Baa, Baa Black Sheep

With a promised stop to visit our Pacific Crest Trail-hiking niece Kate the upcoming weekend, David scoured the map for campgrounds with high elevations between the Davis Mountains and Moab.  It looked like the Manti-La Sal National Forest would be a good bet.  We stopped at the ranger station in Ephraim for more information.  The kind ranger offered us a map and wonderful opportunity to take Skyline Drive, a rugged, mountainous four-wheel drive trail.  She also assured us that the campground was above 9,000 feet in altitude and temperatures would certainly be cool at those elevations.

The road up to the Skyline Pass was about 30 miles of rough, rocky road, but certainly passable.  When we reached the summit, the view of the Ferron reservoir valley was absolutely breathtaking.

Ferron Reservoir from Skyline Summit

Past the summit, we had a short series of extremely rocky and narrow switchbacks.  To say the least, it was a white-knuckle ride.  With no room to pass, thank God we didn't meet any other vehicles  except two motorcyclists!

As we entered the valley, we were surprised by the number of sheep grazing along the roadside.  They appeared not to have any shepherds or sheep dogs with them, so we assumed the owners had a permit to graze the sheep on government land.

We settled into our campsite near the reservoir and took Roxanne for a swim.  She was so happy to be  wet and in cooler temperatures!

By late afternoon, we noticed that the sheep seemed to be grazing closer and closer to us.  They had made their way from the road across the valley to the small peninsula overlooking the reservoir.

Soon the entire flock was grazing just over the hill from our campground.

A bit concerned that we might have approximately 500 sheep grazing through our camp within the next few minutes, I called to Roxanne, wondering what might happen if the sheep saw her.  What happened next surprised us all!

Rox strolled over the hill to check things out... and in her normal Golden way, she just stood, sniffed, and observed.  The sheep, however, must have been quite familiar with dogs... most likely herding dogs.  They took one look at Rox and skiddadled as fast and far away from her as they could.  David and I couldn't help but laugh as Roxanne walked back, looking so proud.

Thankfully, the sheep chose to detour a wide path around our campsite.  We were doubly grateful because many of them had obviously been recently wormed.  Those who had been had diarrhea.  Needless to say, the entire area was ripe with fresh sheep dung.

Because of Roxanne, however, the sheep parted to the left and right of our site, giving us plenty of space.  By evening, they were grazing peacefully along the hillside on the opposite side of us.

We spent two beautiful days at Ferron Reservoir.  The second day we did some much-needed readjusting before our big push towards home.  We pulled everything out of the truck, shook off the dirt, and repacked it.

Ferron was a much needed respite for us all.  The fall colors were bright, the evenings chilly enough for sweatshirts, and with sheep running every time they saw her, Roxanne had her mojo back.  What a wonderful time!

Now on to Moab!

Park City on Dwellable