We visited my parents in Idaho around the end of May. They live in a beautiful valley in the southeast part of the state where they raise beef cattle, Quarter Horses, and mules. We spent a week out there riding horses, hiking on mountain trails, enjoying their western scenery, and catching up on life among the Lewis family. I took two cameras, and when I got home there were over 700 photos on my memory cards! So this blog post is to share some of the sights I saw, most of them taken from the back of a horse.
This is my mom, at age seventy, driving cattle on my sister’s buckskin mare, Chicory.
This is the view looking back south from the Pass Creek Summit. This shows the trail we had driven the cattle herd up all day, pushing them through the rocky notch in the center of the photo, and then on for another ten miles or so.
This is beautiful Chicory again, running wild in my mom’s orchard in front of their house.
This was taken during a short rest we took in the canyon, where there was a cool stream running through the trees and a place for the cows to drink and relax in the shade for a bit. I was riding my sister’s chestnut gelding Challis, who was very push-button and comfortable to ride.
I took this photo on the way down to the barn on the morning of the big cattle drive. It was a beautiful, crisp morning and the day was full of promise….a whole day horseback!
This is our son Jack, riding Grandpa’s big old Red horse. Jack absolutely loves horses, and was just begging to ride. When Cowboy Dad put him up into the saddle, he just grabbed the reins and smiled.
This is my sister Karmen riding her 3 year old molly mule, Garnet, pushing cattle at the back of the herd. Karmen loves her mules—I’ve never ridden one, but I do admire how they will work hard and plow right through the roughest terrain without the blink of an eye. This little mule and my sister did the work of three cowboys!
This is my dad, age seventy, riding his three year old Quarter Horse buckskin mare, Donegal. We were driving cattle through the Pass Creek Notch, and the canyon walls just took your breath away.
This is my sister Karmen riding my mom’s paint mare, Sage, through the sagebrush. I love the different scenery and terrain that’s all part of Idaho…you get everything from lush irrigated fields to dry desert plains, rocky mountain trails, and green highland pastures, all within a ten mile radius.
