And the fun didn’t stop!

Goat Trail was only a there-and-back detour from the Centerpoint Trail, which we continued down for a couple more miles to Granny Henderson’s homestead, reluctantly abandoned when the Buffalo National River was established. Poor Granny. She was kicked out by the National Park Service even though she and her husband had built this home together in 1912. She was told she could stay but only if she gave up her livestock. She felt the same way about her critters as we feel about ours and decided it wouldn’t be home without them. She packed up and left in 1978 but died shortly afterward from the stress of leaving her home and animals. I think she would have loved Finn and Sputnik.

From there we hiked on to Hemmed-in Hollow, which at 250 feet is the tallest waterfall between the Appalachians and the Rockies–when it’s flowing. We caught it during a dry spell, but I can imagine it would be spectacular when it’s running. We had a nice lunch break here and unsaddled the goats for a while so they could take a break.

After lunch we decided to take the “long loop” back on the Old River Trail. I’m not sure if that was a very good idea, but at low altitude we felt like warriors and decided it would be somewhat feeble to retrace our steps.

I loved the root system of this tree.

The Old River Trail turned out to have something like eight or ten river crossings (I eventually lost count).

Since Phil and I did not bring water shoes, we spent a lot of time taking our boots off and then finding some dry place to put them back on again.

The goats were not particularly cooperative at the first crossing and made me go back over and fetch them. Normally our goats don’t have a problem with water, but I think they had to get us back for making them swim the day before. After that we cut to the chase and put leashes on them before each crossing just to make sure there was no funny business. We didn’t have time for shenanigans–we had something like eight miles to cover before dark and it was already late afternoon.

But I did take a moment to snap a photo of this cute little fellow hiding among the river rocks.

Phil loved this gnarled old tree, but the lighting was so bad I had a hard time photographing it. The hike along the river bottom was interesting. There were many old homesteads and even a school here in the early 1900’s, but they slowly faded away in the 1950’s and 60’s as post offices in these remote areas were closed and school districts were consolidated. Then the Buffalo National River was established and the last few homesteaders were pushed out and their farms turned back into wilderness. It’s hard to imagine all this forest as farmland.

From here we could see Goat Trail from the bottom.

You can even see the ledge where we walked across the bluff.

There weren’t a lot of flowers, but I thought these were spectacular and they matched Finn and Sputnik’s halters.

The goats were getting pretty tired at this point. There was a lot of sand in the river bottom which made hiking difficult for them, especially since Phil and I were keeping up a pretty quick pace.

“Are we there yet?”

“Is this the last crossing?”

No, it wasn’t the last crossing, but there weren’t many more. We eventually made it to Steel Creek, which was a massive and perfectly groomed camping and staging area with real flush toilet restrooms which we happily made use of. I wish I’d gotten some pictures of the area because it was quite beautiful with its well-kempt lawns, and it felt eerie because no one was there except two Forest Service horses snorting suspiciously at our goats. The stabling area was massive with spacious pastures and corrals. I wondered if the campground were ever filled because it looked like it could accommodate hundreds of people and dozens of horses. It reminded me of the magician Coriakin’s island in the book Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

After that we had a steep hike up Chimney Rock Trail. I’m not sure why it was so named except that there were a lot of rocks of the sort you might use to build a chimney. It was nearly dark by the time we arrived at our truck and all of us were very tired. It had been a wonderful hike and although it remained completely cloudy all day, we only got the tiniest bit of drizzle on us as evening approached. Phil, however, was covered in spiderwebs and also, it turned out, with seed ticks. They were all over his ankles. It took us a long time that evening to get them off. I had a couple dozen as well, but Phil bore the brunt of them. When all was said and done, it was very nice to get back to our cabin for a long soak in the hot tub. Finn and Sputnik put themselves to bed immediately and didn’t make a peep all night

We decided that our second day in Arkansas would be our “Big Day”. I had read about “Goat Trail” and obviously had to take our packgoats there. It looked like there were several other interesting trails that connected to the same area and I chose about a 10-12 mile route. We woke up to a cloudy day wrapped in fog so we wore warm layers and packed rain gear on the goats. It ended up being the perfect weather for what turned out to be a 15 mile hike. It was comfortably cool and the flies and other biting insects mostly stayed in hiding.

Other insects, however, were not so dissuaded by the cool temperatures. We found this fellow moseying across the trail. I moved him off it after we took the picture because he blended in too well with his surroundings and I didn’t want him to get crunched.

