3 days above Hyas Lake

[Mike]

Hey guys its been a minute, I hope your all doing well.  Just got back from my first true multi day goat trip.  It was very very cool.  A friend and I went to little Hyas Lake just above Cle Elum, WA.  The hike is only about 4.5 miles and it dod not have much elevation gain, so it bade it perfect for the goats first real multi day trip packing a true 25% of there weight.  

In preperation for this trip I had to take all 3 of my boys to Petco to get them weighed.  Steve came in the smallest at 180# even, then Brian at 194#, and finally the big guy Garbie at 220#.  I was really suprised at the weights I got.  I new my guys where big but WOW!!  I also did a accessment walk with them.  We did 6.5 mile with 20 pounds each.  They all did great, however they where exasted when we got back to the truck.

The 3 day hike went pritty good.  I think 25% for my goats may have been a little heavy.  They where defi tly ready to be in camp.  Also I had to hook Garbie and Brian in line because of people and dogs.  I just have the confidence in them to stick with me yet.  They do really well when it just me and the 3 goats but add in other stimuli and it gets ify.  My goats also learned how to do water crossings.  We had done a little bit of water stuff but not aything like what we where doing up there.  For example day one the guys thought it was a big deal to cross a 6 ft 3 inch deep stream, by the morning of day 3 we crossed the upper Cle Elum river like it was nothing!!!  We did one water crossing where Garbies cooler panniers where floating so high they almost came off his saw bucks and Brian my shortes goat had his noise just above the water bouncing along.  It was really cool to see the confidence develope.  Camp life was fine.  I had to low line Brian and Garbie most of the time in camp.  I only hooked Steve at night.  The bugs where pritty bad.  I used OFF on the guys which really helped them out with the bugs, but man did they hate the spray.  

We did not have any wild animal issues.  We did have two off leash dogs come at us pritty quick.  I hit one with my bow and either Brian or Garbie head bunted the second one that came at them.  I yelled but the owner never came up.  If  those dogs had been anymore aggressive I may have put a warning shot in the ground.  

Our biggest obsticle was large dead fall.  Small stuff was fine, but 24 inch and large was terrible!!  Sometime we could unload then and they could make it over but other times it was a bigger issue.  Day two we broke our own trail for a mile and a half or so.  It was really fun.  The guys did really well of leash pick there own way through some pritty tight snaggy crap!  

On day 3 the guys where very happy to finally get back to the truck.  It was hot but they happily loaded up.  All 3 laid down immediatly and I bairley saw horns the hole way home.  All in all I think the trip was a success!!  I am going to start a once a week run program for they guys.

[goatzrule]

Looks like you had a blast!

[Kat]

Great trip!  Sounds like you took them offtrail, was this trip mid-week?  That trailhead is a zoo on weekends for sure, I'm impressed you took your goats in there with all those people (and dogs.)

The deadfall is one reason I'm packing my guys lighter, they can still get over/under/around it with reasonable agility. We did a 3 day backpack last year partly on the abandoned Scaffold Ridge trail (Okanogan) and oh boy that was a doozy with the downed timber.

[Mike]

Kat,
Your right about that place being a zoo!!!  We got up there around 0930 on Saturday and all the parking lots where already full and there where vehicals lined up for a few hundred yards down the road.  Luckily for my friend and I there was a parking spot that had some dead fall logs piled up in it, we had a Silky Katana Boy 650 saw with us so we cut our own parking spot in the lot just down the road from the trail head.  Boom!!!

We got alot of questions about the goats from everyone.  The boys did good, but I did end up hooking them nose to tail in line.  It just worked out better for us and everyone else.  I was suprised how scared some people are of animals.  There goats for goodness sake.  We ended up staying in the camp sight just past upper Hyas.  On the map there where 3 streams that came together, they where all dry though which was a bummer.  The funniest thing was where I low lined the goats people could see them from the hiking trail above, but they could not see our camp because we where using bivy sack.  So all afternoon people would stop and try to figure out if my guys where "wild goats", then once they saw us they would almost always ask, "Are those your goats?".  I told one guy no, he was very confused.  Super funny for my friend and I.

We did go off trail on day 2.  We basically followed one of the dry stream beds to Upper Hyas lake then stayed on the west side of it.  We hand railed around that then camped at the top of Hyas lake.  It was nice because there where no other people on that side.  It also had some really nice places to fly fish.  We ended up killing to pritty nice stoked brook trout and frying them up for dinner.  

I was very suprised that they where still allowing camp fire up there.  I called they Cle Elum ranger station twice the day before we left just to make sure that there was not a burn ban.  There was not as long as you constructed a fire ring.  Crazy!!!

I think I will pack the guys lighter next trip like you said.  Crossing large dead fall never even crossed my mind as a problem.  Rooky move!!

