A Conservation Legacy

Spring rains and sunshine have turned the canyons from gold to green. It is a world of fecundity, from the lush ribbon of trees along the river banks to the verdant folds of the grassy benches. A world that hums and flutters and slithers and splashes. A world of osprey and cliff swallow, gosling and merganser, butterfly and bumble bee, bull snake and river otter.

Balsamroot Sunflower

New calves are popping up everywhere. Their mothers emerging from sheltered draws and thickets with wobbly offspring. The calves soon to be cavorting across the benches with their peers.

Heifer nurses her first calf hidden in a draw

We've been helping the neighbors brand. A bunch of good ropers from upriver waded into the herd and a ground crew of young and old wrestled and worked the calves. The more experienced hands razzed each other over missed throws and hollered encouragement to the kids when they dallied on a calf. From young to old, everyone had a job, and if you didn't know how to do it, somebody showed you.  It renewed my appreciation for the skills and muscle that get the work done, and afterward, for the stories and food that reward our labor. 

Next generation getting the job done

Time for a little wrestling 

At the end of the branding, the rain started up again and the narrow steep road got slicker and greasier. I'm glad a few of the cowboys threw their chains on before hauling their horses to town. It's a reminder to take care, to think things through, to use the tools we have. 

Later that day, I cozied up with Rangelands reading a review of the book Generations on the Land: A Conservation Legacy, about the ranches that won Aldo Leopold awards. 

It says the most important tools are planning, partnerships, teaching, sharing and hospitality. It says to steward our resources we need multiple generations. Cattle bred to fit their environment. Adaptive management and enterprise diversification. I'd have to say, it sounds just like what we do. So I guess we're reflective of Leopold's agrarian ethic. We are thankful. 

Dawson riding home with Daddy

From Sara at Magpie Ranch, home of Bunchgrass Beef

Turning the Corner - Wedding Ahead

Jon and Prairie will be married at the ranch at the end of summer. We toasted their engagement over Christmas dinner and have been making big plans since. The canyon will be hot and dry by the wedding and we have many to-dos on our list before then.

To-be-weds Jon and Prairie, British Columbia, March 2012

One task is fixing up an old bunkhouse, which we are now calling the Honeymoon cabin. It hasn't been used in many years and the skids beneath it have rotted and settled into the ground. Resurrecting it means jacking it up, nailing it back together and cleaning up after the pack rats.

"Still Life" - circa 1980s - in the Honeymoon cabin

We've turned the corner on spring. The temperature in the canyon hit ninety this week and each day brings more flowers, brodia, phlox, mustard, and sunflowers scattered across the greening hills. The pollinators are out in force, buzzing and lilting among the blooms. 

Jaume scythes tall grass in the yard

Along with the fat bumble bees there was a moth working the lilac bush. It looked like a hummingbird moth, but smaller, with a delicate beige and brown striped body, extra long antennae and a bright yellow stripe across its back. With its wings fanning the air in a blur, its whole body seemed to vibrate, hovering among the blossoms.

Spicy fragrant blooms on the lilacs

The heat has brought out the first rattlesnakes of the year. Jaume and I were hiking up the ridge above the old driveway when he spotted a baby rattler, about ten inches long and red as the rock, with darker reddish-brown diamonds down its back. Later that day, Mike saw two more snakes near the house. One was unusually aggressive. Most are shy and will soon slither away, but this one remained coiled and ready to strike, showing little interest in leaving.

Stubborn snake by the house

It was a stark reminder of the care that we need to take with three year old Dawson who is in the habit of rampaging about. The last few weeks he has begun asking me, "Grandma are the snakes out?"  We know he knows they are there, in the tall grass, in the rocks and crevices. What we hope is that he will be able to see them and stay away.

From Sara at Magpie Ranch, home of Bunchgrass Beef

Literatura y Espanol

Mike and Jaume Up River

I should be writing this in Spanish, but no voy a hacerlo.

