Rancher taking 4K sheep on 220-mile trek

There was a time when a spring sheep drive up into the cool mountains for breeding season wasn't such an uncommon sight in Arizona, but these days, only three or four ranches in the state continue the tradition. One of them is the Sheep Springs Sheep Co. in Chandler, whose owner, Dwayne Dobson, is preparing for the 220-mile, 55-day trek northeast up to the north side of the White Mountains, about 40 miles from the New Mexico border. Around 6:30 a.m. April 21 and 22, about 2,000 head of sheep each day will be fording a designated sheep crossing on the Salt River, at the Blue Point Bridge on the Old Bush Highway north of Apache Junction where sightseers are welcome. Transporting sheep by trailer is a choice more and more sheep ranchers have made over the years. While Dobson has some trailers, he said he doesn't have the capacity to haul 4,000 sheep at once. He would have to either buy new trucks or hire someone to haul them, he said. After the sheep - driven by men with dogs and donkeys - cross the Salt River, the flock turns northeast and heads along a sheep corridor through the Tonto National Forest to Forest Lakes. Dobson said such corridors were created by a presidential executive order and pre-date Arizona statehood...East Valley Tribune