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09-20-2015, 08:58 PM
The Cascade Packgoat Club’s annual campout was held September 10th-13th at Camp Howe which is leased to the Skamania Saddle Club by the National Forest Service. The Skamania Saddle Club is generous enough to share the camp with us.
19 people, 10 goats and 4 dogs attended. Jan & Perry Privratsky & 2 goats; Stephanie & Michael Powell with their grandson and 2 goats; Lori & RC Kline with their 2 grandsons, 2 goats and 3 dogs: Janet & Phil Lamberson with 1 goat, Brad & Mimi Bateman with 3 goats, Larry & MaryAnn Robinson with 1 dog. Tim & Deanne Converse and Carolyn Eddy came for Saturday evening.
The weather was glorious! Cooler than at lower elevations, wildfire smoke free and sunny. The campground is so beautiful. Trapper Creek, that runs along the campground, was pretty low from the drought conditions we’ve been having. Last year we watched salmon spawning right next to camp. This year the salmon will struggle to get here. We did find (smelled it first!) one dead salmon but no live ones.
Lori & RC Kline brought their 5 & 9 year old grandsons, Caleb & Colin. It was Caleb & Colin’s first camping trip! They just moved to Oregon from a big city in California. Stephanie & Michael Powell brought their 5 year old grandson, Mason, who is a seasoned camper. It’s so wonderful to see kids get outdoors and have fun!
We all hiked every day. Some folks went for long hikes while others took shorter hikes from camp. No matter where we hiked it was beautiful. Being on the trail with the goats and friends – priceless.
Both Friday and Saturday mid afternoon we took the goats down to the stream for water training. Jan & Perry’s “Little Joe” is a seasoned water goat at only 1 year old. Stephanie & Michael had 2 just wethered youngsters who did really well for their first time. I took my 3 year old Alpine, Dude and my yearling LaMancha, Bourbon. I bought Dude, who is 3, in April (as a birthday present to myself!) and had no idea how he’d do. He didn’t really “want” to go in but it wasn’t a big deal once in the water and he crossed back and forth from one bank to the other just fine after the first bit of resistance. Bourbon didn’t think much of the water. He took some “persuading.” He got better each time and I was proud of his progress. At one point Bourbon was standing in the river with icy water up to his belly and looking around – while not on a lead.
[attachment=1715]
Powell's wethers, Thunder and Lightening, had just been wethered before the campout and Privratsky's buckling Falcon was due to be wethered the Tuesday following the campout. These 3 little guys had one thing on their mind whenever they were loose. All three thought Mr. Big and Dude (the largest goats) were the ones to woo! Mr. Big and Dude were not impressed!
Mr. Big and Dude had a sparring match and a crowd of fans gathered to cheer on their favorite athlete!
On Saturday, Debbi & Eldon who are goat owning friends of mine who want to do goatpacking, came up for the day to meet people, see equipment and check out the goats. I took them for a 1½ hour hike with Dude and Bourbon. I had my Sopris Rookie pack saddle and the Rookie panniers on Dude. The panniers were huge for carrying 3 bottles of water and TP. We were glad to have them though when during the hike we ran across a campsite that was full of aluminum beer cans, plastic food bags, plastic 5 gallon water jugs and more. We put it all in the panniers and brought it back to camp. Why do people leave such messes!?
Debbi and Eldon with my wether, Dude.
As usual, there was plenty of fabulous food! Goat cheeses, Dishes made with goat milk and goat milk cheeses, fruits, salads, pastas, and more! No one went hungry! One of the biggest favorites was the chocolate chunk pumpkin seed cookies Stephanie made. I’ll include the recipe. They were to die for!
Mornings and evenings we gathered around the campfire to visit and eat. Actual campfires were banned due to the fire danger so Perry & Jan brought a propane fire pit for us to sit around. The “real” fire pit was occupied by Lori & R. C’s goats! Mr. Big and Fancy loved lying in the ashes of the fire pit!
It was really hard to leave Sunday afternoon knowing I was heading home to 95* weather and smoke from the wildfires. On my way home I had to detour because of a wildfire that had broken out on my route home. Helicopters were flying between the fire and the Columbia River filling the bags with water to drop on the fire. This season has been horrible for wildfires throughout the west. I hope the drought is lessened by rainfall and snow pack this winter. I’m sure the firefighters will be glad when fire season is over. I’m so thankful for them.
Every year this annual campout leaves me wanting more – more time to visit with friends, more time to hike the forest of new and old growth, more time to enjoy the wondeful campground and more time to enjoy no schedules, cell or internet service.