Our second lesson about Arkansas (the first was about burrs if you remember) is that it is covered in spiders. They’re not mean, biting spiders and they’re kind of neat to look at, but they are everywhere and they build webs across all the trails so the person walking in front feels like he’s in an Indiana Jones movie. Phil, being our fearless leader, spent the whole day wearing and inadvertently eating spider webs. By our last day in Arkansas he had figured out the trick of waving a stick in front as he walked, which eliminated most of the problem.

Goat Trail to Big Bluff: How can you take packgoats to Ponca, Arkansas and NOT take this little detour.

Not far down the trail, the terrain took on a drastically different look and began to remind me of Utah but with a lot more trees.

This may have been our favorite part of the trail so I’m going to post too many pictures of it. The trail passes along a narrow shelf of rock overlooking the Buffalo River.

It’s a long drop so we took the precaution of keeping our goats leashed (except for the part where Sputnik got away while I was fiddling with the camera).

I loved this little window.

“How high up is that?”

The trees on the cliff gave you a false sense of feeling like it wasn’t a high bluff, but it’s a good 350-foot drop. It’s not straight down–you’d bounce a few times before you hit the bottom.

We took it easy our first day in Arkansas. The lady at Lost Valley Canoe & Cabins was very helpful with trail suggestions and sent us to Whitaker Point, also known as Hawksbill Crag. It is one of the iconic hikes in the area but not very long or strenuous–perfect for warming up. We saddled the goats even though there was nothing to bring on such a short hike. We figured it would make them look a little more “legitimate” in case anyone gave us grief about bringing goats into the National Forest (we’d heard rumors that the park rangers might be uptight about them).

Although devoid of any heart, this tree was still thriving with no more than a half-shell of outer bark to support it. Yes, I’m sticking my hand (and foot) through the tree and Sputnik thinks I’m a complete idiot.
“I don’t know her.”

“Aw, you do too know me, Sputnik. Just admit it and gimme some sugar.”

There were some cool alien rocks along the trail. Or maybe it’s the fossilized tentacle from a giant squid. See the suction cups?

Some of the rocks were anti-gravity!

“What’s over there?” Sputnik never did quite match my enthusiasm for this hike. Or maybe he didn’t match my enthusiasm for Phil’s camera. Either way, he appears very long-suffering.

Fake Hawksbill Crag. Or maybe “practice” Hawksbill Crag. Either way, it’s a nice place to take a brief pause before the real thing.

Finally, the real Hawksbill Crag! Phil and Finn checked it out first. I had a hard time getting pictures of them because people kept walking into the camera view and I was too far away to ask them to please move back.

They cleared out for me and Sputnik. Not sure why. Maybe we needed a bath.

Yeah, we might have gotten a little bold there, but it didn’t look as scary from where I was standing.

We got back to our cabin early enough to take a dip in the Buffalo River near the bridge at Ponca.

The water was a delicious temperature (probably near 80 degrees) and so crystal clear it was difficult to gauge the depth without stepping in.

We made the goats practice their swimming skills in a deep hole near the bridge. They weren’t real happy with us, but I feel it’s important that they are at least familiar enough with swimming to negotiate a deep crossing if they have to. Last time Sputnik went swimming was over two years ago and he kept threatening to drown himself if I didn’t hold him afloat. He was much more proficient this time and didn’t scream once, but he still didn’t like it and was happy to run ashore at the first opportunity.

I still don’t have the video or photos of the chariot race and cart rides in Millington, so I’ll skip ahead to Sunday when we drove back into Arkansas for the actual goat packing part of our trip. Laundry snafus got us off to a late start, but we were in no rush.
The gas prices in Arkansas were phenomenal.

Our photo, alas, cannot capture the sheer grandiosity of this enormous American flag. This display of patriotism pretty much dwarfed everything on the horizon, including several billboards. I’m pretty sure this bank does not need air conditioning because of the shade cast by their flag.

Late in the afternoon we stopped to stretch our legs at a trail near Marshall, AR which was part of the Buffalo National River system. This homestead was built in the 1930’s and the goats were rather suspicious of it.

A short hike took us to an overlook where we enjoyed a lovely view of the Buffalo River valley. By the time we got back from our hike, both goats were completely covered in burrs and they weren’t happy about having them removed. This was the first lesson we learned about Arkansas: There are burrs everywhere and they come in all shapes and sizes. The only thing that was fairly efficient at removing them was a stiff-bristled brush I had in my tack box. That brush came with us on all future excursions.

