The Ghost Sheep of Right Hand Fork in Logan Canyon

I have been waiting long time to write this story.  In my travels over the years I have seen stray and lost sheep many times.  I remember, over thirty years ago, I was stocking fish along the shoreline from a barge in Flaming Gorge Reservoir.  I was running along an island in Sheep Creek Bay and I came across a sheep that was mired in the mud and unable to get out.  I put a rope around it and tried to pull it to safety but it's long wool weighed it down and I was unsuccessful.  The animal died a short time later.

I travel Logan Canyon a lot and usually my eyes are on the side of the road instead of where I am driving much to Doreen's dismay.  Over five years ago, before I got to Right Hand Fork, just before the sheer cliff on the north side of the road I noticed three sheep on the side hill.  They had been sheared within the last few years but I had no idea where they came from.  There are no active herds in the area so maybe they escaped a wreck or something.  I figured they were toast due to predators and forgot about them.  As the years and trips passed, much to my surprise, I saw them infrequently on both sides of the road and river at all times of the year.  Two white and one black ewe.  Each time their fleece was longer.  I couldn't believe that they continued to survive.  Last winter, when the snow was up to your butt I saw them by the highway once again.  I couldn't believe they were still alive. There was no where to go and I was sure they would be hit by a vehicle.   It reminded me of an old sheepherder who that said years ago, "that you never kept mirrors around sheep because they were so stupid that if they saw themselves in a mirror and found out they were a sheep they would fall over and die."   Obviously there are no mirrors at Right Hand Fork.  I had also thought that some animal lover would have rescued them over the years but I guess sheep are not as well liked as dogs or deer.

Much to my surprise as I was hauling a boat to Hyrum this week, there they were,  Masses of wool.  No way a predator could bite through that to hurt the old ewe. I was happy they had survived the winter since I am attached to these animals.  They will never reproduce because there are no rams around.  They are destine to spend the rest of their live roaming the hills around right Hand Fork avoiding cars and waiting for someone to come rescue them which will never happen.  If you have seen them let me know and tell me why no one has ever done anything for them.