an unexpected treasure


So, we hosted Erin our "niece" here in Breckenridge, and treated her to many of the outdoor adventures that are nearly at our fingertips. This day we decided to hike the Boreas Pass Trail, - again -, (see a previous blog post) and experience it in the fall. Previously, I took and added a LOT of photos of the wildflowers that we saw along the way. This hike will prove to be not much different.

Erin is my sister's husband's brother's daughter -- much easy to just call her our niece.

When we got to the top, we encountered a herd of mountain goats!  Now, mountain goats are mostly seen in groups of maybe 5-8, yet this sighting was crazy since we counted 22!! However, as we gained more elevation, we saw that the herd was segmented and when we counted again, it was in the 35-40 range -- completely crazy.

What happened was as we swung around the lower herd to get out of their way, we found ourselves in between the two as they both began to converge and settle into a favorable spot. So, we mostly walked among them choosing to get out of their way and not press the issue.

Mountain goats aren't too timid (and run away) and they do not attack people. But, you certainly need to stand off appropriately and divert eye contact if they are looking "iffy".

So, just like the wildflowers, I am adding way too many pictures of mountain goats.

So this guy looked like the leader of the pack.


Your hikers... Your blogger guy, Banana Girl and TEBA


First View at the top of the hike


As we got closer


First real view -- up close and personal -- we were about 8' away. And they looked more curious than afraid.






This is when we started counting -- 12, then more, then more.


 We started to gain more elevation and found these guys - and they included a bunch of yearlings (kids) .. The yearlings have no horns.



 At this time, we were between the uphill group, the guys in what looks like the field and the guys coming up the ridge.



 So I just keep shooting pictures.








Note the yearling











This guy was actually walking up the hiking trail.. forcing us to move off !



Hey, watcha doin'







At this time they all congregated and laid down...  we guessed that that ended the story. We started down and as we did we kept looking back up, - the spot where they remained looked like a small snowfield.


Banana Girl at 12,500!


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