Goats on the CDT: The True Story Behind the New Vanna Grizzle Sock

In the 2015 movie The VVITCH, a puritan family ventures out to live in the woods. As the title may have tipped you off, there is a witch in the forest who starts to mess with the family. Of course, this witch gained her powers by signing a deal with the devil.

*SPOILER ALERT*

The devil is actually the family’s goat, Black Phillip! There are plenty of creepy scenes where the toddlers in the family run around singing, “Black Phillip, Black Phillip!”

*END SPOILER*

So what does this have to do with socks? Well there is a new version of the Vanna Grizzle sock with the silhouette of a white mountain goat on it. This mountain goat is a character from my own life (which is not set in Puritanical Massachusetts and unfortunately(?) doesn’t include witches). But more on that connection in a moment.

A Sock Called "Vanna Grizzle"?

My husband Owen works for Darn Tough. His trail name is Sir Owen VanGrizzle the Duke of Beartown - or just VanGrizzle - which is where the men’s version of this hiking sock gets its name.

The women’s version is, by extension, named the Vanna Grizzle. My name is Anna (close?), but my trail name is not Vanna Grizzle. It’s Lady Toomi Grrretson, the Trapper and Duchess Consort of Beartown. Obviously.

Anyways, this new version of the Vanna Grizzle sock honors a goat character that showed up several times in our life on trail.

Goats on the CDT

During the summer of 2023, VanGrizzle and I thru-hiked the Continental Divide Trail. We started in Glacier National Park.

On day two, we almost had a trip-ending experience.

Glacial G.O.A.T.

We approached a snow field sloping about 200 feet down a scree mountainside. A northbound hiker warned us that it was quite treacherous and suggested that we walk around it, but that would entail trying to hike through jagged loose rocks, first down the slope and then back up.

Plus, we’re from Vermont; we know how to hike in snow, right? So we started our course across the snow field.

We soon discovered that the snow was quite slick; it had melted in the sun most of the day and was now starting to freeze again in the cover of the shade. No matter, we would just dig our feet in intentionally with each step.

This worked for a while until we discovered that the slope of the snow field was becoming steeper as we progressed. So we angled our steps up to the top of the snow, where we could hold onto the ice shelf abutting the rock face. We slowly traversed along this edge. But then with one misstep, I completely lost my footing.

My feet slid down the slush, and I was left dangling from my hands gripping the edge of the ice. This was it! I was going to fall to my death! The additional 25 pounds on my back wouldn’t help my momentum or control as I rushed down the slush to the jagged scree below. It was time to say my goodbyes.

Luckily, VanGrizzle had not lost his footing or his ability to use rational thought, so he talked me through digging footholds and hoisting myself back up. Once there, I decided to walk between the snow field and the rock face by wedging my shoes into the crevice. It took a lot longer but felt a hell of a lot more secure.

My heart continued racing as I walked the last 50 feet back to hard ground. I hugged VanGrizzle and caught my breath a moment before we rounded the corner to continue hiking. Right there, about 30 feet uphill from us, was a white mountain goat! He glanced up at us, then continued chewing his cud.

There he was, my guardian angel! White Phillip! In contrast to the devilish Black Phillip, this goat was a force of good.

The Sun's Warmth

White Phillip came back to guide us a few more times. In Colorado, we were facing colder and colder temperatures. We walked through a snow and hail storm before the Autumnal Equinox. This cold was really starting to demoralize me.

One morning, we were approaching Lake Anne Pass and it was particularly cold, because we were on the West side of the pass, so the sun hadn’t reached us yet. As we started our ascent up the zig-zagging switchbacks, I looked up towards the ridgeline. There was a line of goats walking along the crest, silhouetted against the sky. We watched them as we continued our trek up.

They eventually caught sight of us and scurried to the other side of the ridgeline. But one goat stayed behind as a sentinel. I looked up at him right as the sun crested the ridge. I kid you not, the sun created a halo around this noble goat. White Phillip was back, and he had brought the warmth of the sun with him.

In the Petroglyphs

When we got to New Mexico, the snow was no longer an issue, but there were still some very cold nights. Plus, now we were getting our water from cow troughs, some better than others. One evening we came across a particularly gross trough, full of brown, opaque water (see below).

But that was what we had to drink. There was no other water. So as the temperature dropped, we slowly squeezed this sludge through our water filters, our fingers getting stiff from the cold.

That night, we accumulated a good amount of condensation in the tent, which soaked the outside of my sleeping bag and froze to the rain fly. I woke up in the morning to discover this and was NOT enthused. Then I went out to pee and it got on my sock! Harumph!

When others woke up, I learned that VanGrizzle’s sleeping pad had deflated and our other friend’s pad had gone completely flat. Plus it was extremely cold out. Things were not good.

Our friend decided to take the fastest route into town in order to deal with his sleeping pad. But instead of going with him, VanGrizzle suggested that he and I hike several additional miles that day in order to go see some petroglyphs.

Of course, petroglyphs are cool, but I was EXHAUSTED. I begrudgingly agreed to take the long route with VanGrizzle.

I wore all of my clothes and hugged my hands underneath my armpits as I walked, but I just couldn’t warm up. I was at the end of my rope, and started to cry. But crying meant that I would need to rehydrate with that terrible brown sludge water! I cried even more.

Finally, we got to the turn off to see the petroglyphs. The sun had come out and was starting to warm things up. We found a solar well that pumped out fresh, clear, beautiful water. We refilled all of our water bottles. Things were looking up!

We walked out to the petroglyphs, which we only knew about from a buried comment in our online guide. They were unmarked and we could have missed them. But we found the right spot, and they were far more extensive and exciting than I’d imagined!

There were tons of them on this rock face, and they were protected enough from the elements that they were in excellent shape. I was filled with that feeling of connection across thousands of years of humanity. How beautiful!

And then I saw it - a small carving of a goat, colored in to show its white fur.

Honoring White Phillip

VanGrizzle and I were both inspired by our encounters with our guardian goat White Phillip. We separately decided to get goat tattoos to symbolize our time on the CDT — in honor of White Phillip as well as the treacherous, rocky terrain we’d braved.

When VanGrizzle returned to work at Darn Tough, it was time to revamp the designs on the Vanna Grizzle sock. A white mountain goat seemed the obvious choice. He didn’t mention it to me, but one day texted me a picture. “White Phillip!!!!” I responded.

Of course, I had to have a pair. I am honored to wear my guardian goat angel on my legs when I go out hiking. It reminds me that when things get treacherous or demoralizing, there will soon be something beautiful to contrast it.

I’m sure the goat will mean different things to different people, but I am so happy that he gets to go out exploring - for both the ups and the downs - with all of us!

Lastly, I am sorry if I spoiled the movie The VVITCH for anyone. I would still recommend it if you’re into Puritan New England, dark magic, and/or psychological thrillers.