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06-11-2014, 11:36 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-11-2014, 11:36 AM by Charlie Horse.)
This hike was from a trail head near the Boy Scout camp along the Bear River up to Allsop Lake, which sits 8.5 miles up the east fork of the Bear River Drainage. It was a training hike for 8 of Clay Zimmerman's newer pack goats along with my 5 young goats. With so many goats and so few people, the goats that were carrying only had to haul about 20lbs, and we didn't have to pack very carefully since it was just a one-nighter. It took us about 30 minutes to saddle and load the goats, and off we went.
![[Image: allsop_01.jpg]](http://herb.linkrealms.com/packgoats/allsop_2014/allsop_01.jpg)
An ocean of horns.
![[Image: allsop_02.jpg]](http://herb.linkrealms.com/packgoats/allsop_2014/allsop_02.jpg)
Isn't this beautiful? This was the largest meadow by far. I imagine in a few weeks it'll be full of wild flowers.
![[Image: allsop_03.jpg]](http://herb.linkrealms.com/packgoats/allsop_2014/allsop_03.jpg)
Clay had been in this area 10 days earlier and says there was still a lot more snow and soggy ground back then. Melting happens fast here.
![[Image: allsop_04.jpg]](http://herb.linkrealms.com/packgoats/allsop_2014/allsop_04.jpg)
Our destination is at the base of those distant mountains.
![[Image: allsop_05.jpg]](http://herb.linkrealms.com/packgoats/allsop_2014/allsop_05.jpg)
Notice the grass gets less green the higher we hike? It got really soggy up here and we had to cross slushy snow drifts. We had to leave the trail and stay in the open country because the trail went through the forest which still had several feet of snow.
![[Image: allsop_07.jpg]](http://herb.linkrealms.com/packgoats/allsop_2014/allsop_07.jpg)
Allsop lake was still 90% covered in a slushy ice. That didn't stop Sasha from taking a swim in it. The lake is 1600 feet higher than where we started.
![[Image: allsop_08.jpg]](http://herb.linkrealms.com/packgoats/allsop_2014/allsop_08.jpg)
We decided to go back down and find some dry land for caming and grass for the goats to eat. Camping went very well, except for the first part of the night when the goats were free. Clay's goats churned around and my goats started getting paranoid and eventually tried to climb in my hammock to get away from them. Once they were tied up I could finally get some sleep. Rain threatened at breakfast but never hit us. Packing up camp is so easy when you're using a hammock! I wish I'd had mine last year.
![[Image: allsop_09.jpg]](http://herb.linkrealms.com/packgoats/allsop_2014/allsop_09.jpg)
An porcupine.
![[Image: allsop_06.jpg]](http://herb.linkrealms.com/packgoats/allsop_2014/allsop_06.jpg)
Back down in the drier country where the goats can really get into a nice long line and stay on the trail.
![[Image: allsop_10.jpg]](http://herb.linkrealms.com/packgoats/allsop_2014/allsop_10.jpg)
An old railroad "tie hacker" or else a cattleman's cabin.
![[Image: allsop_11.jpg]](http://herb.linkrealms.com/packgoats/allsop_2014/allsop_11.jpg)
Some of Clay's goats had never worn packs or had to cross water like this before. My goats weren't expert water crossers either, but this trip got everyone used to the idea. We never crossed anything very deep, since the deep water was very cold and moving very fast. All of the goats performed their jobs very well and stuck with the program. I think my Shelby wants to join Clay's group. He really seemed to want to mix in with the big boys and get to work.
Sasha the dog always travels twice as far as we do as she scouts around. She's getting old and I'm glad to see her hips didn't get to her on this trip. I'm just glad she never found an porcupine out there.
I have some 'goat cam' video that I'm going to try to post sometime. I need to do some editing first, so that'll come in a few days.
An ocean of horns.
Isn't this beautiful? This was the largest meadow by far. I imagine in a few weeks it'll be full of wild flowers.
Clay had been in this area 10 days earlier and says there was still a lot more snow and soggy ground back then. Melting happens fast here.
Our destination is at the base of those distant mountains.
Notice the grass gets less green the higher we hike? It got really soggy up here and we had to cross slushy snow drifts. We had to leave the trail and stay in the open country because the trail went through the forest which still had several feet of snow.
Allsop lake was still 90% covered in a slushy ice. That didn't stop Sasha from taking a swim in it. The lake is 1600 feet higher than where we started.
We decided to go back down and find some dry land for caming and grass for the goats to eat. Camping went very well, except for the first part of the night when the goats were free. Clay's goats churned around and my goats started getting paranoid and eventually tried to climb in my hammock to get away from them. Once they were tied up I could finally get some sleep. Rain threatened at breakfast but never hit us. Packing up camp is so easy when you're using a hammock! I wish I'd had mine last year.
An porcupine.
Back down in the drier country where the goats can really get into a nice long line and stay on the trail.
An old railroad "tie hacker" or else a cattleman's cabin.
Some of Clay's goats had never worn packs or had to cross water like this before. My goats weren't expert water crossers either, but this trip got everyone used to the idea. We never crossed anything very deep, since the deep water was very cold and moving very fast. All of the goats performed their jobs very well and stuck with the program. I think my Shelby wants to join Clay's group. He really seemed to want to mix in with the big boys and get to work.
Sasha the dog always travels twice as far as we do as she scouts around. She's getting old and I'm glad to see her hips didn't get to her on this trip. I'm just glad she never found an porcupine out there.
I have some 'goat cam' video that I'm going to try to post sometime. I need to do some editing first, so that'll come in a few days.
Sometimes I hate the desert!
