Beautiful Bighorns

Sunday, August 20, dawned cloudy and windless.  After going to virtual Sunday school at One Church Bosque with Pastor David Hill and virtual church at First Lakeview Church with Pastor Keith Yarbrough, John and I loaded up the dogs for a walk at Mountain Plains Heritage Park.  The temperature was just right, and the dogs set off on a series of ready-gos.  But then it started…target practice at the nearby Buffalo Gun Club.  Our intended several-mile walk was quickly abbreviated to one short loop through the park.

The Bighorns were socked in as we headed out of town.  You could barely see the foothills, much less the peaks.  Since it was almost noon, we braved the fog and drove west 15 miles and had lunch at South Fork Lodge.  We highly recommend their Portuguese kale soup, and the not-to-be-missed pie (caramel-apple-nut for me and three-berry for John).  Oddly eonough, the clouds only shrouded the mountains for the first 10 miles or so.  By the time we reached the lodge, it was clear.

After lunch, we took a side trip several miles down Hunter Road (also known as Road 19).  It is a beautiful drive and the road is well-maintained.  There was a small stream bubbling nearby and the road was lined in spots by large aspen trees. 

There were high mountain meadows and deep, forested ravines.  I thought sure we would see elk or deer, but perhaps it was too early in the day.

At one point, this chubby yellow-bellied marmot ran across the road and watched us pass.  He, or she, was the only wildlife we saw.

As we headed back to Buffalo, we again drove into heavy clouds.  You can see them nestled in the valleys between the peaks.  

But Hunter Road is just one of many beautiful roads and trails we have visited the last couple of weeks.  Here are some images from our walks up and down Clear Creek west of Buffalo.

The impound at the turn-around for our walk

Cody and I enjoyed the view

I think this is lupine, the Wyoming version of bluebonnet

This one is called woodland pinedrops

Downstream from Mosier Gulch, the terrain flattens and Clear Creek welcomes dogs

Beautiful (in its own way) is the abandoned water treatment plant

There are plenty of places to rest beside quiet pools.  It's a beautiful area.

Sheep Camp

One of the highlights of my visits to Buffalo is the time I get to spend working sheep with my dogs.  For several years, “Sheep Camp” has taken place with Wendy Auzqui on their family’s ranch east of Clearmont, WY, just a short half-hour drive from Buffalo.  In addition to her work on the ranch, Wendy breeds, trains, and trials working border collies.  If you look back at previous blog posts, almost every year has photos and descriptions of my time picking her brain and learning how better to work my dogs.  

This year, on my first visit I was greeted by a litter of seven-week-old pups from the outstanding bitch, Quirt.  I first met Quirt in the summer of 2019 when she was just beginning her training as a working dog.  She and Wendy have gone on to success in many dog trials, perhaps the most notable was her first-place finish at last year’s Calgary Stampede World Stock Dog Champion-ship.  (I had wondered why Quirt didn’t compete in this year’s Stampede, and now I know; she was concentrating on motherhood.)  I’ll bet these pups will go on to become outstanding stock dogs...

as will this little girl, a daughter of Wendy's good dog, Frank.

Cody, Bo, Dutch and I have already had several working sessions with Wendy.  Here are a couple of photos she took of the boys working sheep in her arena. 

Much of our work was done on Wendy and John's hay fields, where the dogs could practice their big outruns.

I was also able to reconnect with Linda Lulias, and spend some time working sheep at her place.  

Here are photos of Gill and Jessie, Linda's trial dogs, honing their herding skills.

Saturday, we had an opportunity to get in a little impromptu trial work at the annual Big Horn Basque Club celebration.  As part of their gathering, they had arranged for a dog trial demonstration that we were fortunate to be a part of.  We were happy to have neighbors Bill & Sherri and Ross & Carole in the audience.  Carole enjoyed an up-close-and-personal meeting with some of the lambs.

The fresh lambs were a challenge for all the dogs, but gave them good experience.  I was pleased with Cody’s performance.  

He brought his lambs around the course and to the pen…but then the youngsters realized they could fit between the rails of the enclosure. Two of them slipped through and escaped, and the third ran to the set-out pen and jumped back in with her friends.  I sent Cody out to retrieve the escapees and put them back in the enclosure, but we lost the opportunity to finish the course.

Bo had a difficult time with his lambs.  They stuck to the setout pen like glue and he wasn’t able to get them headed down the course.  I finally helped him to exhaust them, but our run was over.

Dutch was only one of two dogs that penned their sheep, but we missed winning by three seconds.  In reviewing the video of his run, I concluded that most of our problems were due to his handler not being clear with her commands.  Hopefully our communication will be better next weekend.  `

It has been a great couple of weeks, and we look forward to more "sheep camp" and trial experiences before we leave the end of September.  

Friends in High Places

One of the beauties of Buffalo is its proximity to the majestic Bighorn Mountains.  

We began yesterday with a walk at Buffalo’s Mountain Plains Heritage Park on the south side of town.  It’s a great spot for the dogs to have a run, or pose for a portrait.  

Rue made it a point to check out Buffalo’s version of a fluffy cow.

After our morning walk, we had an especially pleasant afternoon with friends and neighbors (in Deer Park RV Park), Ross and Carole Mariol.  On the advice of another friend and neighbor, Bill Sage, the four of us set off for one of the highest places around, Sheep Mountain Overlook off Hwy 16 between Buffalo and Tensleep.   We had a few opportunities to pause for road construction, but we soon turned off Hwy 16 and were on our way up the steep, bumpy and winding Route 28.  It is a beautiful area, and the road culminates at the old Sheep Mountain Fire Tower, which is now available as an overnight destination if you want to rough it.

The views in all directions are breathtaking.  

One can certainly get a top-of-the-world feeling standing on the mountaintop.

Carole and I were busy taking photos of the expanse of Wyoming visible from Sheep Mountain, while Ross and John looked for unusual rocks and examined small plants and wildflowers.

I especially liked the vibrant color of the lichens at this altitude.

As well as the Western Giant Puffballs.  Here is one about to split, and I think the next photo shows what is left after the floral eruption.

We enjoyed our half-hour or so at the top looking at the amazing vistas, delicate wildflowers and rock formations.  The weather was beautiful, without too much smoke form fires in northwestern Wyoming and adjacent states.  But, as you can tell, it was a bit windy on the summit.

It was a great afternoon with friends in high places.  We thank Ross for driving, and Bill for his advice on the trip.