Mountain Goat Encounter

I've had many encounters with nature over the years, but one in particular stands out. In 1986, my wife and I took a delayed honeymoon by backpacking for about a week in Mt. Rainier National Park. This was not the brightest idea I've ever had, since my wife had never been backpacking before then, and to introduce her to it during our honeymoon was, well, let's just say the reality didn't match her expectations.

One evening after a particularly challenging hike, we were setting up camp. We were in a beautiful spot, on the edge of an alpine meadow, atop a large cliff, with a spectacular view of Mt. Rainier splayed out in front of us. Despite this, my wife was miserable. I had promised her that that day's hiking would not be very difficult, and I was 100% wrong. Her back and shoulders ached, her feet were sore, she had gone many days without a shower, and she was at a very low point emotionally. Anything I said to try to cheer her up just made things worse.

Suddenly, a mountain goat scrambled up the big cliff and began munching the grasses and flowers in the meadow right in front of us. Then another joined it, and another, and another, until we had over a dozen mountain goats peacefully munching in our presence, some of them less than 30 feet from where we sat! Needless to say, my wife's mood turned around completely with this remarkable wildlife encounter. The goats stayed with us for over an hour enjoying their evening meal while we enjoyed ours.

The following morning was bright and sunny, with all sorts of animal sounds: birdsongs, marmots whistling, pikas chirping, etc. As we were taking the tent down, we noticed that the entire meadow had become completely silent, and the only sound we could hear was the breeze. We looked around and saw a large hawk patrolling the meadow in search of an easy meal. The hawk searched the meadow for several minutes, then flew off. Shortly after the hawk left, the animals resumed their sounds.

I'm quite certain that those mountain goats saved my marriage. We've been together for over 13 years now.

Ted

 

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