground

left thirsty by months of drought,

now kissed by moisture.

homestead cabin on Box Creek

Dudley Creek aspens

2 Comments

Posted by Ladder Ranch on October 10, 2018 in Nature and Wildlife, Poetry

Tags: Aspen Alley, Autumn, Box Creek, drought, Dudley Creek, Medicine Bow National Forest, routt national forest, snow

Fall Gather

02 Oct

Chica bringing down the cows

The cows and their calves have happily spent the last three months grazing on the Routt and Medicine Bow National Forest. October 1st is the off date for our Forest grazing permit. Friends and family help us as we bring the cattle down from their summering grounds.

Cows through the trees

Eamon, Rhen and McCoy

Rhen and Pal

Rhen looking for cows

Rhen, still looking

Home at last

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Posted by Ladder Ranch on October 2, 2018 in Animals, Cattle, Dogs, Family, Folks, Nature and Wildlife

Tags: calves, cows, Eamon, McCoy, Medicine Bow National Forest, Rhen, routt national forest

Phoenix Forest

30 Aug

burned trees stand above the regenerating forest

In 2002, the Hinman Fire burned 31,016 acres in the Routt National Forest. It was part of what became the Mount Zirkel Complex of fires. Much of the burned area included trees blown down by a rare high-altitude wind storm with hurricane force gales. On October 24, 1997, it laid flat 20,000 acres and an estimated 6 million trees. leaving a pick-up-sticks matrix on the ground. The dead trees left perfect habitat for pine beetles, which have scourged the area and left millions and millions of acres of dead trees. Many of those beetle-killed dead trunks still stand, with thousands falling every day throughout the forests of the mountain West.

The Hinman Fire burned hot and hard, and left scorched tree trunks standing tall and dead. The trees were diseased and killed by the beetles, providing the “perfect storm” for the fire. It was particularly impactful to us, since we had 800 ewes and their lambs on the Farwell grazing allotment. In a effort that is still legend, our sheepherder Pepe Cruz brought the sheep down the Elk River drainage, trailing the sheep throughout the night, with a sack of new puppies tied to his saddlehorn. He brought all of the animals under his care out safely, with fire burning on three sides.

We still graze on that allotment. The regeneration of the landscape there gives me hope for the rest of the Forest, which has been devastated by beetles. In the burned over area, still marked by the standing spears of trees burned 16 years ago, the vegetation is rebounding and new growth trees are filling in the landscape. The burned area looks verdant and healthy compared to the rest of the Forest. It gives me hope to see the new forest rising from the ashes.

new growth

vegetation everywhere

Farwell Mountain

ewes and lambs grazing

Lucky Day

30 Aug

We were lucky and the heifer was lucky

Eamon and Meghan went up to the Routt Forest to check on the cattle and the Big Red Fire. Through absolute luck, they found this heifer, who had gotten stuck in a soaphole in Little Red Park. They weren’t able to pull her out with their horses, but were able to get close enough with the pickup to finally rescue her.

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Posted by Ladder Ranch on August 30, 2017 in Animals, Cattle, Family, Folks, Nature and Wildlife

Tags: Big Red Fire, Eamon, heifer, Little Red Park, Meghan, routt national forest

Fire in the Park

29 Aug

Fire north of Big Red Park

Aerial Mapping puts Big Red Fire at 529 acres

(STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo.) August 29, 2017 – A helicopter flight over the Big Red Fire today gave fire personnel a more accurate view of the incident size and as a result the fire is now being reported at 529 acres.

The fire has grown over the last few days due to timely winds, group and single-tree torching, and then subsequent short to mid-range spotting of the fire into unburned areas on the Routt National Forest.

Despite the large increase in reported acreage, management of the wildfire remained the same as it has been, with emphasis on firefighter and public safety, utilizing trigger points to engage the fire where there is a high probability of success, and monitoring fire behavior. This management approach is consistent with other recent area fires in similar fuel types.

The main focus of 70 personnel working the fire has been to utilize Forest Roads 500, 500.1B, and 500.1A to establish fire line along the southern boundary of the fire.

Private land near Big Red Park and an active Forest Service timber sale (Blue Duck Salvage) could be at risk if the fire moves south.

An area closure remains in place, temporarily closing part of the 500 Road and its’ subsequent spur roads, as well as Forest Trail 1204.1A.

The Big Red Fire was discovered on Saturday, Aug. 19 in north Routt County, Colo. It is burning in mixed conifer, which includes spruce, fir, pine, and both live and bug-killed timber.

The wildfire is located just north of Big Red Park, along Forest Road 500, and approximately five miles south of the Colorado/Wyoming state line.

It has been determined that the fire was caused by lightning, with initial response by Forest Service and County staff.

Although unplanned, wildfires such as the Big Red Fire have the potential to reduce hazardous fuels and improve forest health.

InciWeb will be used as the primary means of information distribution for the Big Red Fire. An incident page will be updated at https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/5551/. The Forest Twitter account, @FS_MBRTB, will also be used for fire updates.

Our crew headed into the trees to look for cows and calves

Smoke rising

double blazes

Siobhan capturing photos of the fire

Fire crew headed out for the night

Casey and Kimmy and cows likewise headed out

Sunset over the Big Red Fire

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Posted by Ladder Ranch on August 29, 2017 in Animals, Cattle, Events, Folks who help us out, Horses, Nature and Wildlife

Tags: Big Red Fire, calves, Casey, cows, fire, Kimmy, routt national forest, Siobhan

The Big Red Park Fire

27 Aug

smoke plumes rise east of Big Red Park

The National Forests near us are filled with dead Lodgepole pines, killed by pine beetles over the past decade or so. The trees are long past the “red and dead” stage and are now at the gray and falling over stage. Much of the Medicine Bow and Routt Forests are a tinderbox. We want to see a number of smaller burns instead of a great conflagration.

A few days ago, our range conservationist on the Routt contacted us to let us know of a small fire on an adjacent grazing allotment. We went up and moved our cows away from the fire area. We are praying for moderate weather and no rain. My Dad was a great believer in fire as a range management tool. He may have sent that lightening bolt!

This fire could do our Forest a lot of good and literally “clear out the deadwood”.

Cows in Donna’s Meadow

11 Jul

What more could a cow want?

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Posted by Ladder Ranch on July 11, 2017 in Animals, Cattle

Tags: calves, cows, routt national forest

Summer Trail

02 Jul

Eamon, Rhen and McCoy trailing cows and calves onto the Forest

July 1st is the on-date for our cows and calves, and ewes and lambs to enter their grazing permits on the Routt National Forest. Since there are several herds, they trail on in stages over several days. We do a lot of planning amongst our crew, with our Forest Service range conservationists, and with the neighbors.

We also work with the Range Cons regarding trailing dates to give them to opportunity to count on, if they wish, and to coordinate the trailing of other permittees who have the same on date. Since it’s mid-summer, we have to start at sunrise so that we can be on the Forest before the heat of the day sets in.