It is such a peaceful time and leaves me knowing I should take time to enjoy this type of adventure more often.
19 people, 10 goats and 4 dogs attended. Jan & Perry Privratsky & 2 goats; Stephanie & Michael Powell with their grandson and 2 goats; Lori & RC Kline with their 2 grandsons, 2 goats and 3 dogs: Janet & Phil Lamberson with 1 goat, Brad & Mimi Bateman with 3 goats, Larry & MaryAnn Robinson with 1 dog. Tim & Deanne Converse and Carolyn Eddy came for Saturday evening.
The weather was glorious! Cooler than at lower elevations, wildfire smoke free and sunny. The campground is so beautiful. Trapper Creek, that runs along the campground, was pretty low from the drought conditions we’ve been having. Last year we watched salmon spawning right next to camp. This year the salmon will struggle to get here. We did find (smelled it first!) one dead salmon but no live ones.
Lori & RC Kline brought their 5 & 9 year old grandsons, Caleb & Colin. It was Caleb & Colin’s first camping trip! They just moved to Oregon from a big city in California. Stephanie & Michael Powell brought their 5 year old grandson, Mason, who is a seasoned camper. It’s so wonderful to see kids get outdoors and have fun!
We all hiked every day. Some folks went for long hikes while others took shorter hikes from camp. No matter where we hiked it was beautiful. Being on the trail with the goats and friends – priceless.
Both Friday and Saturday mid afternoon we took the goats down to the stream for water training. Jan & Perry’s “Little Joe” is a seasoned water goat at only 1 year old. Stephanie & Michael had 2 just wethered youngsters who did really well for their first time. I took my 3 year old Alpine, Dude and my yearling LaMancha, Bourbon. I bought Dude, who is 3, in April (as a birthday present to myself!) and had no idea how he’d do. He didn’t really “want” to go in but it wasn’t a big deal once in the water and he crossed back and forth from one bank to the other just fine after the first bit of resistance. Bourbon didn’t think much of the water. He took some “persuading.” He got better each time and I was proud of his progress. At one point Bourbon was standing in the river with icy water up to his belly and looking around – while not on a lead.
[attachment=1715]
Powell's wethers, Thunder and Lightening, had just been wethered before the campout and Privratsky's buckling Falcon was due to be wethered the Tuesday following the campout. These 3 little guys had one thing on their mind whenever they were loose. All three thought Mr. Big and Dude (the largest goats) were the ones to woo! Mr. Big and Dude were not impressed!
Mr. Big and Dude had a sparring match and a crowd of fans gathered to cheer on their favorite athlete!
On Saturday, Debbi & Eldon who are goat owning friends of mine who want to do goatpacking, came up for the day to meet people, see equipment and check out the goats. I took them for a 1½ hour hike with Dude and Bourbon. I had my Sopris Rookie pack saddle and the Rookie panniers on Dude. The panniers were huge for carrying 3 bottles of water and TP. We were glad to have them though when during the hike we ran across a campsite that was full of aluminum beer cans, plastic food bags, plastic 5 gallon water jugs and more. We put it all in the panniers and brought it back to camp. Why do people leave such messes!?
Debbi and Eldon with my wether, Dude.
As usual, there was plenty of fabulous food! Goat cheeses, Dishes made with goat milk and goat milk cheeses, fruits, salads, pastas, and more! No one went hungry! One of the biggest favorites was the chocolate chunk pumpkin seed cookies Stephanie made. I’ll include the recipe. They were to die for!
Mornings and evenings we gathered around the campfire to visit and eat. Actual campfires were banned due to the fire danger so Perry & Jan brought a propane fire pit for us to sit around. The “real” fire pit was occupied by Lori & R. C’s goats! Mr. Big and Fancy loved lying in the ashes of the fire pit!
It was really hard to leave Sunday afternoon knowing I was heading home to 95* weather and smoke from the wildfires. On my way home I had to detour because of a wildfire that had broken out on my route home. Helicopters were flying between the fire and the Columbia River filling the bags with water to drop on the fire. This season has been horrible for wildfires throughout the west. I hope the drought is lessened by rainfall and snow pack this winter. I’m sure the firefighters will be glad when fire season is over. I’m so thankful for them.
Every year this annual campout leaves me wanting more – more time to visit with friends, more time to hike the forest of new and old growth, more time to enjoy the wondeful campground and more time to enjoy no schedules, cell or internet service.
It is such a peaceful time and leaves me knowing I should take time to enjoy this type of adventure more often.
Goatberries Happen!
