The days are shorter, the air turns colder, and the first snows arrive. The older cows know it’s time to move. They begin to lead their calves out of our high country pastures and gather at the southern fences. We round up the stragglers and move the cattle in steps down to our river bottom pastures, where they’re sheltered from the worst of our Rocky Mountain winters. There, we can feed them and look after them. Calves are weaned in November, so that the cows can rebuild strength and devote their energy to building the new calves, which begin arriving around the middle of March.