On Thursday morning our group hiked from camp to Wild Horse Window, which we had hiked to four years ago from a different camping spot.

We hiked almost exclusively on solid rock and we had an excellent view the whole way up.

“Knock it off Finn! No one’s allowed to look that good!”

Taffy had the brilliant idea of having each one of us paint some rocks to hide at the Window or along the way. She had collected the rocks, washed them, and brought a huge bag of paint pens so we could decorate them. We completed them in the days leading up to the Window hike and we didn’t forget to bring them!

I took a little detour to hide a couple of my rocks on a pockmarked ledge above the trail. Finn, Sputnik, and Phil all followed me.

And then showed me up.
“This is just too much you guys!”

Sputnik gets in on the posing action too sometimes, but as always, Finn steals the show.

Taffy was the last of our group and had to take a lot of breaks, but with her faithful friend Bourbon who never left her side, she made it all the way to the top.

I love this dead tree.  

And I love my Sputnik.

Wild Horse Window! We’re almost there!

Phil and Eldon’s goat, Elliot, were buddies.

I love the arch of the alcove’s rim overhead.

Last time I was here, I took photos of Cuzco and Sputnik’s heads framed against the Window, and this time I tried to replicate those old photos with Finn and Sputnik. Mostly I just made Taffy laugh as I rolled around on my back in the dust and tried to coax the goats into cooperating. They never really cooperated.

Cuteness overload!

Sputnik and I climbed up to view the cave paintings up close like we did last time.

This time I found a goat-headed man demon!

It even has horizontal pupils!

Finn always likes to explore to the outer reaches. I love how massive the rock looks from this angle.

The rock was slippery with powdery dirt, so Sputnik gave me an anchor while I climbed down.

We got back from Goblin Valley, had a little lunch, and then set off up the long and winding road to Crack Canyon. Elliot found a delicious tree at the entrance to the canyon.

While everyone else went around the long way, Finn and I took the shortcut.

And here he comes, in a flash of black and white!

It appears the walls are melting.

And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why it’s called “Crack Canyon.”

Walls made of cheese?

My husband is not one bit silly… nope, not silly at all!

Regal Finn.

On Wednesday morning we headed to Goblin Valley–one of my favorite spots in Utah.
The Losees and I descend with our goats into the Valley of Goblins.

Our group fanned out, and Phil and I ended up going our own way in search of good photo ops.

I just love packgoat shadows.

Great diving board… if only there was some water!

Sputnik is so boss.

Well, hot dog!

Is that a duck?

Story time with Nan!

Desert wanderers.

The Nomads

The support is almost gone from this one!

Onward to the next adventure!

After a restful night and a hot breakfast, Phil and I traveled back to The Wedge to rejoin our group. It was a hazy morning at the Little Grand Canyon

We all spent a great deal of time admiring the view, but Finn especially liked to get up-close and personal.

Finn and Sputnik performed daredevil cliffside walks.

“Helloooo down there!”

Since it’s Sputnik, I know he’s not quite as close to the edge as he looks. He’s a fairly cautious fellow.

Herb’s goat, Bacchus, commands center stage.

That afternoon we drove to the bottom of Buckhorn Draw and hiked a short ways up Calf Canyon. It took us a while to get going, and it was during the prep time that a cyclist came by that I’d seen the day before on top of The Wedge. He had been coming just as we had been going, but today he stopped because he was curious about our goats. We told him a little about ourselves and then he told us he was on an adventure to ride his bicycle from Canada to Mexico using almost exclusively dirt roads. So far he had been mostly successful at avoiding pavement. His name was Matt, he was about 30 years old, he had a broad, infectious smile, and he was a Coloradan like us! He had snuck across a rancher’s land so he could quickly touch foot on Canada, and now he was headed for the southern border. He was the epitome of the carefree, wandering spirit. He’d spent time in Montana teaching a marching band class to earn money for his trip. He’d spent time playing in a jazz band in New Orleans to earn money for a similar bike trip the year before. He traveled impossibly light and would camp in the open on public land, filtering water from creeks and stock tanks. What a marvelous young gypsy! I’ll never forget that great, toothy smile, deep tan, and dark eyes sparkling with the joy of adventure. We shook hands and wished him best of luck on his journey then packed our goats and set off on a much shorter journey of our own. 

I spent the first part of the hike with Taffy. We went slow, but that gave us plenty of time to visit.

