When Richard Kennedy of the Smithsonian Institute of Washington D.C. called and asked if I could bring some yaks to Washington D.C., I thought it was a joke. I joked back and prepared to hang up. But it was no joke! Seems the Smithsonian Institute was sponsoring a Tibetan Cultural Festival over the Fourth of July on the Capital's front lawn. A million or more spectators were expected to visit during the two weeks event, including several thousand Tibetans and the Dalai Lama himself! To round out the Tibetan flavor yaks were needed.

Now Wykle Yak Ranch is 2700 miles West of Washington D.C. Because of the need to let the yaks graze and stretch each night, that equates to six days of traveling. Not to mention that the dates fell right in the middle of hay season. But a deal was worked out, and on June 17th, Phil Wykle and his yak herder niece, Rachel Krantz headed East with seven yak in tow. The first two nights were still in the West where Phil had kayaking buddies which amounted to send-off-parties with barbecues and music while the yaks grazed on the lawns. A great start to getting the yaks used to crowds. The third night found us setting up the portable corral at an abandoned grainary somewhere in rural South Dakota. There was lots of belly deep grass and peace and quiet. The fourth afternoon we drove into the Wykleville of the United States, also know as Radcliff, Iowa. Upon entering the town of 247 residents, we asked a man on a bicycle if he could direct us to Wendel Wykle's place. "Sure, follow me, I am a Wykle too," he shouted as he headed off the three blocks to Wendel's. Now Wendel and everyone else in Radcliff have very fancy lawns that didn't look like they needed any yaks grazing on them, so Wendel called Loren Wykle, who had a hog and corn farm just out of town and we grazed the yaks there for the night. After a fine Wykle breakfast of Gritwherst and eggs the next morning we headed for Illinois.

The next couple of nights we found race tracks where we grazed the yaks and slept in the camper. We found a very nice place on the Ohio River in Indiana. About 100 miles out of D.C., in Friendsville, we set up the corral by a river and swam and rested while the yaks grazed untill nearly dark so as to not enter D.C. during the rush hour.

About 1 AM we entered D.C. in a downpour. No traffic and no visibility either. We parked by the Washington Monument (the only thing I could see for a landmark). Before dawn the police arrived and helped us locate the Smithsonian Tibetan Festival on the Capital Mall. Sure enough, they had reserved us the biggest shade tree of the area. Right between the nomads of Nepal and Tibetan Stupa. I parked the truck, set up the corral, unloaded the yaks, and didn't move again for the two weeks. My nomad neighbors were great!! We combed out yak wool or "kulo" each day which they spun into cloth and slings. My neighbor on the other side of the Stupa was a young monk who hiked over the Himalaya Mountains by himself for one month to gain his freedom from the Chinese. He often hiked at night and nearly froze, having only the western street clothes he was wearing the night he sneaked past the first guard station. In Tibet his family raised yaks and I learned a lot from him. We roped one yak and rode him several times. As the crowd kept getting bigger, we didn't get finish with yak's training.

The Tibetan area of the festival was a scattering of tents and booths for various arts, crafts, and religious ceremonies covering about one-half acre. The area was fenced to keep the crowd out except from 11 AM to 5 PM each day during exhibition time. To the Tibetan's delight, I turned the yaks loose in this area each morning for a couple hours of romping and grazing while I cleaned their corral. Yaks turned out are a joy to watch as they jump and buck and run just for fun......

There are now about 8000 Tibetan refugees living in the U.S.A. and I dare say most of them were at Washington D.C., July 2nd and 3rd to see and hear their religious and political leader, "His Holiness, The Dalai Lima" who traveled all the way from India for this event. Security was tight around the Dalai Lima and I didnt expect to see him except on the stage, but he wanted to come see the yak's!

Mid morning the day after his public address, a scurry of security passed by the yak area and soon after a crowd of Tibetans appeared. Security guards with yellow ribbon roped off a moving area around and in front of several monks and the Dalai Lima . They roped the yaks and me inside this area and "His Holiness" came up the two young bull's "Tenzin" and "Tashi". He Took their cheeks in each of his hands and lowered his forehead to the yak's head and held it there for half a minute while speaking softly in Tibetan, He then placed a beautiful pure white silk scarf (Khata) around the neck of each of the two yak's giving them his blessing.

"Tenzin" who is a grandson of the great bull, "Lightning" will become one of the Wykle Yak Ranch herd sires and "Tashi" will be reserved for sale only to a Tibetan or Tibetan community. Both are currently at the Wykle Yak Ranch in Idaho.

Phil Wykle - Wykle Yak Ranch - 553 Harris Ridge Rd., Kooskia, ID 83539 - 208-926-0177