*After many requests, this blog post is a copy of our newsletter from October 23rd, 2024 and was written as a recap of the hellacious events of the Elk Fire, a massive wildfire that started in one of our summer grazing pastures and spread for miles.

Recap of Elk Fire x Kerns' Ranch Events:

This is a recap of fire events for just our ranch and does not cover the growth towards the residents in the towns of Dayton, Sheridan, Bighorn, and Story.

• September 27th: A small plume of smoke was spotted in our Dry Fork allotment in the Bighorn Mountains. 

• Sunday, September 29th, 10AM: We were put on standby to evacuate our cattle that were located at the base of the Bighorn Mountains on Pass Creek (The Double Rafter Homestead and the Miller Ranch.)

   

• Sunday, September 29th, 1PM: Watching the wind and the rate of fire growth, we opted to evacuate our brood mare and foals out of precaution, as they were located in the pasture closest to the base of the mountains on the Miller Ranch. We moved our ranch fire truck to the Miller Ranch, just in case...

   

• Sunday, September 29th, 7pm: Due to high winds and hot temps, the fire grew dramatically by evening. We decided to evacuate all animals from the Miller Ranch. With the help of friends and neighbors with pickups and trailers, Taylor and the crew were done and home by 11pm.

Photos left to right: First sighting of the Elk Fire- just a thin plume of smoke. Then the growth by Sunday morning despite efforts to suppress it.

Photos left to right: The fire creeping down The Pass towards the Homestead. Bottom right: the view of the Elk Fire from Lodge Grass on Sunday night, about 40 miles away.

• Monday, September 30th: The fire grew from 6,000 acres to 24,000+ acres overnight.

• Tuesday, October 1st, 5AM: The fire grows dramatically East along the face of the Bighorn Mountains towards the town of Dayton, as well as Southwest towards our main herd located in the Little Horn Canyon on the Bighorn Mountains. The family decides to gather the Little Horn and move the whole herd up country to Dayton Gulch out of precaution with the plan to drop cattle there and wait out the fire. 

   

• Tuesday, October 1st, 6:30pm: Taylor calls from the mountains. All is well, but the cattle didn't want to walk up country (they normally travel down to the valley this time of year). Cows fought them every step and they only made it halfway to Dayton Gulch. The guys (Taylor, Trent, Dana, Chris and Josh) would be staying the night on the mountains and finishing in the morning.

   

• Tuesday, October 1st, 10:15pm: We get a call that the fire has flared up again. It's moving FAST towards Miller's Ranch, the Double Rafter Homestead and the Rocky Bottom. The family at the Double Rafter Homestead evacuates to Dana & Alice's home about 20 mins away. We also get reports that a handful of our cattle showed up at the Rocky Bottom. All our men are in the mountains with the main herd, leaving us ranch wives to figure it out. MIL Alice drives up the our place in Lodge Grass to watch my kiddos and Trent & Mallory's kiddos while Mallory and I gather horses and saddle up in the dark.

   

• Wednesday, October 2nd, 4am: It took about two hours to gather horses, saddle up, and drive to the Rocky Bottom, putting us there around midnight. We got ahold of Chris' wife Gabby and some other neighbors around midnight to meet us at the Rocky Bottom with trailers. All our stock trailers were on the mountain with our cowboys. It was horrendously windy and pitch black except for the fire lighting the skyline and coming towards us. After a couple of hours riding in the dark, I was ready to give up. There was no way we were going to find 6 pair in a 400 acre pasture in the dark. Mallory and I had split up part way through and I was beginning to worry about her. But then she showed up at the corrals with six pairs (cows and calves) and a heifer. By 4am we were home, unsaddled and back in bed. 

   

•  Wednesday, October 2nd, 10 am: On my way to work at WHMC, I swung by Pass Creek to see the damage done from the night before. The fire came all the way down, burning through the Double Rafter Homestead AND the Miller Ranch. All the grass was lost, as well as about 71 ton of hay. BUT no structures were lost thanks to one heroic neighbor (Stephen Masters) who had noticed the one sprinkler running on a gas generator had run out of fuel. He had just enough time to refuel the generator before fleeing the fire. AND I should also mention the lone hotshot who defended cousin Chelsie's new build on the homestead, who became trapped by the surrounding fire and camped the night in her unfinished home. And on one tiny unburnt patch of grass near the Miller Ranch stood a handful of missed cattle, miraculously unharmed. After a peaceful night's sleep on the mountains and a relatively pleasant time moving cattle with the guys, Taylor was horrified to hear what had transpired while he was gone. 

Photos left to right: The fire swept through Pass Creek and West Pass early Wednesday morning nearly taking out the family homestead from 1887, and cousin Chelsie's new build. A lone sprinkler and one heroic neighbor saved the original home and barn, while a lone hotshot and some construction dirt saved Chelsie's new home.