[Kat]

Holee cow, a Saturday to boot!  Impressive you cleared your own parking spot lol. 

The nose to nail technique sounds like something I should try to train my two boys on, I've tried something similar but probably left the line too long - anyone it didn't work out too well.  So I either keep them both on leash (takes some doing when I'm by myself) or let my younger goat off leash he does pretty well that way and seems to respond to voice command to get off a narrow trail to let other folks by. They don't have horns tho so are probably less "threatening" to folks.

Nice job finding someplace quiet to camp up there with good fishing as well!

So lowlining works well for you?  I've been hesitant to try it so just highline - but that isn't always convenient for sure, finding suitable trees.

[Mike]

Kat,
The nose to tail hitching is the only way I can move all three goats without loosing my mind, expecislly with gear on.  They would be all over the place.  I made my set up with easy to adjust hitch ropes that can be as short as I want or abour 5 ft long.   When we first start out I will hook then short, so even if they wanted they cant get even to the middle of the goat in front of them.  Then as everyone finds there groove I give tgem the full length, especially when crossing small abstacles.  If you want to see my set up I posted it in the Equipment and Techniques for the Trail section under DIY easy goat pack train.

To be honest I have never tried high lining goats.  I feel like find good trees would be hard.  I have two concrete form posts that I use as my low line anchors.  I just the post attached to two saddles at all times and through the lowline rope in a pannier.  Pritty easy to set up.  Also on my lowline rope I already have 3 prussik loops tide so I can just hook the guys lead rope to that then adjust there placement and spacing to what ever I want very easily.

I dont know if you fish or eat fish but I tried a new reciepy up there that turned out awesome.  My friend is gluten free so I had to use cornmeal as the base for my batter.  What we did was catch and clean the fish.  Then on one side of the fish's spine we cut all the ribs and some of the back meat all the way to the tail.  The reason for this is to try to get the fish to lay down sa flat as possible in the pan.  Then we through the fish in a gallon zip lock with the corn meal, peperika, cummin, salt, pepper...... what ever you like and shoock them around until very well coated with the cornmeal mix.  The pan,  I was using a 12" aluminum dutch oven over a whisperlight on "low" (whisperlights dont do low very well) with cabout a quarter stick of butter melted in the bottom.  One the butter got up to frying temp I just layed 1 fish in.  It took about 3 minutes per side and the fish was cooked through with golden crispy skin.  Then we did yhe same yo the other fish.  The last and most important this is to bring a can of white wine with you.  At this point you dump half half that can of wine into the butter and fish leavings that are left in the pan.  Let that reduce for a minute, dont burn it then dump that on the trout and squeeze half a lemon on top.  Boom, sick!!!  I really dropped the ball not taking picture, but I did not bring my phone and I was to lazy/ hungry to walk over to my pack and get my camera.

I love cooking out doors.  The first night we had cornish game hens with potatoes, carrots and onions.  The second morning we had a solid batch of corn tortia Megas.  All in thst Aluminum dutch oven.

[Kat]

I'll check out your post for the nose to tail, thanks!! I just might need to try that tomorrow doing a grunt hike handling goats by myself could be a lot of people.  Will be with a buddy on a horse, should be interesting...

re: highlining - I've been pretty lucky finding trees, I also carry tree saver straps (the kind ultralight hammock guys use) and big bushes seem to hold up OK even with my big boys (245, 215). I use the Prusik's too. But I can see where lowlining would be useful, particularly above treeline.

re: fish recipe - wow, you're doing some gourmet cooking out there!  I'm lucky to find time to boil water for a mountain house LOL.  I do fish - that's my primary focus in high lake trips - but generally don't eat them probably because I'm not a gourmet cook and then there's that time issue....

[Perry]

I've found that packing 25% of body weight is just too much, particularly for multiday trips, with typical northwest elevation gains.  I try to keep it under 20%, but a lot depends on the individual goat, and his conditioning.

For tying at night I prefer highline, but use both high and low depending on the situation.  My two horned guys like to use a low line for a horn rub, and get pretty vigorous about it.

[Kat]

Good info.  More weight = slower too, I'd rather move faster up the trail.  I calculated our 4 day trip last week I had them packed 6-7%  But we're behind on our conditioning this year, goat and human so it all worked out pretty well - grunting uphill in the heat we enjoyed a bit slower pace with the "rest step" haha.

[Mike]

Thanks guys for all the really good info!!!  I think I will make 20% my  top end and start the guy on a conditioning program.  I guys going by weight only is pritty silly.  A morbidly obise person could weigh 400 pounds, at 25% of there weight that would be a even 100 poind pack.  That person is not makeing it up the trail very far either.  Same woth goats.  A pasture 220 is not the same as a trail fit 220.