Story: A day on the road - A Wyoming tradition

In order to avoid the growing summer heat that rises with the sun, days start early for the Curuchets. With parents waking up and getting horses ready around 3:30 a.m. and kids waking up around 4, the day begins in near darkness.

A day on the road: A Wyoming tradition

Reported and Photographed by Jessi Dodge for the Buffalo Bulletin.

Early each summer ranchers from around the county make their annual trek up the mountain, bringing livestock out of the hot and dry flats into the cooler grasslands to graze for the summer months. For the Curuchet family, moving just over 3,000 sheep takes about a week and only works with the contribution of the whole family. Mike and Kris Curuchet and their three kids, Joe, 13, Jamie, 12, and Ben, 10, all rode along either horseback or on four-wheelers to help drive the sheep.

With everyone helping out, from kids to grandparents, each person has a role in making the move happen. Beginning on their ranch east of Kaycee, the sheep are pushed through town, toward Mayoworth and up the mountain to their final summer destination. This year, dry weather encouraged the trip and high temperatures forced only early morning and late evening travel. The family and the sheep moved through Kaycee in the early morning on June 10 and continued preparations for their trek uphill.

To move the sheep, the family uses a combination of vehicles, ATVs and horses to move the sheep down the road for the day’s trip. A truck and trailer followed behind the whole group to carry any slower animals that need to ride.

Ben Curuchet, 10, holds onto one of the dogs atop the four wheeler while talking to his mom Chris barely above a whisper on Thursday, June 10, 2021.

The Curuchet family continued their roughly week long trek moving more than 3000 sheep up the mountain from the home ranch to their summer range on Thursday pushing nearly 2500 ewes and lambs through the town of Kaycee to the Mayoworth holding area.

For the Curuchets, ranching is a family job that gets everyone involved. All three kids help their parents move sheep each day while their grandparents pitch in either leading or trailing the herd from a vehicle.

As the sun peaked over the horizon, the Curuchet’s were making the final approach into Kaycee. The family moved the sheep a bit faster in the morning trying to make it in and out of town early before the heat set in and before traffic starts.

Moving the sheep to the mountain from the home ranch which is east of Kaycee involves pushing them through town. The sheep are moved in two groups through town split between two days to keep the trip more manageable.

After pushing through town the pace of the move drastically slowed. The sheep were allowed to pass under the interstate overpasses at their own pace, letting them cool off and catch their breath after the morning jog through town.

After making it through town, from right, Jamie, Joe and Chris Curuchet give the horses and the sheep a break on Thursday. The sun fully rose over the sky and lit up the town just as they were arriving, making sure that the hard part of the trip was over.

Leaving the sheep with Jamie and Joe, Mike, center, took son Ben and mother-in-law Karen to the Sinclair to pick up breakfast sandwiches and drinks for everyone. Ben helped remember what everyone does and does not like on their sandwiches.

Ben pretends to ride a saddle bronc in the back of the truck while his dad and grandma, Ginger Curuchet, watch the sheep lapping into the day’s holding pasture. Ben was clear that he doesn’t want to be a bronc rider but instead wants to be a truck driver.

Mike pulls one of the dogs through the fence after going out to check on the sheep as they arrive in the holding area on Thursday morning. The holding area is set aside as a place for sheep and cattle to rest with water as they trek toward the mountains.

Eager to help, Ben helped to place the blocks and crank down the stands to hold the trailer steady once parked Thursday morning. Chris joked that each kid had their own role in camp: Ben helps with camp, Jamie with animals, and Joe picks up the leftovers.

Chris Curuchet places a bandaid on Ben’s heal that had rubbed sore again after the morning’s work. Joe and Jamie watered the horses and got all the animals put away before returning the trailer to get out of the sun and relax for a while.

With the early mornings and late nights that come with the trek up the mountain, napping in the middle of the day between jobs is common for the kids. Joe was the first to crash after the mornings work, napping on his bottom bunk for an hour or so.

Chris and Mike caught up on some paperwork and talked about what needed to be taken care of for the day while Ben checked his hair in the mirror. Chris went back to the morning’s starting spot to retrieve the trailer and catch it up with the sheep.

Despite the hot, dry weather, mud was available enough to keep boots, jeans and some dropped phones caked in mud. The dogs wandered in and out of the trailer between naps in the shade, bringing in their own mud and hair to share with everyone.

During the peak heat of the day, it is too hot to safely move livestock and so random tasks like grocery shopping, shoeing the horses and chores back home fill the day between moves. Ben was quick to pull out Boggle as he convinced everyone to play.

After settling in for the day to avoid the heat, the hot wind began howling, sending curtains and loose papers flying as the open windows and doors attempted to cool off the space. The stuck clock on the wall reminded no one of the time.

Passing time in short increments, the boggle board was flipped again and again as the group searched for new word combinations that they hoped wouldn’t be spotted by anyone else.

After returning from a grocery run, Chris watched as the boggle points were added up and words found. As this was the last day close to town, Chris stocked up on groceries for the trip so they didn’t have to come off the mountain if not necessary.

Making sure that all the horses got time to graze after the morning workout, Jaimie swapped horses midday so they could all eat. When the Curuchet’s moved the sheep through Kaycee, they only moved in the morning.

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