Still Driving Cattle

Self-portrait. 

In case you haven't noticed, I am on a different horse on each ride this week. 

How lucky am I?!

The sheep were hanging out along the way.

We had a couple of extra guys riding along with us.  Jim Crosbie and two relatives joined us and Allan came along too.

Isn't he cute?

Full pond!

Big Al and Mouse

Jim

It was a perfect day to drive cattle.  We left nice and early--before it got hot.  These were fall pairs and so they went along easily-no baby calves.  

Moving cattle to section 12

Leaving Clay Valley

I have never seen this pond near Wild Cow Valley full of water.

Through the gate!

Shawn, Ty, and Dean

Section 12  Willard Peak in the background

Ty above and Dean below.

It is finally time to take the cattle to pasture!  They have been in Clay Valley long enough and  it was a beautiful day for the drive.  We ended up with 80 through the gate.  We were happy to have Dean join us.  He likes to go with us once each year.  He told us he was 81 years old. 
I hope I am still horseback when I am 81!
It was another great day on horseback--which, by the way,  I rode Neville for the first time.  He was named after the Harry Potter, Neville, and true to his character he has grown into a more handsome and handy horse.  I'm not saying he is super athletic, but he is a great traveler and easy going.
Bryan's $75 investment is paying off!

Sorting Day

Our new "gate guy" is learning how to  get out of the way just in time to let the cows go by.

Jackson has been a little short on work at the golf course because of all the flooding there, so he has been out helping us more!

Bryan took the day off to help us get all the cattle together to go to Blacksmith Fork Canyon.  It is always good to have him around to help.

These two bulls were in the way and constantly fighting.  

Shawn got after them with the bull whip and got them separated.

Alma and Bryan sorting pairs.

This is our other "gate guy" .
 Allan has been a great help to us and we are glad to have him around! 

The river is still so deep that we couldn't swim the spring calves across.  We had to drive them through the neighbors field on the bench and down the highway and then down this lane.  It went very smoothly for a new route for the cows to go on.
We are only 20 days later than usual going up the canyon than other years.  The sun has been shining and has finally gotten warm and it doesn't rain every other day.  Hooray!

Father's Day

We had a fabulous dinner at Allan and Di's house for Father's day. 
We usually eat outside and enjoy how nice it is, but this year we ate inside his big shed because it was cold and rainy.  Bryan is still wearing his warm coat and I think he will probably wear it every month this year!

Ty--Texas Bound

We used to call this big guy "Ty small fry"

Now, we will call him Elder Ty Mortensen, called to serve in the Houston Texas Mission!

Wasatch Back 2011

Alisha running her first leg in Hyrum.

Megan, in the  hot pink, just finished her leg from the top of South Canyon to Liberty.  She was so dusty!

Allison is next to the lady in the Sombrero.  She was recruited to run 24 hours before the race began because one of the girls got sick!

This is Amy and she smiled and waved to everyone on the road as they passed by.

Go Allison!

Our team was called the Sole Sisters. 

We happened to find a team of men called the Sole Brothers and parked by them. 

Sierra, beginning her first leg in Huntsville.

Dianna, just finishing her leg.

Sierra, giving us some love.

Alli, Amy, and Krecia.

Dianna, Katelyn, Krecia, Amy, Sierra, Allison

They had just finished their first round.

One of the cool things is that eveyone decorates the cars they drive.  It is fun to see how creative the names are.  Our favorites:  Damn Soles in Distress and Half Fast Runners.

We are resting in Morgan. 

We had the worst rest times:  5:00 p.m.- 10:45 p.m. and then 5:30 a.m.- 10:30 a.m.

Nice Tatoos

Krecia, catching  some rest.

 

The view from the top of Guardsman Pass

 Dianna is amazing.  She runs two hours every day--rain or shine. 

She has completed 4 or 5 marathons.

She ran an extra leg to help one girl who had a bad cold.

She logged nearly 20 miles.

  She ran one of the hardest uphill legs on the whole race.

  She smiled the whole time.

  She is my hero and she is my sister.

 Sierra ran the other hardest leg of the race.  It was a 4 mile 8% grade run.  It took her only an hour!  She is amazing!

 The finish line was at the Park City High School.  It was a good time to relax and wait for the final runner to make her way to the finish so they could all cross as a team.

 The finish line

 Tara, Dianna, Kenzee, Leslie, Megan

Katelyn, Krecia, Amy, Sierra, Alli

We are missing Amilyn and Alisha

 Amy and Sierra

If you can imagine, we actually slept for 3 hours on this cement.  It was the best sleep we had.  The grass was wet when we arrived at 5:30 a.m.  It helped that we had been up for nearly 24 hours.  

A year ago, Sierra decided to put together a team to run the Wasatch Back, a rely race that starts in Logan and ends in Park City.  She ran it 2 years ago and had a blast, so she decided to get 11 other friends to be on her team and run it again. She talked two of her cousins (Amilyn and Alisha)  and my sister  (Dianna) into running  and then eight of her friends.  I drove van 2 and Aunt Pam drove van 1.  Van 1 started at USU.  Six runners are in each van (or Suburban in our case) and they run each of their legs and then van 2 has six runners that run their legs.  There are a total of 36 legs and so someone is running day and night.  When each van was done running they were resting, and other than that, we were driving and running.  It took them 33 hours to complete the whole 191 miles!  In comparison, the winning team (BYU Cross Country team) ran it in 18 hours.  It was just our goal to run and have fun and finish!  Each girl ran 3 legs and logged an average of 15 miles each!  It was an amazing feat. 

Eat, Drive, Sleep, Repeat!

Sierra's final run!