# Overnight in Clearwater Forest



## Harriet Aiken (Nov 14, 2010)

My goats and a friend of mine just had a wonderful two days in the Palouse District of the Clearwater Forest.

We started out at somewhere near the 3000' elevation and climbed to 5300' to Bald Mountain Lookout on a trail that was 9 miles out and then back for a total of 18 miles. The trail was very rolling, with the majority of the climb in the last 2.5 miles. 

The goats were: Miss Daisy, the 4-yr-old, who carried about 30lbs.; The Wart and Vegas, two yearlings, who carried about 10lbs each. All three of them did well with the distance, the steepness, and the weight. They learned very quickly to drop down to rest everytime we stopped and we seemed to maintain an easy, consistent pace. 

We reached the high point (and turn-around point) in the late afternoon so the goats were unloaded, we all ate dinner and rested. Then my friend and I realized that there were two good hours of hiking left in the day so we loaded up again and started back. The rest made us all feel fresh again and we made it back three miles before we lost our light and had to camp. The goats were wonderful - good, quiet little campers! I think their experience at Rendy helped them feel comfortable away from home. We heard a few coyotes during the night and one deer who was startled that we were there.

We were able to sleep under the stars (which was good because we had intentionally left the tent and tarp at home). After breakfast and coffee in the morning we were back on the trail and home by mid-morning.


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## IceDog (Aug 1, 2010)

Beautiful!


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## idahonancy (Dec 13, 2008)

Way to go Harriet. That's an impressive hike for the young goats. Thanks for the pictures. 
IdahoNancy and the Oberpackers


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## Harriet Aiken (Nov 14, 2010)

I was a bit worried about the distance but, since it was an out-and-back, I thought we could just turn around when we needed to.

It was great to make it the whole way because we ended up in the rain forest pocket that is in that area - that was beautiful.


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