Local shares virtues of packing with domestic goats

Mules and horses for pack stock? Absolutely. Llamas and alpacas? OK, they are an alternative.

Goats? What, really?

Yes indeed and it’s a serious consideration for campers and backpackers with some attributes the bigger animals can’t meet.

“I grew up hiking with my parents and they got goats in 1994. The first time doing a distance hike with goats for me was in 1998,” said Rosie Siebert, a registered nurse at Mineral Community Hospital.

Siebert’s parents live in Wyoming and have 25-30 goats at any given time as this is a hobby they enjoy sharing with others at no cost to the hiker besides the cost of their own food.

“A goat’s weight-load is less than larger pack animals, so you take more goats or less food and supplies. We each had one goat to carry part of

our load that averaged of 55 pounds per goat. Then there was one food goat and one "naked goat" Siebert said about her adventure in Utah from last summer.

A food goat carries goat-food supplements as the animals have plenty of grub on excursions as they eat anything. And a "naked goat" is like a spare tire. They had a different naked goat each day to avoid saddle sores, etc. 

“We planned for 100 miles and 10 days but had to leave early because of a fire, so we only hiked 70 miles and seven days. I was unable to do my favorite two passes, Dead Horse and Rocky Sea Pass. Average elevation was 10,000 to 12,000 feet, with the low being around 9,000 and maxed at 13,527 with Kings Peak which is the highest peak in Utah."

Yes, altitude sickness does happen as a medivac helicopter was called in for one of the crew who had a full recovery in Salt Lake City.

Because goats haul less weight per animal, what are some positives in using them?

“Goats do not tear up the countryside like a horse. Goats can easily get to backcountry places a horse or mule cannot. They usually do not require any additional food be taken along for them. If deer thrive, the goat will manage very well on native forage. They are easier to load and handle for smaller size people and children can deal with them,” she said.

Plus, the digestive system of a goat tears down the seed capsules of vegetation, so it doesn’t re-seed as horse manure does.

This is a ‘plus’ where packers sometimes pack in alfalfa that must be certified weed-free.

Different breeds must make better pack goats, right?

“The short answer is no; though everyone will say that the one they have is the best. After having some of all the larger breeds, my parents prefer Kikos as they are strong and mellow. But what makes a good pack goat is its attitude, that ‘go get ‘em’ desire to please the two-legs of the herd.

"Pack goats need to be bonded to humans enough to think the people are the alphas of the herd.”

For the curious, there is the North American Packgoat Association; Goat Tracks Magazine or Siebert’s father, Clay Zimmerman, with High Uinta Wilderness Highline www.highuintapackgoat.com.