We ate lunch in this little grove near a spring before heading back. It was a short hike but a merry one!

On Tuesday morning we stopped by the San Rafael Museum before heading out to the Goblin Valley area. We were greeted by a replica of a famous petroglyph in the area that Phil and I saw once before in person when we visited Ferron in 2018. I didn’t remember seeing this goat! Of course, the replica is somewhat more clearly etched than the original, and also there are a LOT of figures on this panel. But here is the goat now since I apparently missed it the first time…

Phil poses with one of Finn’s distant relatives.

Phil was highly amused by this old high school spanking paddle. The word PAIN is drilled into this “board of education”!

We found a wonderful campsite near Goblin Valley, and the best part was that there was a scenic little wash that went right by so we could explore or go for interesting walks right from camp. We did a little exploring that first night before dark.

Eldon and Hobbes share a moment. Hobbes is so like a miniature Pac-Man.

Phil and I headed back to one of our favorite goat packing destinations for our annual “goat vacation” this year: Utah! We started out near the town of Ferron, home of our friend Herb Flower who was the guide and host for the first week of our trip. In Ferron we met up with several other goat packing aficionados, including Taffy Mercer and Eldon and Debbie Otta from Washington state, and Robert and Connie Losee from Texas. All of us brought packgoats, so it was a quite nice-sized group!

For our first day, Herb took us out on the Morrison Formation. This is a barren, rocky area of open BLM land where very little vegetation grows, but it is rich with fossils and Indian artifacts. Everyone took away a few mineral specimens, and I even found a beautiful little white arrowhead!

Most of us avoided the steep terrain, but Phil and Eldon took a detour and of course their goats followed them. A climb like this is nothing to a nimble goat!

Ahh… the top at last!

Eldon and the boys taking in the view.

Eldon Otta is the man from Washington who met us in Utah to buy Pac-Man in 2015. Eldon loved Pac-Man, but sadly Pac-Man died untimely in December 2017 at only 4 years old. Eldon was heartbroken, but he regrouped and purchased a couple of little mini-Nubians with coloring similar to Pac-Man’s. He named them Elliot and Hobbes. They will never be large packgoats, but they are exactly suited to Eldon’s style of hiking.

And here are the rest of us who were not ambitious enough to climb the ridge.

Nan and Taffy examine their treasures. 

At some point, Robert and Connie’s young packgoats got confused. They didn’t like the two dogs that accompanied us, and they were also afraid of the big packgoats with horns. Phil and Eldon and their goats had gone one direction while the rest of the group went the other. I’m not sure Sprite and Blackie knew which way their own people had gone, so they set off on their own!

Sprite and Blackie disappeared up the ridge where Phil and Eldon had gone, but by then Phil and Eldon had circled back down and rejoined the rest of the group. No one was around, so Sprite and Blackie kept right on climbing! They disappeared over a high, distant ridge line so Phil and Herb went on a recovery mission. They found the two errant goats at the highest point they could reach, stopped at the edge of a cliff. Robert and Connie did not let them off-lead after that little adventure!

While up top, Phil and Herb found a partially exposed dinosaur skeleton. If you look carefully you can see traces of it in the soil. Herb plans to go back and do some more exploring. 

We ate lunch in the shade of some boulders.

Herb took us to the outcropping of purple and gold rocks that Phil and I had visited on our last trip to Ferron in 2018. Sputnik’s halter and my t-shirt were very appropriate for the scenery. It’s always good to dress for the occasion!

I liked this rainbow-like ridge of rock.

Mighty Warrior Woman Nan! With arms of steel, she splits rocks like pie crust!

Sometimes the rocks disguise themselves as dinosaur skeletons.

On closer inspection, maybe it’s a large desert caterpillar. See the dark eye and the antenna on the left? Phil and Finn better watch out!

Eldon and his crew enjoy the bright yellow rocks.

Taffy’s goat, Bourbon, enjoys the few sprigs of dry grass he can find.

A beautiful wash of colors.

Contrasted with the lovely starkness of this whitewashed boulder field.

It was obvious from the soil that there had been quite a bit of moisture earlier in the year. The top layer been washed over, leaving a fascinating micro-replica of the larger formation. There were tiny “goblins” and pinnacles formed from the soil and pebbles.

I loved this pinto-colored sandstone. It was fairly common in the dry river bottom. I brought home a couple of specimens, including one to decorate Jet’s grave.

There was a large culvert we had to pass through on our way in and out. The goats were a little suspicious. 

