Latest hiking trend is the pack goat
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- There are pack horses, pack mules and pack
llamas. But how about pack goats?
Goats are perhaps the newest trend in hiking and
backpack-carrying animals, and Utah is leading the pack in their
promotion.
In fact, the 2004 Rendezvous for the North American Packgoat
Association will be held this weekend at Sheep Creek Lake, near
Flaming Gorge.
Clay Zimmerman of Tooele is one of the rendezvous organizers,
and he also operates High Uinta Pack Goats, renting goats for
public use. He started using pack goats about 10 years ago and
believes their usage has quadrupled in Utah in that time. There are
at least a dozen active goat packers in Utah, from Logan to St.
George.
"Goats are about the friendliest animal you can get,"
Zimmerman said. "Some goats will even rest their head on your lap.
They like people."
He said you can forgot all those stereotypes about goats being
stubborn, stinky and unmanageable.
Goats are as friendly as dogs, if trained right, and he believes
they make great hiking companions.
"Each goat has his own name and personality," he said of his
personal herd of a dozen animals.
He said goats are mellower than llamas and do not hurt the
environment.
"Goats don't destroy wilderness," Zimmerman said. "They are
environmentally friendly."
Goats browse when they feed, like deer.
"You don't carry food for them," he said. "They get a bite
here and a nibble there."
Zimmerman said they are also loyal animals, though they may
follow other backpacking groups you encounter, if you're not
careful.
Two main disadvantages to goats are that they travel less in a
day than other pack animals and they can't carry as much weight.
Goats can safely carry about one-fourth of their body weight,
and that usually equals 40-60 pounds of gear. From about 5 years of
age on, goats can carry the heavy loads. Goats live 12-15 years and
weigh 180-250 pounds.
For small children or the senior citizen who loves to hike, fish
or hunt but can no longer easily backpack, goats are an option to
lessen human burdens. Ask anyone what the biggest downside to
backpacking is and most will probably single out heavy packs.
Zimmerman said his wife has bad knees, but thanks to goats, she
has been on 100-mile backpacking trips.
And Zimmerman said they can go just about anywhere a human can
go, outside of a cliff. His goats have been atop Utah's highest
summit, Kings Peak, 13,528 feet above sea level. With loose rock
and some scrambling required, the goats had no trouble getting
there. They can go places many other pack animals can't.
Zimmerman has taken his goats up to a 14,000-foot elevation in
the Wind River Range of Wyoming, so altitude doesn't affect them
much, either. They can also traverse snowy terrain.
"No horse or llama has that kind of footing," he said.
How about transportation? Goats easily can be hauled in a small
trailer or a pickup truck. Zimmerman said some people have even
used boxes containing kitty litter in their vans to haul several
goats to trailheads.
They also don't need to be tied up at night in a camp if they
are properly bonded to their human group.
Some forest areas require goats be on leashes. Otherwise,
Zimmerman said he has his goats' leashes tucked in, to be used as
needed.
"Usually, they will never leave your side," he said, lamenting
some of the privacy you may feel like you give away by having these
underrated animals along.
He stressed they cost much less than other pack animals to own
and maintain. He charges about $20 a day to rent his goats, with a
two-goat minimum. Families and Scout groups have used his goats.
Rendezvous events include a service project with the U.S. Forest
Service to improve a trail and training classes on hoof trimming,
saddling and loading.
Zimmerman expects 75 to 100 people to attend the event, the
first time it has been held in Utah during the organization's
six-year existence. Those attending will come from all over the
nation, though the western states are the group's mainstay.