We got to our cabin early in the evening and the goats made sure to inspect the porch first thing. It met with their approval, but they were not allowed to linger. The cabin was surrounded by woods and undergrowth, so our boys were happy to be allowed to putter around sampling the various tastes of Arkansas.

Finally, this photo can’t hope to show anyone what it was actually like, but our cabin had a steep gravel driveway with a hairpin turn on it. We were advised to leave our trailer down near the country store, but stubborn Coloradans that we are, we had to at least try to park our trailer next to our cabin. Although our trailer has a lock and our goats would be just as fine 1/8 mile down the road as they would be outside our bedroom window, we hovering goat lovers feel better when our “babies” are within yelling distance. So I braved the driveway.

First of all, I had to put the truck in 4WD low to make it up the steep grade without spinning. In fact, the road was 4WD even without the trailer. The hairpin turn was interesting. We could just make it without having to back up, but the ruts in that section of driveway were almost too deep for our low trailer. However, we made it without scraping metal and then the real fun began. There is a nice flat parking area big enough for a trailer to back in, but backing in a bumper pull trailer with a long bed truck was a real picnic. The driveway turned off to the cabin, but the road continued its steep trajectory above and behind the cabin, so I pulled well up it, then cranked the wheel hard over and basically jackknifed the trailer to get it around the tight curve. We made it about halfway before I ran out of room to maneuver the truck. The trailer was now stuck in a sideways position across the driveway–right angles to where I wanted it. Had it been a fifth wheel we’d have made the turn easily, but bumper pulls are not so forgiving. I jammed down the parking brake and I got out so Phil and I could have a conference. If we unhitched the trailer, I believed I had just barely enough room to squeak past it in the truck. Then I could back down the driveway, turn around, and come up backwards to re-hitch and push the trailer into position from the downhill side. It was worth a try, and long story short, it worked! We had our goats snugly settled in their mobil home right outside our bedroom window at night, and our truck was unhitched so we could properly explore Ponca, AR.

I already shared some photos of the parade a while back, but here are a few more just for fun.  I think our chariots came out rather fine. Kudos to Phil for making the awesome hub caps using some cheap pizza pans we found at Wal-Mart.

Our trip from Kansas City to Millington, TN was not entirely devoid of adventure. We cut through the northeast corner of Arkansas on our way to Memphis and came across a roadside “antique store” that we could not pass up. There were signs plastered across every building, and there were a LOT of buildings! It was impossible to capture the entire spectacle in a photograph, but let this one small shed speak for the remainder.

It was called “Dear Crossing”. I’m not sure why.

There were a lot of artifacts from old garages and gas stations. Inside the “main” building we found an enormous collection of matchbox cars from the past five or six decades in addition to a lot of old junk labeled “antiques”. The man who ran the shop was a character and he let us wander around his property with our goats in tow.

He also had these set pieces from the live action “Flintstones” movie made in 1994.

Phil and Finn were very disappointed that this lovely vintage restoration project was “Not 4 Sale”.

On this particular trip, the journey there and back was half the fun. We got a late start on Wednesday, September 6th and drove well into the night. Although we captured no photos, watching the full moon rise in front of us as we headed east across Kansas was breathtaking. There were windmills on the horizon and the blades cut black and sharp across the enormous orange globe as it came up.

The next day was a lot more fun for us, but I’m not sure about Finn and Sputnik. They adamantly refused to drink any water during those first two days of travel even after I added a strawberry flavor packet to it. But the days were very cool and they had plenty of hay to eat and straw to lie down in, so riding in the trailer and waiting there while Phil and I made a couple of tourist stops was not unpleasant for them even if it was somewhat boring.

The first stop was totally impromptu. I saw a billboard by the highway advertising “Moon Marble Company”. Phil began collecting marbles soon after we got married so the Moon marble factory and museum was a necessary detour. It turned out to be a wonderful hour-and-a-half diversion in which we were given a personal tour of the marble factory by the owner, Bruce Breslow.

Turns out he has similar tastes in interior decoration as Phil and I.

We got a photo of Bruce and Phil standing with some of Bruce’s personal art marble creations. Phil and I bought one to take home.

The shop was not devoid of goats either! Not only did I purchase a small goat figurine to bring home, we also saw a vintage “Old Hogan’s Goat” marble game among the museum pieces.

After our tour of the Moon Marble Company, Bruce came out to meet Finn and Sputnik.

