This past weekend afforded me a unique opportunity to participate in something I had never done before: calf branding and vaccinating. I had also never been up on the Montana high line, Highway 2. This area is much different than the area surrounding Bozeman, and a 5+ hour drive, where I grew up, would normally take you through a couple states.
Heating the brands with a propane torch and windbreak.
It was a community event. Those that live nearby help in exchange for future help on their own ranches and farms. It was a great part of American tradition and community that you can easily forget about down here in Bozeangeles. What people go through for their livelyhood, and consider priorities, are vastly different just a few hours up the road.
I had also not ridden a horse in roughly 17 years, since I vacationed on a dude ranch in Colorado in elementary school. It was fun to direct the last herd of cattle in on horseback and see some of the more experienced riders chase down the uncooperative cattle.
Wrangling the last herd of cattle on "Skip" in the evening.
Then, just because it was so convenient, we stopped in at Craig to do some fishing on the way home. We had stopped Friday, briefly, but the wind made it pretty miserable. Mark at Headhunters gave some solid fly pattern advice, and we applied it Sunday evening.
A colored up Missouri River rainbow trout, my biggest to date.
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