Packing salt in early February did not go as planned. Although the West bench was mostly dry, it turned out that even without snow, the East bench was treacherous.
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| East side, half frozen and greasy. |
Mike and Andrew wanted to give Looking Glass a packing lesson, so they loaded her up and set out with Chester and Sedona.
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| Andrew and Mike headed upriver |
After they left, I fed the yearlings in the weaning pen and the early calver with her calf "Dirty Snowball." He was born at Pumpkin Creek just before we trailed back to the Imnaha.
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| Dirty Snowball and his mother Little Red on the chow line |
I kept an eye out and eventually I saw Mike climbing the steep trail to the bench. He was riding Sedona and leading Chester and even from a distance I could see Chester lunging for footing. The question was, where was Andrew.
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| Looking Glass getting ready for packing lesson |
After a while, Andrew came back, leading Looking Glass along the river. He told me she slid off the trail and rolled her pack. They switched the pack to Chester and Mike continued on up the trail. Looking Glass was okay, but it wasn't a good day for a packing lesson. Andrew and I got busy with other chores and in the late afternoon, heavy snow clouds began to roll in.
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| Snow moving in |
There was no sign of Mike. I thought he was taking an awfully long time and I started to worry he might not get back before dark. That's when I spotted him coming off the bench on foot. He arrived at the barn, weary and dirty and reported the trails were goo. Even in sharp shoes the horses couldn't keep their feet. After both Sedona and Chester slid on the trail, Mike got off and walked the whole rest of the way. He fell down a couple times too, but he got the job done.
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| Cork gouge near the coronary band. |
I kind of wished he'd given up. In the scramble to get his feet, Chester corked himself, gouging the top of his left front hoof with the rear caulk on his right front shoe. That was some fancy footwork that kept him on the trail, but left its' mark, and I hoped it would heal okay in the muddy conditions.
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Snow top to bottom in the canyon
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Next morning, we woke up to snow clear down to the river It was the beginning of a long hard spell so I guess it was a good thing Mike got the salt out after all.
From Sara at Magpie Ranch, home of Bunchgrass Beef
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| Little Red |
