Checking cows over east

One of the pastures we are currently using is on the eastern most edge of our ranch. It is part of our grazing permit with the US Forest Service. This particular pasture is well over 800 acres. It has some deep draws running thru it, a dug-out which supplies water and an undependable creek also. The grass is usually pretty good and there are cedar, ash, and elm trees along with chokecherry, buffalo berry and other shrubs. In places there are clay knobs which add to the character of this place. At this time of year, we have cow/calf pairs grazing there. This pasture is about 10 miles from our house and to check cows, I  usually load a horse in the trailer and park at the corrals we have there to ride out.

Sure is pretty isn't it? The haze is from some fires in Montana. Within the next
two weeks, the trees will have turned orange and yellow. They are already slowly
showing some color.



Boyd found a place to cool off

when we came across one of the springs

that pop up here and there late in the summer.

The water just kind of oozes up

out of the ground.

This deeply etched cow trail leads to the dugout where our cattle
water in this pasture.

These are different views of
the primary water source
for this pasture.

Six years ago in the fall, we hired

someone with a track hoe to clean

this dam and some of our others out.

It had been a fairly dry summer, so

they were able to do a good job.

The next three summers were dry too

and it seemed to take forever for this

dug-out to fill back up. We set up two

tanks at the far eastern end of this pasture

and hauled water daily to

supplement the dam.

There are several calves and a cow brushed up here out

of the heat.

The Mah-Dah-Hey trail runs thru this pasture. The 97 mile trail passes through the Little Missouri National Grasslands, State, and private land as it links the North and South Units of Theodore Roosevelt National Park. No motorized traffic is allowed on the trail. It is only accessed by hikers, bicyclists and horseback riders.
http://www.medora.org/what-to-do/?Maah-Daah-Hey-Trail . http://www.mdhta.com/maps.htm, http://www.mdhta.com/info.htm

Two wheeled and four-footed use the trail.

Hope posing by a trail marker.

Boyd, Vesta, and Hope traversing the Trail.

Boyd and Hope at one of the gates on the Trail. These are maintained
by the U.S. Forest Service.This gate is between our pasture
and a neighbor's pasture.

The fence line is comprised of

cedar posts and treated posts. No

two cedar posts are ever the same!

Unlike the treated posts
we buy!

These clay knobs are known as "Sohpie's Nipples".

The grass is still pretty good for this time
of the year. The cattle tend to graze the half of the
pasture closest to the dugout. When it cools down,
they will move further away and utilize the other end
of this pasture better.

Vesta looking across the deepest

 part of this draw. Our pasture continues

to the edge of the horizon. 

The dogs and I rode for about three and a half hours and by the

time we got to the truck and trailer it had gotten hot.

The air condioning on the way home

sure felt good!