Doyle Creek Drive

135 years ago, Wyoming was officially made a state. No better way to celebrate that gift than with a cattle drive in the Bighorn National Forest. 

Doyle Creek would be our destination. 

At 5:00am, Richard and Patty Tass met me in town, and Chief and I followed them up to Muddy Creek, above Crazy Woman. 

Here the riders were getting mounted up. This is not your average ranch. The Tass's operate a guest ranch in conjunction with their cow/calf operation. They basically give guests from around the world the opportunity to take part in real ranch activities, like driving cattle up the Bighorns. 

Two days ago, they moved the cattle from the ranch to the base of the Bighorns. Yesterday, they pushed them up the mountain. After everyone rested over night, we set out to drive them to their summer range. 

After everyone's horse was watered,

We set out. Not a walk in the park, but close to it.

The cows knew where they were going and wanted to get up high where it's cooler. In the distance are the Hazelton Peaks. 

Being Nation Forest ground, there's a lot of campers around. You can pretty much camp anywhere, a certain distance from the road. Also, you can leave you camper parked in the same place for up to 14 days. Consequently, many people take advantage of this beautiful campground. 

About an hour into our ride, Hank joined in. 

We came up Billy Creek Road where it tees into the Hazelton Road. From There we headed south. 

Eventually, our group got stuck with the stragglers. You're only as fast as your slowest cow!

Many cool cabins around this area. 

Popular sheep country too. 

Eventually we met the rest of the herd at Doyle Creek. 

Time for a drink.

And some lunch.

Before we all mounted back up for the final push. 

Nice drive through the gate to their summer home. Enjoy girls!

Fun stuff. Beautiful day and way to celebrate the anniversary of the 44th state of the Union. God bless American and Wyoming in particular! Special thanks to the Tass's for letting me tag along. It is very generous of you to share this wonderful way of life with guests from near and far. Keep on ranching in a free world!

Kingdom of Heaven

Live for the next world and this world will make sense.

           https://youtu.be/rhz-RAJxQ4k         

New Israel

The Church is the fulfillment of the Israel of old.

           https://youtu.be/ydFeR-76a1M         

Assertive Faith

Is a confident faith.

           https://youtu.be/wfTidbbicK0         

Israel of God

Do Christians have the duty to support and defend Israel? 

           https://youtu.be/MFkbwVRlsxY         

Fencing for Fun

Priests' vacations are spent in all sorts of ways. Some climb Devil's Tower, others camp and fish on the Powder River, and still others spend a week building fence in Worland. To each his own. However it's done, the goal of a vacation is to renew us in mission. 

I chose to build fence in Worland. Grandpa built this fence going up the lane some 50 years ago. She has held strong, but now the posts are starting to rot off. What to do? Rebuild it in place or move it down to the edge of the field. We opted for the relocate. 

First order of business was to put the post pounder on the front of the 4230.

Then we pound in some 2 7/8" around the pivot pad and welded continuous fence panels on them. Thus, segregating the pivot point from the pasture, while allowing free access to the control panel and valve from the road. 

Before we really went to town, we called in a line locate. I joke about safety first, but hitting this 2" gas line is the last thing I want to do. 

Once we knew we were in the clear, we went to digging some post holes with the 4010. 

This'll be the new entry gate into the field. So we set it tall and wide with some Campbell County 4 1/2" drill stem. 

Then used Uncle Chris' 4440 to set the horizontal. As Dad always says, alls well that ends well.

Before Grandpa broke this ground out, the original road that went up the hill went right through the field and up this approach. Kind of cool to bring it back full circle. 

Once all the brace posts were set, we went to pounding posts. These 6' bad boys were made in the USA!

In honor of that fact, I pounded in 62 of them on the anniversary of our nation's independence. God bless America! To keep them straight, I always stretch a wire from brace post to brace post. A fence like this against the lane, I take a level and make sure they are standing tall and proud. Four paces in between posts. Should work. 

No new wire around here. We used the original woven wire and barbwire off the old fence.

And moved them down to the new location. I like to put the fencing on the side of the posts where the pressure is going to be. 

To stretch the woven wire, we hooked up White Horse's winch and sucked it tight.

Hank showed up to help me clip it up. 

Then we turned to the north section, from the gate to the pivot point. 

