The Shaggy Goat contemplates his audience and where he would like to go next. I bet there are a lot of birds at Logan Pass who keep an eye out for where their shedding fur is left behind so they can snatch it up and line their nests with it.

The Shaggy Goat

When I was a student at Virginia Tech studying forestry and wildlife management, the hub of all the classes in my major was Cheatham Hall. Just outside the lab hung a poster of a Mountain Goat (Oreamnos americanus). That poster was my introduction to this animal. I remember looking at it each time I left the lab, thinking what a strange animal it was with its small split hooves and short horns, a muscular hump for shoulders, black eyes and long pointy ears. The image, though well photographed, left me unimpressed. It did not strike me as an animal I would seek out. It didn’t pull on my imagination the way a Mountain Lion or a Timber Wolf so often did, although they too I had only seen in pictures.

That changed the first time I saw a living Mountain Goat in its natural habitat. My friend Beth and I were on a 3-night backpacking trip in Glacier National Park. The trip culminated on our last night with a stay at Sperry Chalet. Travelers to Sperry Chalet are likely to see some of the Mountain Goats that roam around the chalet, but Beth and I didn’t know this. 

Our quads were burning from the exertion of having climbed over Gunsight Pass with our 45lb packs. Once over the pass we then descended some distance toward Lake Ellen Wilson before starting another long climb on our approach to the chalet. We had finally hit a level stretch of trail when we looked up and there, just ahead, was a Mountain Goat in a quintessential pose. All thought of my burning muscles dissipated.

There he stood in his beautiful, creamy white coat of fur on a rock ledge with the mountain falling away before him. His head held high, shoulders massive, chest proud, he faced the mountains across the valley as though he were surveying his kingdom. The peak of a distant mountain formed a dramatic backdrop for his muscular body. He was so regal! We couldn’t believe it. The high mountains belong to the wild goats! 

Oh – this was a picture-perfect moment! Only my camera was tucked away in my back pack, out of my reach unless I took off my pack, which I was unwilling to do for dropping a 45lb pack is a clumsy affair and I feared the activity would scare him away. I needed Beth to reach it for me. But she had her point-and-shoot at hand and was in front of me, busily snapping way. Oh, this moment was certain to end any second. “Patience! Patience!”, I told myself, “Wait until she is finished. It’s not all about you.” Oh, how this effort at squashing jealousy and being unselfish pained me as Beth took photo after photo! When I could wait no longer, I whimpered, “Beth? Beth? My camera? Could you reach into my pack...?” 

Which she did. But it was too late, he was climbing down from his throne. How I rued not wanting to carry my camera in my hand because of its weight. But as we watched, he walked down the trail right toward us! We literally had to step off the trail (as though deferring to royalty) to let him pass. It was a very narrow trail with steep grades on either side, so we couldn’t move far and he passed very closely. I’m pretty sure we didn’t bow, but we sure did stare in awe and amazement. His carriage, so nonchalant, as though he were merely out for a stroll among the commoners. What a beautiful animal!

The Shaggy Goat contemplates onlookers and where he will travel next in his high mountain kingdom.
 

I’ve not been back to Sperry Chalet since then. But I have nonetheless gotten many a Mountain Goat fix. With every hike I’ve taken to Hidden Lake Overlook at Logan Pass I have seen goats, often up close. Which is where in late June I found the shaggy goat who is featured in the video above. 

The shaggy goat is shedding his thick winter coat that has long coarse hairs, particularly along his legs and back, as well as dense wooly fur that provides him with excellent insulation as he and his kind spend the cold months among the rocky cliffs where they find safety from their predators like Mountain Lions and Timber Wolves.

I didn't get a photo of the goat we encountered on our way to Sperry Chalet way back when, so I've thrown in a couple other images. One of a goat at Hidden Lake Overlook in a pose very similar to the one the rock ledge near Sperry Chalet. And the other of a very cute kid, enjoying climbing on the rock wall near Logan Pass.

An adult Mountain Goat in a regal pose near Hidden Lake Overlook.

A Mountain Goat Kid, born earlier this year, plays on a rock wall near Logan Pass.

A nanny Mountain Goat and her offspring rest on a warm summer day near Hidden Lake Overlook.

I know you, like me with the poster, will only be looking at a picture. So I hope, if you have not seen a Mountain Goat in person yet, that you will one day. Then you will know, “The high mountains belong to the wild goats.” (Psalm 104:18)

All photos, videos and text are Copyright ©Julia Flanagan unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.