3rd &4th weeks--Squaw Valley Ranch

One of the driving forces behind 'the Walkabout' is to give Grant a ranch experience.  All of his older siblings experienced some part of their childhood on a ranch.  When we moved to Park City, Gregg continued managing ranches in Utah and Idaho but we soon decided to go out on our own so we formed Open Range Consulting, Inc.  One thing lead to another and now we're partners on leasing Squaw Valley Ranch located in N Nevada just below the OR/ID border.  The closest town is Midas, a 'hook and bullet' community with a bar and a handful of year round residents, the next closest town is Tuscarora, the 'canvas and kiln' community where art is a way of life.  Both communities consist of rugged individualists who place a high value on their seclusion from the hustle and bustle of the rest of the world.

Gregg talks to Grant about 'pressure and response' in moving cattle.

Breakfast at dark:30.

Looking for steers.

Moving steers past 'The Pinnacles'.

A few years ago Nancy came out to the ranch with us.   It's a long day driving from PC with a stop in Elko for supplies and so by the time we reached the bunk house at Upper Clovers, unloaded, settled in, we were ready  for a break.  Gregg came in and said, "So, should we go take a look around?"  Nancy was speechless at first, then sputtered, "You mean you want to go further into the abyss?!"  We cracked up.  Lots of miles are logged out there.  This Fall we've been staying at Squaw--furthest in of the four inhabited 'places'!  Really, I think Nancy's 'abyss' comment was more a reflection of remoteness than beauty. The vast, stark beauty of the landscape would inspire any artist.

2nd week--Tavaputs

Fishing on Currant Creek.

Seth and Grant enter data while Eric looks on.

Open Range Consulting, Inc. (our company) completed a monitoring job on the Tavaputs Plateau at the old Preston Nutter Ranch outside of Price, Utah.  We fished Curant Creek on the way to Price, met up with Eric and his well-organized array of electronic devices, met with the Wildlife  biologist and then climbed to 10,000ft where we bunked at the ranch.  Grant learned to use the GPS devices, entered data on the laptops & drove the truck. Blair and Cretia Eastman, the ranch manager and his wife were excellent hosts.  Grant and I had not been on a monitoring job in several years but Seth, a seasoned 'employee' assured us that this was the best living situation he had experienced on the job as yet.   Grant and I mixed up our monitoring experience with a trip over to the Tavaputs Ranch to take a tour of Range Creek with Butch Jensen.      

View from the Tavaputs lodge.

1st week--starting the day 'everyone else' went back to school

Being out of town on the first day of 'school' was essential.  Grant and I headed to Boise to visit Nancy and the Simonds family while Gregg took care of some business on the ranch and then met us in Boise for a few days.  Lucky Peak, South Fork of the Boise, Birds of Prey Center, homeschooling begins.