We left Moon Marbles and drove on to Kansas City, MO where we ventured downtown (always harrowing with a horse trailer in tow!), miraculously found someplace to park, and then took a two-hour tour of the Arabia Steamboat Museum. The pictures we took are not worth sharing, but it was an incredible display of wonderfully preserved pre-Civil War artifacts. The steamboat Arabia, loaded with merchant goods, was headed to the frontier in 1856 when it struck a submerged log and sank very quickly in the shallow, muddy water. The top deck remained above the river so no lives were lost except that of an unfortunate mule which was tied on the lower deck. The steamboat sank completely by next morning so none of the goods were ever recovered. However, the legend of the steamboat loaded with Kentucky bourbon continued down through the years and several unsuccessful recovery efforts were made before the Arabia was finally uncovered in 1988. It was half a mile from the current course of the Missouri River and 45 feet down in a place where the water table is only about 15 feet below the surface. Water pumps had to run round the clock during the dig, but the steamboat was brought to light with all its treasure intact.

No bourbon was found (it was probably on the deck so the barrels would have floated away), but many other things came to light that were still as new as the day they were packed in crates and barrels for the journey. Hundreds of pairs of boots, tools of all kinds, nails, dishes, washtubs, pickles, ketchup, preserves, perfume, saddlery, glass for windows, medicines, buttons, beads, flatware, coffee and coffee grinders, bolts of cloth, coats, hats, and even the materials for a “pre-fab” house were on the boat. All the bottled food items are still as good as when they were first put down in jars. The cotton and paper goods did not last, but leather and woolen items remained intact. It was a fascinating display, and at the museum store Phil and I bought a couple of replicas of the bells that were found among the Arabia goods. They have a very pleasant, cheerful ring and are the perfect size for goats to wear.

Well, we were so busy we didn’t get many photos today, but we had a great time! First off was the much-anticipated Chariot Race.

There was some confusion as to where the race was to be held. The program said we would race in the “Kid Zone”, which was on the baseball field and the historical location of the race back when it was still run. The lady in charge, on the other hand, said we would race in the horse arena. Phil and I were pretty skeptical about that–the arena had panels set up and was full of cows and hay and a lot of cow pies, and horse arena footing is not suitable for driving goats at speed. We were game, but we felt it would be “the world’s slowest chariot race” if we ran (or plodded more like) around the horse arena.

After a bit of back-and-forth, Phil and I suggested we run on the smooth gravel road behind the arena. It was a nice straightaway–not too short, not too long, and the packed footing was excellent for goat hooves and smooth rolling for chariot wheels. Because of the confusion we did not get a huge audience, but the folks that were there cheered enthusiastically.

It was a tight race. Sputnik got off to a faster start and led from wire to wire, but finished by only a neck. With a bit of hollering from Phil (er, Thor), Finn kicked into gear and began to overtake Sputnik about halfway down the track. I hollered at Sputnik with little result, but as Finn began to sail past us I tickled the tip of Sputnik’s tail with my finger and he put on an extra little burst of speed to maintain his lead across the finish. It was a good race. It probably helps that I’m a good 25 lbs. lighter than Phil.

Sputnik and I with our First Place trophy.

Phil and Finn with their Second Place trophy.

And although it’s completely unrelated to goat chariot racing, we had to put this one in here for Uncle Steve. Phil totally rocked this pink tractor, wouldn’t you agree?

After lunch, Phil and I harnessed Finn and Sputnik up again so we could do cart rides for the kids. The goats were a huge hit, and between them they hauled around somewhere in the vicinity of 140 kids. We posed for a lot of photos this afternoon, and the boys were ver patient. They never balked or complained or got cranky. I wish I had photos of the cart rides because we had Finn and Sputnik’s horns done up in striped wraps, but we were much too busy to take photos of each other.

I hear there will be a video of the chariot race available soon, and when that comes out I’ll make sure to post it.

We made it to Tennessee early this afternoon and had time to put the finishing touches on our costumes and chariots. I tidied up Finn and Sputnik, and we got harnessed and hitched just in time for the “World’s Greatest Goat Parade”.

Phil made a magnificent and imposing Thor.

I was Juno–a Greek goddess who typically dressed in hunting garb.

There were also a dozen or so of these colorful dudes in the parade. Sputnik about had a heart attack when he saw them. Goats are NOT supposed to be this color! I had to get out and lead him partway along the parade because he kept trying to turn around and stare at them.

This right here is what made it the “World’s Greatest” goat parade. CUTENESS OVERLOAD WARNING!!

… E-I-E-I-O! (More on that later.)

