Mahana - The girl from Guatemala
2005 - Highline, Mirror to Spirit Lake

Clay, Crystal and friend Brent meet Cordell in 2004 on the Lake Fork part of the trail. It was Crystal's last hike as part of High Uinta Pack Goats since she was leaving home and joining the navy later that year.

When they found him, they thought he was dead. He was lying in the middle of the trail. The goats surrounded him and helped themselves to his trail mix and other foods scattered around.  He woke up with a goat looking at him, right in his face.

But Cordell liked the idea of goats, and set a date to join Clay the next year (2005) to hike the Highline Trail with his daughter Mahana, an adopted Guatemalan. Charlotte couldn't go because of work so Doug Call who worked at the Air Guard with Clay went along.

Every year in the upper Lambert Meadows we would meet Spanish speaking sheepherders. Communication was always limited and rudimentary, as only Charlotte knows any Spanish at all and very limited at that. This year with Cordell along we learned that the two there that year were Gabriel and Juan from Chile. The sheepherders come from South America every spring and live with the sheep for the summer in the Unitas, and return home in the fall.

For more in-depth information on things about the High Uintas of Utah, or just a lot of beautiful scenery pictures, visit Cordell’s site at     https://www.cordellmandersen.com/