Oregon Hikers

The following is from last Friday eve in the general vicinity of Mt Adams High Camp, but still a little ways from it.

At about 6pm as I was getting ready to eat, a few mountain goats came out into the valley below to have their dinner.


More of their friends joined in.


Later it seemed they had left and then I heard a sound to the left - they had moved close. This is like 20 yards from me and my camp. I've never had goats come that close. They were in the area for about two hours.


Sunset from camp.


It was a dry camp, but there was still a sizable snow bank a couple hundred yards away. It took 5-10 minutes to fill my cook pot.

drm wrote: ↑

September 10th, 2020, 2:44 pm

I've never had goats come that close.

Go to Headlight Basin in Alpine Lakes: they will come directly into your camp - and then not leave even if you throw rocks at them. It's a bit disconcerting.

Same in enchantments, pests

Just don't let them see you pee

I've never had goats come that close.

I've never seen them so low!

Just don't let them see you pee

I don't care, as long as they don't take pics.

Chip Down wrote: ↑

September 10th, 2020, 10:23 pm

I've never seen them so low!

Weren't you the one who spotted a goat on the southeast side of Dog Mountain?

I've never seen them so low!

Don't underestimate these white beasties for their travel capabilities. This post from 2016 shows one near Lewis River Falls. When I first read that post, I did some googling about the migration patterns of mountain goats. They move around at distances that exceed the sizes of some high mountain areas where they're typically seen.

drm wrote: ↑

September 10th, 2020, 2:44 pm

retired jerry wrote: ↑

September 10th, 2020, 6:48 pm

Just don't let them see you pee

Hmm...

are you feeding the goats?

I've been to the Enchantments and I tested that method here and they just ignored me. Maybe there is more salt available on Adams. I've seen goats many times on Adams and in every case they would never let me get even as close as a hundred yards. I got used to hunkering down behind a knoll to get even that close.

This one on South Butte (Mt. Adams) wouldn't move and I had to go around it. There were just the two of us, and I think it thought it was an even match and just kept on munching alpine delicacies. Distance: about 12 - 15 yards. In the alarmist part of my brain, I kept having visions of that poor fellow in the Olympics who had one tuck its horns under his ribcage.