We just got back today from three days of Colorado State Fair fun-ness. For us, the fair kicked off with the most important classes of the weekend. We started off with the timed Obstacle Course run. Phil and I were the only people who brought packgoats to the event, so we decided to do it up right and have our goats compete with crossbuck saddles. It turned out that no one knew who was in charge of setting up the obstacle course, so there was a last-minute scramble to try to round up enough oddball junk laying around the barn to create some makeshift obstacles. We ended up with a pretty good little course, but I was disappointed that there was no kiddie paddle pool. Phil and I had worked with our goats over the summer so they would be experts at this daunting water challenge, but there was no water on this course. The closest we got to water was having to cross a coiled up garden hose.

The first obstacle was the most difficult for us. We had to lead our goats under a table, and while most dairy girls can walk under and barely duck their heads, our boys were substantially taller than the table even without the crossbuck saddles. Several people asked us how we were going to do it and I figured that was a pretty good question. Sputnik showed everyone how it should be done. I crawled under the table so he would know where I wanted him to go, then I said “Repent, Sputnik!” He obediently dropped to his knees, and when I gave the command to “Grovel” he crawled forward in the kneeling position. Hooray for trick training!! His tall rump bumped the table as it passed under and for a second he lifted the whole thing up and I thought it would tump over backwards, but he dipped his hindquarters just a little and squeezed under. The rest was easy. We jumped a broomstick lying across two chairs, walked over a wooden plank thing with steps in it (improvised from a strange old table that was lying upside-down near the arena), crossed the garden hose, jumped onto two metal stanchions in a row, then from a wooden stanchion onto a tarp, and through some alfalfa bales.

Finn went next, and he had more trouble with the table. He didn’t want to crawl under it and he looked as though he might leap onto it instead (very easy for Finn but it would have been disastrous for the table!). After a bit of balking, one of the other competitors ran out and lifted one end of the table so Finn could run under without ducking, much to the amusement of the audience. He completed the rest of the course in record time.

Most of the goats besides Finn and Sputnik had trouble with the broomstick jump. It was no higher than your average stanchion, but most of the girls stopped and stared at it like, “What them heck am I supposed to do with this?” Almost every one of them had to have their front legs lifted over before they would jump with the back. My second entry, Jezebel, was the rare exception among the milking does. She stood straight up on her hind legs and leaped over like a jackrabbit. She cleared it by about a foot, which drew many cheers from the audience. Speaking of the audience, we had many spectators at this obstacle event. Some of them dared their friends to try leading a goat through the course, so then there were gleeful goat owners rushing back to their pens to retrieve goats for these people to compete with. It was hilarious and great fun was had by all.

Here I am with my two winning entries. Because of the ease with which she navigated the table obstacle, Jezebel came in with a faster time than Sputnik.

Phil took Finn and Tincup through the course. Tincup has formed a strong attachment to Phil and follows him everywhere. Finn follows Phil everywhere too except under tables apparently.

After the obstacle course, Phil and I raced to get into our costumes. Disappointingly, there were no kids entered in the costume class at all this year, but in a surprise twist we did have one other adult competitor! This is the first time any other adult has competed with Phil and I, so naturally we were tickled pink. I keep hoping one day the costume contest will actually become a big event because it sure is fun!

Phil and Tinny went as Jabba the Hutt and Princess Leia. It’s hard to see, but you can just make out the “hair buns” tied to Tinny’s halter. And yes, the goat is wearing a bikini. Apparently she has no sense of shame–she strutted right out there in this thing and seemed proud to wear it.

Sputnik, on the other hand, was NOT proud of his costume. The words that first come to mind are “patient” and “long suffering”. I stuffed my poor goat into a hot, itchy chicken suit so he could be Old MacDonald’s chicken-goat (E-I-E-I-O, with a cluck-baa here and cluck-baa there, etc.). The legs are my favorite part, although there is a lot to be said for those ridiculous, unwieldy wings. I had to turn them sideways to get in the gate. I can’t believe Sputnik actually put up with this level of stupidity, but his tolerance paid off. Our costume won first prize and we came away with a big jar of M&M’s, which Sputnik couldn’t get enough of. All I can say is that no goat was ever more deserving!

We didn’t win many prizes this weekend, but Phil had fun showing Tinny. Her udder, although large and very easy to milk, is lacking in the area of attachment.

But she was commended for her long bone pattern–something we prize highly in our herd.

I must also add that Tinny seemed to have more fun than anyone at this fair. She loved watching the endless stream of people walking by, and she adored it when they would stop to pet her. She spent the majority of each day craning her neck over the pen and begging for attention. She spent a lot of time with her front feet up on the rails so she could reach even further, and this never failed to catch someone’s eye and bring them over to give her loves.