Woven wire and three stands of barb. Should work.

For the final touch, we pulled out the old posts. 

Done. Our Blessed Mother seems to approve. Hopefully Mom does too. 

Good stuff. I don't know if I've ever exuded as much sweat as I have on this ranch. Everything we do is physically tough and usually compounded by heat. I love it, though. Working hard fuels my soul. Being able to see the fruits of your labor stokes the fire of creativity in a man's mind. Though my body is sore, my heart is renewed to continue to build up the Kingdom of God in Johnson County. 24/8

Universal

The Church is one and many.

           https://youtu.be/DDp1BJXUv_I         

Compare and Despair

Follow Christ and we'll all be good.

           https://youtu.be/6Bh3RNvGjlI         

Immaculate Mary

In honor of the feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we gave the shrine at our house a freshening up.

This statue of our Blessed Mother and the structure that houses her, originated in Tensleep Canyon at Fr. Cyril Hmelovsky’s cabin. Fr. Hmelovsky was the forever priest in Worland who baptized Mom and later baptized me. When he passed, Grandpa inherited the shrine and erected it on the hill at Neiber for all the world to venerate. 

We call her Our Lady of the Intersection because she watches over Hwy 20 where the South Flat and Gooseberry Creek roads intersect. Years ago there was a fatal accident here, which gave rise to the need for her intercession. Especially in the summer, a lot of travelers, for work and play, cross her path. Mary has done a good job of keeping this corner accent free since this shrine has been her. 

About 17 years ago, we reinforced the structure with some 2 7/8", allowing it to withstand the Wyoming wind. 

That was about the last time it was painted as well. Since we recently painted the house, it was time to spruce the shrine up too. 

So we scraped and knocked off the old paint as best we could.

And then got after the new coat. 

We like to keep it the same color as our house on the hill. 

One thing about painting old outdoor lumber, it will give you a chance to do it again in the future. We just painted where the blue was pealing, with a paint and primer combo. Once it dried, it matched just right. 

The statue itself needed a little TLC. Birds like to build a next on the structure behind her. Consequently, her head is often their perch. I doubt she minds. 

So we scrubbed her all up. 

Muy bien. 

Our Lady of the Intersection, pray for us!

Good stuff. People love passing by our Blessed Mother, knowing that she is watching over us. In reality, all we are doing is taking serious the Scripture verse that all generations will call her blessed (Luke 1:48). I love Mary. She has helped me through so much. True devotion to Mary is following in our Lord’s footsteps who totally entrusted Himself to her. When we behold our Mother (John 19:27), as Jesus commanded, we stay peaceful as children and are giving the guidance to carry out the Father's will. May Mary, not only lead us to Jesus, may she also bring out Jesus in us. Let's ranch. 

Exhaust Repair

White Horse has had an exhaust leak for the past year or so. Finally I reached under there to feel where it was coming from, only to discover that it was coming from the manifold and not a gasket. Dang. 

Much to my chagrin, the manifold was cracked. So we set out to weld it up.

The job was doable, just not very inviting. With some time back home, we took it on. 

Standing on your head is about the only way to get a grip on the plug wires and break the bolts loose. Thankfully, they threaded out of the head pretty good. 

Underneath too, the nuts came right of the manifold flange.

With a little finagling, she came out. 

There she be. The last port is going to run the hottest, collecting the exhaust of the three cylinders that proceeded it. 

After we took off the heat shield,

The fullness of the crack was revealed to us. 

It almost broke all the way around. 

So we cleaned up it good with a wire brush. 

Changed the tip on our cutting torch to a welding tip and grabbed some brazing rod.

Big flame or little flame? Only one way to find out. Bring the blue flame to a cone before you start. 

Brazing works best if the whole surface is hot. Makes the melting point of the rod closer to the temp on the metal it is clinging too. Brazing doesn’t melt into the metal like other forms of welding. It kind of sits on top.

Tough weld. We'll take it. 

This project revealed that the spark plug wire were melting by being too close to the exhaust heat. 

So we got new wires and slipped some heat shield over the part that connects to the spark plug. Hopefully it works. 

Back together, we go. 

Big job. Glad it's done. I'm glad to not hear the leak anymore. But I'm pretty excited by the extra power not having the spark plugs misfire. On to the next one.