DROUGHT TOUR - WEST COAST
4 dry smoky states - 7 days - 3,135 miles - 100+ degrees - major wildfires photos by Derek Sample Derek@ABPmag.com
by Tim McCray Tim@ABPmag.com
THE OC Orange County, California is, in a way, a beginning and end to this trip. But I started at LAX airport, which seems like an odd place to start a Ranch tour. Derek came up with a working title of “The C.O.W. tour” as our plans were to visit some locations in California, Oregon & Washington. But Washington had other plans, as we had trouble connecting with ranchers or our schedules weren’t aligned with the forces. Either way, I hope the C-O-W trip may happen in 2022. Starting off from the LA area, we (almost) immediately headed north to Mammoth Lakes, spent a day there enjoying some scenery and Derek’s other house before winding our way through Yosemite National Park. Upon exiting the park and finding a spot with decent reception, I phoned home. My wife Raven grew up in Orange County, but also spent quite a few weekends and summers at a ranch house on the Flying M Ranch near Merced. She talks about her time on the ranch frequently, so much in fact, that I knew someday I would lay my own eyes upon it. After making a phone call or two, Raven sent me a number and I found myself on the phone with Wes Myers, who happened to be at the ranch that day. Wes invited Derek and I to spend the night in their bunkhouse. Our overnight plans were still up in the air so how could we turn that down? 10
FLYING M RANCHES Le Grand, CA – Stocker ranch Flying M Ranch started in 1959 when John & Lucia Myers started purchasing property in Merced County. John Myers was a renowned WWII test pilot, most notably performing experimental test flights on the P-61 Black Widow, America’s first successful night fighter, as well as on the first Flying Wing. At 86 years old, he had logged over 70,000 hours and continued flying until he was 93. Their ranch extends over 24 square miles of the Merced Grasslands, one of the largest and most intact vernal pool-grasslands in the world. They have a long history of ranching and farming in the San Joaquin Valley. The ranch produces beef, almonds and olives. Over the years, John & Lucia established themselves as prominent ranchers, farmers, conservationists and philanthropists. It was during this time that my wife’s parents bought into the ranch and were allowed to build another house on the property which is currently referred to as Middle Marker. Today, Flying M Ranches is operated by John & Lucia’s grandsons, Wes & Luke. The back patio of the bunkhouse where we were staying overlooks the private runway, as does the house where Wes and his family live during their time here. This compound is known American Beef Producer
as La Paloma and lies just NE of Middle Marker. The two locations are far enough apart to offer each other privacy, yet close enough to walk to. Pasture and cattle guards surround both plots allowing inhabitants to be completely surrounded by the herd, but with all the modern amenities for us humans. Wes and his brother Luke oversee this piece of land which became an irrevocable trust as their Grandfather John had wished. They both have day jobs that occupy most of their time, but the brothers are dedicated to preserving the land and the heritage. This year, Wes & Luke are planning to place stocker cattle on the vast amount of grassland that they estimate can sustain 7000-8000 head from October – May. Cattle are coming back to the ranch and maintaining the land for the next generation of Myers. Wes took us about the property the next morning, up to Haystack Mountain, the predominant grassland hill that dominates the landscape, as well as the Rahilly Tree which is another favorite landmark on the ranch. Rahilly is a lone tree in this vast prairie looks more like North Dakota than California to me. This one tree marks the homestead of one of the original families that settled Merced County. It was a favorite of Lucia Myers as well as September 2021
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