Into the Wild II (The Mountain Goat Stampede - Conclusion!)

The mountain goats panic and charge and that’s when we realize the seriousness of the situation. We are standing on the only trail out of this narrow ravine and even if we can avoid being killed or injured in the mountain goat stampede, that still leaves us on a narrow trail between wolves and their intended prey! I know wolves don’t attack people but these are strange circumstances. What if the wolves get confused and just assume we are the ones they are chasing?

The goat are about fifteen feet away and charging when I step in front of my wife with hands raised in what I hope is universal sign language for “we come in peace; please don’t kill us.” The goats hadn’t even seen us until that point. They are momentarily confused by being trapped between humans and wolves until all three hundred pounds of the alpha male charges to the front and stands facing us less than ten feet away with intense eyes and lowered horns. He blows a mouthful of air out of his nose causing his top lip to inflate slightly. He stands proud and fierce while the others slip behind him and around us improvising new trails up the rocky mountain face. Our hearts our pounding in our chests as the goat stampede washes over us.

The last two goats, a mom and her new born, don’t see us until it is too late to find an alternate route. My wife and I bend slightly to one side and she does the same as she pushes her way past us on the trail. A this point, she doesn’t seem scared or even rushed. She is determined to escort her child to safety and seems to understand that we mean her no harm. I could literally scoop up the adorable new born in my arms as it scampers past my shins.

The alpha male waits until the whole family is past us before finally releasing us from his steely black stare and moving on as well. At that point our attention immediately reverts to the wolves. Or, what we thought we’re wolves. The two canines have been joined by a third member on the opposite river bank and unless wolf packs are allowing spaniel/heeler mixes to join their ranks, these are not wolves. These are dogs who are excited to be in the wild and off a leash. Some assholes on the other side of the river are hiking and letting their dogs run out in front of them by at least a hundred yards or so. I spot the hikers just as I am feeling relieved and disappointed that we won’t see an actual wolf hunt, even if we might have wound up the ones being chased. The hikers don’t even see the goats or the stampede caused by their dogs.

My wife and I spend the next few minutes in a heart pounding, adrenaline fueled state babbling about what we saw and how we felt. We both agreed it was the coolest experience with wildlife we’d ever had and wondered if it could ever be topped. Oh, and we found the hot spring we were looking for but somehow finding the nearly impossible to find pool seemed secondary to what we had just witnessed.

P.S. I'm still looking for a bear or cougar to wrestle. Maybe next time...