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Mountain Goat Leap-frog Triptych

I set my alarm for 3:30 a.m in order to get to the top of Mt Evans by 5:30, hoping to get some shots of the mountain goats in good light. Pretty soon this mom and baby showed up. The baby was very frisky, and an hour later the nanny positioned herself just right and baby jumped right over her. You can just barely make out the white-capped peaks of the Rocky Mountains in the background.

From Wikipedia: “The mountain goat inhabits the Rocky Mountains and Cascade Range and other mountain regions of the Western Cordillera of North America, from Washington, Idaho and Montana through British Columbia and Alberta, into the southern Yukon and southeastern Alaska. … Mountain goats are the largest mammals found in their high-altitude habitats, which can exceed elevations of 13,000 feet (4,000 m). They sometimes descend to sea level in coastal areas although they are primarily an alpine and subalpine species. The animals usually stay above the tree line throughout the year but they will migrate seasonally to higher or lower elevations within that range. Winter migrations to low-elevation mineral licks often take them several kilometers through forested areas.”

Photo taken July 5, 2017, at the top of Mount Evans in Colorado,14,200′ elevation.