As I trotted horseback with purpose, cutting through the sweltering still air, I had no idea that treachery had been afoot in the Hat Creek Country. It was hot for the 15th of May, particularly in this deep cleft in the rocks that we call Pig Creek. I nudged my stalwart mare, Missy, up the elk …
The Range of Life
The Coleman lantern above my head is swinging from the ridge pole. Colton just hit his head on it, again. I can relate; I've hit it countess times despite the fact that we all know it's there. It is hung judiciously right above the camp stove and folding tables and you are bound to hit it more than …
On Those Happy Trails
In the shimmering noonday heat, we made our way up across the broad sagebrush monotype. Viewed through my sweat blinded eyes, it appeared as though we were bound for nowhere in particular; hill after hill marched ever slightly upward toward the distant Bitterroot Mountains, until they finally gave …
Bees, Blossoms and Beauty
"Check out the giant bumblebees," Caryl said as she walked slowly through the riotous display of wildflowers. She had come with me on this trip to check water on the range, and as is typical, she was wandering around looking at plants. The wildflowers are amazing this year, with hills painted …
The Range of Why
"Hey! Could somebody let me out?" Linnaea could barely make out the muffled words, but she immediately obliged. It was Nathan, the Alderspring cowhand crew member who just finished his Bachelor's degree in range science at the University of Idaho. He had spent the night under a heavy tarp with …
Beauty from Ashes
In the late afternoon of August 8, 2018, hot gusty winds lifted off the sunbaked deserts of the Snake River Plain, 122 miles to the south of Alderspring and our summer grazing country of the wild and remote Hat Creek Ranges. The oven dry winds blew up our valley and fanned a late afternoon …