Jaume, one of the exchange students, came down to help Mike for a couple days last week. Jaume's family is from Murcia in Southern Spain.

Jaume and Mestizo

One evening Jaume and I read a Borges story out-loud to each other. It was El Jardin de senderos que se bifurcan (The Garden of the forked paths ), from one of the books his parents sent him.

The language of the story was dense, with sentences like tree roots grown together. It was also savory, the sounds meaty on my tongue.

Standing there in the kitchen, I had to tell Jaume this house was where I fell in love with Spanish.

Watching the three dogs cross the steers over the bridge

Thirty years ago our friend Little Duke Phillips moved here from Old Mexico with his library of books in Spanish, some translated, some not. Mike and I spent a month in his house, working on contract to build a big hay bunk out of railroad ties. In the evenings, after the kids were in bed, I'd go through Little Duke's books.

It was Neruda the Chilean poet who got to me. Even the translation was achingly beautiful. I knew the original poems on the opposite page were better and that made me sad and a little angry, because I couldn't read them.

Boots off at the end of the day

Now, after years of study, teaching, reading, dreaming, my Spanish is lonely. It's mostly books that keep it company. 

Jaume and I didn't speak much Spanish while he was there, but when he read, I could hear in his voice a tremor of heat, dryness, a little dust. And when I read, my voice carried the hint of warm currents rising upward along the Andes.

From Sara at Magpie Ranch, home of Bunchgrass Beef

New Horse

Mike has a new horse. Winchester, or Chester or sometimes Chet. 

Glassing for cattle

Chester is a tall horse and a rock or an uphill side is handy to get on from. Shorter horses are nicer that way, but so far we have found Chester to be  mostly kind, active, and he stays on his feet. All good attributes in a coworker. 

Chester

I'm still riding Mestizo, the pack horse-turned saddle stock. He is sweet natured, catty, and herd bound. He's getting better, but he still gets nervy (Lippizaner style) when he loses sight of his pals.

Mestizo

We had a good ride to gather cows off the bar upriver. Chester hesitated at the river crossings, but Mestizo, the old hand, marched across and Chester followed gladly.

Near Magpie

Coming home in the near dark, I felt the comfort of a well-fitting saddle and my horse, knowing his way home, but not hurrying too much.

Almost dark

From Sara at Magpie Ranch, home of Bunchgrass Beef

Weaning Time

Weaning time has come and gone.  Last Sunday we opened the gate and turned our 2011 calves back out to join the herd on the winter range. 

Loafing in the barn

The calves spent nearly the whole month of January in the corrals eating hay and we were fortunate to have mostly dry weather. During the few storms that dumped rain or snow, the barn provided good cover and Mike faithfully cleaned the bedding. 

Look at their eyebrows Grandma

Baling twine lariat

Dawson enjoyed being inside the feeder, helping pitch hay, or practicing his roping skills. He pointed out the calves' eyebrows and eyelashes to me and we admired his big black and white spotted heifer calf.

Ruby at the corral

Ruby spent most of her time down at the corral eyeing the calves. She never seemed to tire of watching their every movement, hour after hour.



Early in the month, Mike and Gabe helped the neighbor gather a few more head out of the breaks, hiking into the high basins and trailing them down on foot.

Already a good hiker

Dawson tagged along one day, staying in the bottom of Log Creek with Grandpa, while his dad climbed up to bring down a few cows. On the way home, they trailed some of our cows back from the Hall Place.

Trailing part of the herd back from the Hall Place

 It was a good January. Yes, there were times when it snowed, and blew, and rained and froze. But the sun was out an awful lot, and there were green things, little forbs poking up their first leaves, and ground cover sprouting a lacy bright carpet in the box elder grove.


We've turned the corner into February, the so-called "dying month", but for now, everything feels like it's about to come alive.