After exploring the Morrison Formation, Herb took us to The Wedge at Buckhorn Draw. It’s also known as the “Little Grand Canyon” and I can certainly see why!

Herb and the rest of the crew spent the night here while Phil and I traveled back to Castle Dale so we could enjoy a cozy bed and breakfast. Their view was better for sure, but Phil and I love a hot shower!

On Saturday we hiked to the arch again with some different folks who had never been there before. Once again we brought Finn and Sputnik as our faithful beasts of burden. None of these folks had hiked with goats before.

We picnicked under the arch as usual where the goats managed to politely finagle some food scraps off of our innocent and naive friends. This was Sputnik’s first experience with peanut butter. He liked it but he was bothered by the way it stuck to his lips and tongue. He’d eat a piece of PB&J, then rub his lips up and down along the log, then try another piece, then rub and rub some more. Janie eventually took her napkin and wiped his lips for him which was very amusing.

Finn wasn’t too interested in food but Alane really wanted to feed him something so she tempted him over with an almond butter biscuit. He didn’t end up tasting it, but he had to at least give it a token smell.

I love how Finn and Alane are making the same face here.

When we got home from our hike there was a mysterious package in the mail addressed to Buster Brown. I opened it up and found a small goat bell from Steve and Marianne! Buster Brown did not go on the hike with us, but we let him wear the bell for our daily walk that evening before putting it away for safekeeping. He looks very proud of it!

We HAD two stanchions. I have a big metal stanchion I bought a few years ago because my boys (and most of my girls) outgrew the smaller wooden stanchion for daily milking purposes. But the small wooden stanchion still got used on a daily basis and was a nice little workhorse.

Not any more.

Last week Pluto and Daisy came in with porcupine quills in their faces. Daisy’s weren’t too bad and since she’s smaller I was able to pull the quills out while Phil held her down. Pluto was another matter. Not only did he have a lot more quills, but they were more deeply imbedded, and he had scratched and clawed at them to the point where quite a few of the ones inside his mouth were broken off. There was no way to hold down a dog that size by force, so I put him on the wooden stanchion, locked his head in, and got to work. We were doing pretty well but my pliers were too clumsy to grip some of the smaller, broken-off quill stumps. I ran into the house to grab my assortment of needle-nose jewelry pliers and some hemostats. I thought I could leave Pluto safely on the stanchion for a few minutes, but apparently I was wrong.

I came outside to find Pluto running loose and the headpiece on my little wooden stanchion turned to matchwood. He had literally gnawed his way out of it. It looked like a werewolf had got hold of it! I knew he had powerful jaws, but the way he splintered my stanchion in just a few minutes has given me new respect for those teeth! That board was almost 4 inches wide. Yikes!

Last weekend Phil and I attended the Colorado State Fair, and I have to say it was the best time we’ve had at Fair in a long time. We were there three days: Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. We only brought two goats, Rita and Skeeter, so it was a low-key weekend of showing. We got to see all the sights and take in all the shows. We even splurged and bought tickets to the ferris wheel one night!

The highlight of the weekend was this guy. We found him lying at the back of the cattle barn on Saturday, and I could not get over those enormous horns! I’m always impressed by the African Watusi cattle, but I had never seen one this massive before.   

Phil and I set up the goat obstacle course on Saturday night. Turnout was not quite as big this year, but it’s always a fun crowd pleaser nonetheless. I competed with Rita and she did not do very well, but we still came in second place. Phil and Skeeter were somewhere near last.

The youth costume class was woefully under-attended. This was the only contestant, but her costume was outstanding and I’m guessing she would have won even if she’d had some competition.

This lovely señorita went all-out for the adult costume contest. She was a piñata sales-lady, and her little Nigerian Dwarf kid was dressed as one of the piñatas. After the class, the lady hung one of her piñatas up in the show ring for the kids to swing at. (It was not the goat piñata!) She was the deserving winner of the adult competition.

This goat deserved a prize for its extreme patience. They showed up early for the costume class and had to wait through the obstacle competition. This goat never complained about that massive saddle or laid down or tried to rub it off.

Phil and I donned our Chinese outfits and dressed our goats up in a lion dance costume. Unfortunately one of the goats stepped on the sheet, Rita tripped and went down, and the whole costume ripped right down the middle. Skeeter was afraid of her lion head and wasn’t walking very well anyway, so our lovely lion dance parade ended in a shambles, but it got us all laughing. 

