I am still harboring dreams of back packing with my pathetic back.  So this winter I purchased new straps so the packs fit our goats better and took Zeus out for a test run today.  After I put the pack on I took him out to our back forty (actually closer to 4) and we hiked around.  I then added some cheap duffle bags and we did another loop.  This time we did some trail maintenance, me with a machete and Zeus with his mouth.  There are a lot of wild berries growing back there: red huckleberries, thimbleberries, salmon berries, red elderberries and European and native blackberries.  While we were maintaining trail I was thinking I need to delve into my wild native berries cookbook this summer.  Anyway, I then loaded Zeus up with some bags of wool and we did a third trip out back, this time with the dogs so he could get used to them.  Zeus did great, and the straps seem to be perfect.  So now I will order some more of these straps for the other goats and start retraining them too.

After lunch I milked some of the does and got 3 quarts of milk.  I then spent some time with the remaining goat kids trying to convince them that I am not evil.  So all and all, a good goat day.  Next we are going to get into our wood fired hot tub to soothe our aching muscles.