From Sara at Magpie Ranch, home of Bunchgrass Beef

Stomping Grounds

Since the holidays ended this year, I've caught myself a couple times saying, "I want to rewind to a few days before Christmas."  It was a wonderful day, followed by another and another....

Prairie and Jon were here for a whole week.

Christmas breakfast 

Hot out of the oven

Christmas Day was filled with family. We had breakfast, church, ham dinner, the afternoon walk, and always music making, storytelling, gaming.

The afternoon walk

The day after Christmas we were thankful for generations of friends dropping by from morning till night with a parade of food, music, games and fun.

Day Two, the four panel - four artist project

Day three we headed to the river and Mike helped gather the neighbor's cattle out of the breaks. The first day he rode from dark to dark in torrential rain, his horse new to canyon, the soil thawed in places and greasy on steep norths. That night he rode in spent and filthy, weighted down with thirty extra pounds of sodden gear. The second day was dry at least, but even longer. 

Near the bottom of Tulley Creek

 Jon, Prairie and I fixed waterline and went hiking. The day after the storm we hiked up Tulley Creek to our old stomping grounds. Tulley was our first home in the canyon when we arrived from northern Idaho. Back then Prairie was 2 months old and Gabe was still in diapers. 

  

Almost to the bench

Prairie and I couldn't remember the last time we'd been to Tulley Creek. We used to hunt apricots near there. In July we'd make the scorching dusty drive, arriving at the old orchard, some years finding a jackpot and others not a single fruit. The reliable reward was the swimming hole and jumping off cliffs into the river. When the ranches sold and sold again and we stopped going.

Our first home in the canyon so many years ago

Now Tulley is in the care of McClarans, our long time neighbors and we had the rare bonus of bumping into a couple of the girls when we reached the house. They were heading north to sort and trail cattle on the bench. It was so good to see them and share a few words about the recent storm, nasty slick trails, the holidays and family.

Maggie at the creek

Beth gets the gate

I love this kind of understanding, with people who have worked and lived in some of the same places, places that in a way, now seem like friends and relations. 


From Sara at Magpie Ranch, home of Bunchgrass Beef

A Lot of Thanks

Larry on his cell phone

Thanks Larry for helping us trail the cattle off the top of the ridge and through the canyon rims on a long cold, snowy, blowy day.

Thanks cows for travelling all those hours without out more than a few bites of grass while being poked by nosy calves who wanted a drink and a nap. You kept going, and after we called it quits at the end of the day, you marched right on down to the winter range.

Punch, one and a half years old

Thanks dogs for working with heart and speed, and for "down"  "stay" "walk up"  "away" and "come by. "

Bird ready to call it a day

Thanks Gabe and Cammie and Dawson for helping us get out wood in, for stacking hay, for all those miles of wire stretched and jacks built, and for letting us use Bird whenever we need another horse.


Thanks John and Tommy for building and fixing and sometimes even riding and branding. You've helped us keep critters in the right places, roofs on, fences up, and buildings in good shape.

Thanks Cheryl for walnut gathering adventures and all the other fruits and edibles that you help stock my larder with. Thanks trees and plants for making food for us to harvest.

Sara herding toward Thomason

Thanks Zeke for choring and fixing the computer many many times. Thanks Prairie and Jon for using your vacation to come home and build fence, move cows, chop ice or do whatever else is needed.

Off the top

Thanks Bill for being such a great neighbor, and helping our management in the canyon work.  Thanks Dave and McClarans for being there, for understanding the places and life and why we're out there. Thanks all you customers for encouraging us, for buying our beef, and for letting us know why you appreciate and enjoy this nutritious food. Thanks Phillips and Killam Families for helping us get a start on the Magpie Ranch and letting us put our energy and talents to use doing the work we love.

Thanks everybody who has visited, helped, listened and valued the land, the animals, the traditions and people in this special place "where seldom is heard a discouraging word and the skies are not cloudy all day."

Partners

From Sara at Magpie Ranch, Home of Bunchgrass Beef.