The Wild Iris Staff took a trip into the Cathedral Peak area at the end of September to celebrate the end of summer and enjoy our beautiful backyard. We hired Wind River Pack Goats to carry in our gear and cook for the weekend. What a way to travel the backcountry! We paid our Reservation fishing permit fees and entered through the Dickenson Park trailhead. While the trailhead is certainly still an impacted area, there were areas that showed signs of recovery due to the limited traffic in the area over the past few years. There was something rare about being on this land again; a reminder of how fragile it really is. We couldn't help but think "what if the Big Sandy Trailhead had a chance to regrow and recover as Dickinson Park has been able to?" For as much as the inconsistent closures of Dickenson Park has frustrated all of us, there is usually something good to come out of any situation. We hiked 6 miles into Middle Lake at a leisurely pace, dicated by the goats' grazing ways. As we walked they stopped to nibble on the bark of trees and munched the weeds growing along the trail. Because they are herd animals and their saftey is based on being together they were very worried if we stepped off the trail; we had become part of the herd! We camped on the North shore of Middle Lake and had a great dinner prepared by our goat packers Charlie and Judy. The next morning we hiked a few miles up canyon to Cathedral Crag to do some climbing. The weather was great in the morning although we were met with some swirling snow and dark clouds later in the afternoon. A couple of pitches up we decided to rappel off the route rather than get stuck in what could have been horrible weather. Ironically, just as the last of us touched ground, the skies cleared although the temperature remained significantly colder. We met Charlie and Judy a little farther up canyon than the night before at Smith Lake to camp. Again we had a great meal and a lovely evening in the cool mountain air. The next morning we packed up and started our hike out. We choose to hike out through the north drainage and meet up with the Bears Ears trail. The hike out was quite technical until we met up with the trail. The Bears Ears trail meandered just beyond the ridgeline before it dropped back down to the trailhead. Charlie and Judy with the goats in the van picked up up at the Bears Ears trailhead and our short but sweet trip came to a close. As expected, we had a great time.