Photos left to right: Zoom in to see a lone group of missed cattle standing miraculously unharmed on a lone patch of grass. (Photo credit by Stephen Masters, I believe. Also pictured are ranchers, Matt Caster and a neighbor, exhausted after fighting fire all night. Photo credit Angie Caster.

• Thursday, October 3rd, 7:30am: The fire continues to grow rapidly and erratically. At this point it is up to 37,000+ acres. Despite prevailing winds blowing the fire East down the face of the mountains towards the town of Dayton, the fire also jumped the Dry Fork river into a fuel filled timber patch and is heading steadily Southwest towards where we had just relocated the main group of cattle. The family determines evacuation in necessary… But how? We see three possible options:

Option 1: Trail down the Little Horn Canyon to the Rocky Bottom. This option is the fastest, most familiar for both cowboys and cattle meaning we would spill less cattle along the way. It would take one day to gather and one day to trail. But it’s also the riskiest. The Little Horn Canyon intersects with the Dry Fork Canyon at the base of the mountains and the fire is growing slowly but steadily in that direction. It would most likely be fine, but if we guessed wrong… Our cowboys and all our cattle could become trapped by the fire.

Option 2: Trail an alternate route down the Marble Quarry Road to the Rocky Bottom. This would take the cattle down on a ridge above timberline several more miles away from the impending fire. It has a great vantage of the fire the whole way down. BUT, it’s completely unfamiliar to both our cattle and our cowboys. It would take one day to gather and two days to trail. Our cowboys would have to camp on the cattle over night. We would likely get MOST of our cattle safely off the mountain, but also spill many along the way.

Option 3: Truck the entire herd of 450 cows and their calves, plus some horses, off the mountains. This option is by far the safest, but also an unaccounted for expense since we normally trail to and from the mountains, grazing our leases along the way. Not to mention, we would have to find 14 semis to accommodate that many head of cattle. Truckers are busy this time of year anyway and hard to find, much less 14 of them! The family doesn’t see this as a feasible option, both realistically and financially.  

• Thursday, October 3rd, 5pm: I spent most of my day trying to juggle kids’ needs while hunting down truckers. I manage to scrounge up 9-10 semis to be on standby.
  

Photos left to right: A map showing our normal route down the Little Horn Canyon, the potential route down the Marble Quarry Road, and the other map shows the routes the truckers were planning on taking before the Forest Service opened up U.S. 14 through Dayton.

The Elk Fire raging along the face of the Bighorn Mountains towards the town of Dayton, before crossing the Tongue River Canyon. Photo credit Chad Flanagan.

• Friday, October 4th: The family is mobilizing supplies and riders and preparing to head up the mountain. Alice packed enough food for 10 riders for 4 days. The family has tentatively settled on Option 2: Trailing down the Marble Quarry Road, with all of us flip flopping our decision at least once. Thankfully, my mom and a best friend show up as reinforcement to help with kids.

The Plan: Friday get all crew and supplies to the Crosby cow camp. Saturday gather Dayton Gulch at first light and take the herd to the Crosby corrals. Sunday begin trailing down the Marble Quarry Road, camping on the cattle Sunday night. Monday finish trailing cattle down to the Rocky Bottom. The Forest Service was aware of every step of this plan.

I drop Taylor and my father off at the Rocky Bottom Friday afternoon. They are headed up the Marble Quarry trail in a Gator to scout the trail before coming down on Sunday. They promise me that everything will be fine… The rest of the crew is headed up the mountain the long way due to road closures with pickups, horse trailers, horses and supplies.

I was feeling OKAY about the plan, until I saw a group of fire fighters as I was leaving the Rocky Bottom and stopped to chat with them. I asked them about the fire and shared our plans. They were preparing for fire in Little Horn Canyon and expecting it and the Rocky Bottom to burn. They thought our plan sounded reasonable until I mentioned that it would take them 3 days. The fire fighters said we didn’t have 3 days.

I had no way to communicate this news to our guys and for the first time felt true panic since the fire began. I melt down. My guys would be heading straight into the fire.

Just then, our pastor happens to call me. We pray. Well, he prays, and asks for the faith that the Lord will provide wisdom, safety and clarity for our cowboys.

I try to put a brave face back on before getting home. Luckily, it was a long drive.

Dropping my Dad and Taylor off at the Rocky Bottom so they could drive up the Marble Quarry Road. The photo they promised wouldn't be our last.

• Saturday, October 5th: Taylor calls from cow camp at 6:30am. Despite the prevailing winds blowing the fire away from them, the fire grew 2-3 miles their direction overnight. They feel it’s no longer a safe option to trail down the Marble Quarry Road and want to continue with Option 3: Truck off the mountain. I feel overwhelming relief. But now we need to line up 14 truckers. Again. I lock myself in my room calling every trucker in know, every trucker that trucker knows, and any leads on truckers that came through social media. 14 hours later we have the semis we need and are coordinated with the Forest Service. The Lord provided in our time of need and we are so grateful.

