Have I got a family to introduce to you today! Meet the Sorensens from Elko Nevada, Their family has been ranching the land for 3 generations. But they are the ones that have learned something different. You’re going to just LOVE this story.

At Secret Pass near Elko, family focuses on making ranch sustainable

The Sorensens pose for a family photo on their ranch in Secret Pass near Elko on Dec. 12, 2021. Back row, from left, Jules holding her baby, Mesa next to her husband, Justin; Jared and his wife Selena and their daughters Michelle and McKatie. Middle, Jared and Selenas son Weston, and front row, children Jonas, Gabe and Charisty. Not pictured are sons Keaton, who is serving a mission in Texas, and Kaysen, who lives in St. George, Utah. (David Calvert/The Nevada Independent)

In the 1940s, the Sorensen family planted roots in Nevada, raising thousands of sheep and some cattle on a ranch where the Ruby and East Humboldt mountain ranges meet in the northeastern corner of the state. Their descendents are still there.

Third-generation Nevada rancher Jared Sorensen and his wife Selena are raising their family of nine children, who play important roles on the Secret Pass Ranch, where winter winds are unforgiving and a blanket of snow glimmers across the region. Encompassing 10,000 acres (and an additional 12,000 acres the Sorensens lease for grazing), it sits between the mountain ranges, the valley opening up to vast fields where cattle graze. The Sorensen home, an unassuming 100-year-old house, is mostly hidden from the highway by trees. Across the way at the foot of the Ruby Mountains, a stream flows along the highway. (more…)