The Summer Walk in the Wild Begins

The final sort is done, and now we are staged for the long walk to the mountain grasslands. We have 300 head in the low meadow; they’ve all been health screened, tag identified and weighed. We’ll let them eat their fills for a few days, meeting early spring grazing objectives on our home Pahsimeroi Ranch. They inhale deeply of the spring green; some of the grass they are on is over 18 inches high. They are near the house on this part of the rotation. I could see them in the moonlight last night, bedded down, chewing cud…deeply satisfied.

As I write this, we are completing putting iron on the feet of 12 head of horses. They are the start of our range riding string. As I caught the first ones well before sunup this morning, I looked into their eyes, wondering what their thoughts were. I think they know it’s time; they’ve had much of the winter off, resting, and getting fat this spring on green grass. They are healthy as any horses I know, and they are ready. They’ll walk over 600 miles this summer and go through 2 sets of shoes, wearing the thick iron down on the volcanic rocks on the ranges. 

On Wednesday, beeves will be roused early by our intensively trained cowhand crew astride 8 head of horses, and the summer graze will begin. It is 9 miles to the wild waters of the Salmon River, now at flood stage from snowmelt pouring down off the peaks. We’ll cross one of the few bridges over the Salmon and enter the lowest elevation of our summer grazing lands. I think everyone– human, beeves, horses, and cow dogs– look forward to the graze in this mountain country. Many of the beeves are returnees and know where they are going. It is over 70 square miles with hardly a fence. I think elbow room is what we all crave, and for them, the plethora of wild plant diversity is unparalleled. They get the full meal deal salad bar every day.

Again, I want to thank you. Many of you stepped in and ordered beef a couple of weeks ago and it made us flush enough to pull off the prep work and expenses we needed to get done before we headed out. More than any other year, I think we are ready. I’m excited for this summer. It looks to be a good grass year, and we have great crew members, horses, and super great cattle to make it all come together. And we have the best partners: you, who purchase our beef, to make it all a reality.

Glenn, Caryl, Cowhands and Girls at Alderspring