Mountain Guide

A 2018 backpacking trip to revisit the Sunlight Basin above Vallecito Creek in the heart of the Weminuche Wilderness afforded many expected photographic opportunities, but this one took us completely by surprise.

Oreamnos americanus

A day and a half of back-packing brought us into the upper Sunlight Basin. After spending an entire day photographing the Sunlight Lakes, Jagged Mountain and many other summits we had ascended over the years, the following day we charted a route up Peak Ten, a summit dwarfed by the higher and more impressive Jagged Mtn. The peak proved to be a challenge that led us into some exposed third and fourth-class scrambling and wishing at times we had brought a rope for some protection. Finally reaching the airy summit, we spent some time absorbing the immense mountain view, then started back down. Only perhaps one hundred feet away from the summit, we paused to study our descent route when suddenly, from below, this large, lone mountain goat appeared. Showing no fear of us, the goat easily climbed up toward us, then spent several minutes circumnavigating around us, inspecting us intently. We only had one camera with us at the time and took multiple shots, but this one really stood out. As we headed down, the goat followed closely behind for a while, leaving us feeling that it just wanted to be sure we knew how to get safely off his/her mountain. We felt as though this unexpected guest had been sent to be our “mountain guide.”