We’ve been working hard getting ready for the trip to high ranges. Today we go through the beeves and decide which ones stay at home, and which ones head up to the mountains. They’ll walk and graze over 100 miles through of the summer in over 70 square miles of wilderness. Horses need shoes on their feet, as they are the Rocky Mountains, after all. They also need started and trained after a long winter off—hopefully, all of their bucking and crowhopping will quit when we set down to business.
The cowboys are putting together the chuck wagon. It really isn’t a wagon any more than a station wagon is. It’s a suburban with all the camp gear; tents, water and cook gear like dutch ovens, cast skillets and of course”¦that coffeepot. One of our nouveau cowpokes said that he has a portable French press to bring. Buckaroo Jeremiah scowled. Cowboy coffee for him is part of cow camp. Bitter grounds in pot bottom”¦boiled. For hours over the fire. A nice smoky roast, I suppose, but I think when I’m in camp I may be going French press. Guess I’m getting too picky in my old age for grounds between my teeth!
This afternoon we will get a couple of easy miles under our belt and see how everyone is doing on horseback as we trail the herd to the other side of the valley—still on Alderspring’s home place. At daybreak we’ll start the 10 miles up to the first camp at Magpie Spring.
We’ve gotten some nice spring rains over all of our mountain country. I wish I could put those fragrances in this newsletter—you would read it over and over. There is a profusion of exuberant scents in the spring, from the smell of moist, healthy soil to the pungence of spring sprinkled sagebrush and our native spring sunflower, arrowleaf balsamroot.
I think that scent is all in the beef, and what wafts off the cast iron when a steak caramelizes is indeed the essence of the outside. It’s not only the plants they eat, but the minerals in their water and the soil that they walk on. I think that’s why some of our beef flavor is nearly intoxicating, and satisfying. I’ve been reading a book lately about the flavor of food, and how artificial flavorings never truly satisfy our hunger (The Dorito Effect, by Mark Schatzker).
It has me watching the beeves even more closely, noting how they pick different things to eat. That’s one of the big benefits to a diverse pasture and wild native ranges: the animals can select the plants that they need most that day for optimal health. Research has shown that animals that can free choice what they eat are healthier and thriftier.
I think it’s pretty cool that they have an intuitive sense about what is best, and it gives me pleasure that I can give them the freedom to choose what they want to eat instead of making them eat an animal nutritionist’s idea of the perfect ration in a feedbunk.
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