I
n the summer, while most of the ranch property is dedicated to growing hay for winter feed, dozens of Hutchinson cows graze on public land. One allotment in the San Isabel Na- tional Forest has been in the family for generations. After a 20-minute ride from the ranch over 9,000-foot-high Poncha Pass, Abby drives across a Bureau of Land Management allot-
ment and stops to open a gate leading onto the U.S. Forest Service parcel. She’s relieved to see the gate closed—she spent most of the day before on horseback, rounding up 33 head of cattle that took advantage of a gate left open by a passerby. Abby scans through trees, up hillsides and down gullies for signs of her cows. Up here they graze
on a “dry-line mix” of blue grama and sagebrush that grows among the aspen and ponderosa pine. To the northwest are sweeping views of a trio of rock-topped summits: Mount Shavano (14,157 feet), Tabeguache Peak (14,028 feet), and Mount Antero (14,119 feet). The herd will graze in this area until the end of September. During that time, Abby will con- tinue to monitor them, maintain their drinking troughs, and pack in—by mule or on horseback— 50-pound blocks of salt to supplement their diet. When the days grow cooler, most of the cows will come down off the pass on their own. But there are always strays. Take the case of a bull she spent about a week trying to round up along slick, steep slopes in a foot-and-a-half of snow. “I was at wit’s end. I thought I’d have to just shoot him and sell the meat. Then a lightbulb went on,” says Abby. She loaded Stella the milk cow into a trailer and drove her up the hill. “He got one whiff,” she says, and all but bolted into the trailer.
Branding is how ranchers prove ownership of their stock: designs are bought, sold, and legally registered. The simplicity of the “Y” brand makes it the Hutchinson’s most valuable.
52 · LAND&PEOPLE · FALL/WINTER 2013
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