Next day I discovered that the incredible Watusi steer that had so fascinated me the day before was actually one of the attractions! For $15 you could sit on “Oliver’s” back and get your photo taken! I could not pass up the opportunity to ride such a magnificent animal. He was not only enormous, but he was incredibly gentle and a real ham for the camera. Every time the camera pointed at him, Oliver lifted his head and bared his bottom teeth in a big, cheesy grin. Yee-haw!

On Monday, Oliver actually competed in the Watusi show. His owner, the gentleman in the cowboy hat, took the blue ribbon in showmanship (I’m not sure what the lavender ribbon was for). I am not surprised they won showmanship. Oliver and his owner work together beautifully. 

This past Saturday, Phil and I organized a group hike to the Saint Charles Arch, which lies between Rye and San Isabel. It’s an easy five-mile round trip and the arch is always a surprise the first time you see it. It’s an arch “which cannot be found except by those who already knows where it is.” 😉

Among the group was Steve from Beulah who bought Max and Sgt. Pepper from me a year ago. He brought them along and I hardly recognized them! They’ve grown magnificently and look very healthy and happy.

My long-time friend Tiffany also joined us from Pueblo West, as did Jeff and Diana from Rye whose daughter Emma has been taking riding lessons from me this summer.

Steve’s goats needed a little persuasion to cross the creek.

The area beneath the arch was shady and full of good things for goats to eat. 

And there it is! The Saint Charles Arch. It’s rare to see a granite arch this size. 

We picnicked on the rock slide in the arch’s shade. This is one of Steve’s photos.

Buster Brown and I hung out together during lunch because he kept trying to share Emma’s sandwich.

Phil and Jeff climbed to the top of the arch.

Emma and Buster Brown formed an immediate bond and became inseparable throughout the hike. If Emma lagged behind, Buster stopped and waited for her. Once in a while, Buster would get nervous if the older goats got too far ahead, so he would trot a little and Emma would jog beside him with her hand on his back. Emma’s parents told us she would never have lasted the whole hike without Buster Brown to keep her company.

It was just a little further down this hill that Buster got a few feet ahead of Emma and she slipped. Buster turned around quickly and said, “Baaa!” with a worried look on his face. They could not have been a sweeter pair.

The hike out of the canyon was hot and largely uphill, so Finn gave Emma a lift for probably close to a mile. 

With the way her hair is blowing back, you’d think Emma and Finn were in a race! Emma later asked her mom if she could start taking goatback riding lessons! 

Finn stuck his head over the side and flapped his ears in the breeze on the ride home. 

We created lots of fun memories on Saturday, but this is the one I love best. 

On August 12th, Yeti and Thor went to their new home in Cheyenne, WY. They went to a lovely family that will be training them as packgoats and I know they will be very happy and well cared-for. But we will certainly miss them nonetheless. Phil and I took them on a final walk the day before and made sure to get lots of pictures.

Yeti is always front and center for attention or for the camera.

Yes, I think the boys were ready to grow up. They were 75 lbs. each and were starting to look almost as big as their mom! 

I’ve often had trouble telling Yeti and Snowball apart at a distance (although the horns usually gave Yeti away pretty quick!). I won’t have to look twice to see who’s sneaking up on me any more.

Yeti and Thor pose regally while Brownie and Cupcake cavort in the background. 

Thor–so photogenic!

Yeti–not quite so photogenic, but what he lacks in looks he makes up for in charisma. 

And then we have Finn–Supreme Champion of both the photogenic and charismatic categories. Finn had some really big boots to fill when he took over from Cuzco, and it’s taken him a while to really live up to the task, but I think he’s succeeding. 

Brownie and Cupcake are always competing for the “friendliest kid” award.

Goat train!!

Beautiful Thor.

What’s this guy stalking?

Maybe a pretty girl named Rita. 

Mocha is probably the liveliest and most curious kid this year. But at the same time she’s as sweet and gentle as a little fawn.

Yeti: King of the Rock!

Run like the wind!

These ladies are much too mature for such antics! Grown-up goats march in an orderly, dignified fashion!

Yeti: King of the Log!

Snowball and I share a moment.

Race home, goats!

A quiet moment to remember Cuzco.

And we finish off with a couple of pictures of lovely, contemplative Thor. We’ll sure miss these guys, but we’re thrilled they’ve found a wonderful home where they will be loved and appreciated.