Goats for backpacking

Suzanne Willow's goats are not everyday livestock.

While she and her partner, Lanita Witt, sell some for meat and milking, the majority of the animals trek up the Grizzly Peak trail on a regular basis as training for their final job: backpacking.

Suzanne Willow straps a backpack on one of her goats August 11 on her ranch up Grizzly Peak in Ashland. Photo by Orville Hector | Daily Tidings

"They're great companions," Willow said. "On the trail, they just stay with us, and in camp they lay down next to the tent."

In 1990, the owners of the Willow Witt Ranch, read an article in Sierra magazine about a man in Wyoming who used goats as backcountry pack animals. The ranchers acquired mixed-breed kids one year and trained them for backpacking. The animals learned to carry 180-pound packs; acclimated to the mountains living at about 4,600 feet near the base of Grizzly Peak; and tolerated the chickens, pigs and dogs at the ranch.

"Goats are really very easy going," Willow said. "They're actually as smart as dogs. They're not as interested in pleasing but close."

The goats are bred to be pack animals. Those that don't fit the bill are turned into milk animals or meat. The ranch owners sell the goats to people who use them for backpacking. Some are bought just to eat weeds.

"We breed for size and conformation," Willow said. "They have to look good, have straight backs and have a nice curve on their legs so they can jump well."

Along with the goat business, Willow and Witt produce their own solar energy, have a small personal garden and raise pigs. Living in snow about half the year, they limit their garden to a personal crop. At the end of the winter, they clean out the goat barn of straw and excrement to make organic compost. They sell a small amount of goat milk and cheese and feed the rest to their pigs with organic grain.

"We really try to integrate everything here," Willow said.

Interested goat buyers need a strong fence, some open space and another animal to keep their goat company. Apartment owners need not apply.

You don't want them on your couch, she said.

"They are not housebroken," she said.

Staff writer Alan Panebaker can be reached at 482-3456 x 227 or apanebaker@dailytidings.com.