• Sunday October 6th: All the truckers lined up at the Tongue River High School at 6am in preparation for the Forest Service to lift the road block up the mountains through the fire at 6:30am. My truckers convoy was led by a plow to clear debris. All of the cattle gathered and in the corrals were loaded on the last truck and headed back off the mountains by 12pm. On the other end, us ladies were scrambling to get ranch chores done AND prepare to receive cattle. Our weaning lot that we’ve been building on the new ranch in Lodge Grass isn’t finished yet and we need a secure place to hold cattle for a few days after trucking so mamas and babies can all find each other again. Our neighbors volunteered their corrals to receive them. Then we marked the way from the interstate exit to the ranch with flags for the truckers to find us as well as provided GPS coordinates. Next we caught and saddled a couple horses incase anything ran the wrong way after getting off the trucks. And last but not least, we prepared lunches, cookies and coffee for all our drivers as a thank you. 
  

  
  

The video is meant to say Sunday Morning. I was tired and the days were a blur. But in the video is the convoy of truckers coming to rescue our cattle and the herd getting unloaded at the neighbor's corrals in Lodge Grass.

• Monday, October 7th: The guys all stay the Sunday night, minus Trent, who came down on Sunday to help receive cattle. They reride and regather Dayton Gulch and the Little Horn Canyon, taking anything they find back up to the Crosby Corrals to be trucked off. They find another 25 pair, load them up on one last semi, and finally are home around 6pm Monday evening. We all sleep peacefully for the first time in a while. 

• After Evacuation: It took us about a week to return to normal energy levels after the adrenaline rush of the past week. Exhaustion hit hard, but the work wasn’t over yet. We still needed a brand inspection since the cattle were coming from the mountains of Wyoming to the someplace in Montana. The cattle needed a health inspection as well. Cattle also needed to be paired, sorted, and moved out to pasture on the home place. It was at least two weeks before we were back into a normal(ish) rhythm again. The fire continues to rage and grow a couple thousand acres per day, but at least now we can watch from a safe distance, knowing our cattle are safe. However, we are becoming increasingly concerned about all our mountain permits burning up. You see, the Forest service has a policy that areas that were burned need a minimum 1 year rest before grazing again. If we lose all our mountain permits to the Elk Fire, we will really be in trouble. We depend on that summer grass for our cattle and our cattle drives.

   

• October 17th: It finally rains. Snow on the mountain. Smoke lifts. Firefighters pause their work and rest. 

   

• October 22nd: The fire has burned a total 96,360 acres, but has not grown since October 17th. It continues to smolder and 944 firefighters (not including volunteers) still stand at the ready or work on fire lines. We now have 51% containment. I believe the end is in sight. 

   

• Damages: We are still tallying up the loss from this fire. There’s so much we still don’t know. I don’t know what our total shook out to be to truck all the cattle off the mountains. If everyone charged $1,200 per load, we’d be looking at $16,800. Dana estimated we’ve lost about $120,000 of hay and grassland in the valley. We don’t have access to our permits on the mountains to determine… Are the Charlie Miller and the Kerns cabins still standing? The fire map shows them surrounded by red. If not, will we be able to rebuild them? Are there any fences left? Will the Forest Service be providing supplies and replacing the fences or will we be expected to? Are the corrals at the Dry Fork still standing? So many questions still. Overall, we feel extremely fortunate to have had no loss of life. Some of our neighbors in the Remington Fire in August weren’t so lucky and are plum out of business after their animals, fences, and legacies burned up in the wicked grassfire. All our animals are accounted for, praise God!

So we live to ranch another day and truly are grateful for it. We love our animals and what we do. We love this life and the legacy we are building for the next generation. And every day feels like a gift.

Thanks for reading!

With faith & joy,

Cathryn

P.S. Conspiracy Theories: There have been some viral videos online with conspiracy theories about the Government starting this fire to use this crisis to make a land grab in order to have access to rare earth minerals... But almost all of this fire, except for the arm that came down and burned Pass Creek, was in the Bighorn NATIONAL Forest... That is Federally owned... These "minerals" referenced are also 40+ miles away from this fire. Personally, I believe that this conspiracy theory is nonsense. And while this fire was stressful and scary, in the long run, it will be very good for our forest. Fire is a natural cleanse! More Photos Below:

(For even more videos and footage, see our Story Highlight title "Elk Fire " on Instagram.)

Here is the fire progression map, showing where the fire started and where it grew each day up to October 16th.

View of the Elk Fire from Sheridan, Wyoming - many miles from the origin of the fire.

Meanwhile, while we were in the middle of evacuation, our heroic friends, family, and neighbors joined the fire fighters and hot shots on the front lines. Many of these "Hill Billy Hotshots" had also just fought the horrible Remington fire earlier this summer.

Read this article by Cowboy State Daily for more.