Sidetracked Charley

It is that time of year when all the cattle moves down to where they were dumped off last spring. We are a summer pasturing area. And most privately owned fields are connected by opened gates to public grazing lands. In the middle of summer all the cows and their calves are at the top of the mountains. And then by some signal only they know they start to head down. About the same time, and maybe to the same obscure signal the birds begin to gather and head through to the south. The snow is a bit unusual for this early in October. The water isn't frozen and as soon as the sun comes up the snow will melt into the ground. But this morning the snow covered the gold grass and the fog cloaked the mountains altering the familiar landscape of my mountain neighborhood. I wasn't dressed for the cold or the damp nor am I mentally prepared for winter which waits in the wings rather impatiently. I was happy to see the sun.

Every spring the cattle arrive. Brought in large cattle trailers behind semi-tractors they get dropped off at lower gates of properties owned by ranchers and National Forest leases. They roam up the mountain grazing as they go until they reach the high meadows to spend the summer. One of the first signs of fall are the same cattle moving down the mountain to their pick up points. Yesterday as my sister, her husband and I drove the national forest roads along the mountain ridge cows, this year's calves, and fattening steers like the one above were on the road or beside it working their way down. Early frosts had touched the forest flower and turned once green leaves to orange and gold; their color replacing the wildflowers of just a couple weeks ago. And in the trees vines were suddenly visible with their fall dress of red and orange. We wound our way to the top of the mountain to meadows where just recently cattle and elk had grazed to find them empty and the tall grass turned to g...