Cliff Hanger....

Nikon D-3, 200-400 f/2.8 lens @650mm(1.4 converter), 1/1600 s @ f/9.0, ISO 2000 

It was a long day.

The highway between Alpine and Jackson is beautiful.  All kinds of wildlife live and play on these steep mountains.  If I could live anywhere it would be in his canyon.  A designated scenic drive and the views are spectacular.  A photographers dream.  And that's year round.  

A short distance up from Alpine is the residence of a group of Mountain Goats.  

This herd, family, clan or whatever you call a group of mountain goats do not travel much.  For the most part they stay in this part of the canyon.  I do not have a long history with these goats.  But the worn turn out on the highway may be a give away that others have observed them.  

It was my first adventure up the mountain to get them to pose for me.  The assumption was that getting close was not an option.  They are not your typical run of the meal, farm yard goat.  Soon I would find out how smart they are.  

I love my MP-3 backpack to see details look here.  There are a lot of options out there.  This particular backpack was designed by Moose.  He uses this stuff.  The expectations are high. 

I loaded up - Nikon D-3, Nikon 200-400 f/4.0 VR lens, TC-14E II Converter, Nikon 24-70 f/2.8 lens, my custom lens and camera first aid kit, Gitzo 2531 tripod,  Water, fruit snacks, granola bars, six each ScanDisk 8g memory cards, two walking staffs (very steep grade),  Garmin 60cs handheld unit, and my binoculars.  

The grade is very steep.  Mt route was up a small ravine as to avoid them seeing or hopefully hearing me.  Two hours of very methodical stepping up the slope was complete.  If my estimate was right I should be just behind a small ridge from a couple of the goats.  It's all a test for the photographer.  I am very conscious of their personal space.  For a couple of reasons.  One that I can return if possible.  The last few feet of the ridge climb was literally on all four.  I had set my pack aside and had the 200-400 lens on the tripod carrying it with me.  My camera was already set at a high ISO (2000) and it was in aperture priority.  It made sense to me to not shoot wide open.  I needed some depth of field depending on the distance I was from the goats.  I was ready.  Longs lens on camera.  The huffing and puffing was over.  Sounds like those made by animals nearby startled me.  I raised to my knees (kinda like praying) and saw what was my first encounter with wild mountain goats.  Remember the excitement and anxiety that you felt the first time your eyes met that special someone's eyes?  A burst of adrenaline, your blood pressure rises and tingling is felt all over?  Never a stare down.  Just a glance?

I was about eighty feet from three ewes ( I think that is the female goats name).  We were having a stare down.  Don't move!  This happens to me a lot with wildlife.  Slowly I raised my tripod/camera just in time to get the west end of three east bound ewes.  Not sure why but I yelled "get back here!"   "I just hiked up this cliff to photograph you dopes!" 

They weren't listening.  In fact they were acting like my kids.  Doing the opposite of what I ask.  

After sitting for a while and enjoying the quiet I noticed up high on the cliffs were some male goats (rams?).  Another hour at least to get close enough to shoot.  Not to be outdone by an animal in their natural habitat I moved up.  Humans are the superior "thing" right?   Eventually my efforts paid off.  But why was the male goat less weary of me?  The distance between us was part of it.  They were acting really weird.  Unlike the big fat guy crawling up the mountain.  The goat was on a literal cliff face.  Vertical.  Ninety degrees from level.  Straight up!  How he got there was a mystery to me.  He would face the cliff wall for long periods (eight to ten minutes or longer).  What the heck?  He appeared to be a trance.   A better position may provide me a  better shot and see what was going on.  Up the hill I went.  The goat was licking the rock.  What?  It must be salt or some mind numbing chemical in the rock.  Whatever it was really weird.  Risking life and limb on a cliff to lick rocks?  Must be really important to their health and to why they stay in this area.  A gold mine of chemicals if you will. I was lucky to get a couple of shots.  Barking was the only way to get his attention and get him to turn around.  It was worth the effort

It took longer to get down than it did to get up the mountain.  At the truck my legs were shaking from the down hill journey.  Muscles that I rarely use were stressed.    It was dark.  The goats were still licking and I was on my way home.  A wonderful day.