Ok..on with the post!
Every summer for the past 100 years or so (I am not exaggerating..ok, maybe a little, but at least 80 years) our family has taken the flock of sheep up to the mountain range; as there is (usually) more and better quality feed there. Our sheep can't usually spend the entire summer on the ranch, as there just isn't enough grass for them to eat. So, they take them up to the mountain. It is a huge feat..especially the first move as they are taking up stuff for the ENTIRE summer; the camp, food, etc (although someone does usually go up once a week go give them supplies). They move from one "camp" to another all summer. Each year, they go to a different mountain range (there are two that we use). Since the flock is small(ish) than it used to be, they only go up about 6 wks in the summer, whereas before, they would leave around mid-June, and not come home until September, and sometimes, October.
So, this past Saturday, I went for the first time in probably about 15-20 years. Anker had never been, so we decided that since we were there (which we had partly gone to the ranch so that he could go on the move), we would go! I thought it might be fun to do a post on how my family does a sheep move, since it isn't the most common thing you see anywhere:) I had tons of fun taking pictures. Hubby went up yesterday, on another sheep move, and got some awesome pictures on his phone, which we will try to upload onto the blog soon. I have loooots that I could upload, but I will try to only up load the most interesting ones. If you are my friend on FB, I will have some more on there, which you can take a look at as well.
Here we go....we get up really early....before the sun is even up..w got up around 3:30 am.
Some of us ate breakfast (which I did, surprisingly, since I don't usually eat breakfast that early in the morning, as well as I never eat breakfast as soon as I get up).
...And we get ready to go...people have been packing for this trip for days...probably even weeks before.
Here come the sheep! They used to take about 2700 up the mountain, now they take about 1200 (with lambs).
The tail end of the sheep.
It takes about 12 people to really make a sheep move go smoothly.
The sheep. There are a lot of them:)
The road that we use. Most of the roads are logging truck-worthy, so it goes fairly smoothly.
The Guard Dogs. They like to go to the front of the sheep...they plod along...
We stop for second breakfast. Muffins:) We used to have eggs and toast, but that was too much work. That made me sad.
The valley down below. The top strip of grey is HWY 5.
After we get on the logging road, Aunty V gets in the truck to lead them.
Hubby "working the sheep". He did really well, and loved it.
Stopping for lunch. Sandwiches, cookies and lemonade.
It gets very dusty.
.
I did help out a bit, though. I walked about a 1/3 of the way. I was very proud of myself.
You see this everywhere...it is called Fireweed. The sheep love it.
The last KM of the trip is the hardest. I chose to stay in the truck for most of it. I did manage to walk the last few 1/3 (?) of the KM, though. I was very proud of myself.
We arrive! The sheep are happy! The can eat until they are content:)
Yummy!!!
What some of the grazing area looks like.
I was so tired on the way home, I nearly fell asleep:)
I had a great time, and I even though I was exhausted that evening, I am SO glad we went. It was a 14 hour day, with an 11 hour move. Most of them aren't that long. Anker went on one yesterday, and they were home around 1:30.
Well, that is all for now. I hope you enjoy reading it, as much as I enjoyed compiling the pics and "narrating" it for you!
1 comment:
Hi April, love this post. This was really different and I enjoyed following along with your adventure. All of the pictures turned out nice. That was a long day...I think I would have fell asleep before the end!!! Amazing adventure and thanks for sharing :)
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