After the hard pounding rain yesterday it was nice to see high clouds and some dots of blue sky peeking through. Bobby took off with the cape and some of our heavier gear in anticipation for our climb down in two days. Johnnie and I headed back up to try and find the bow and maybe another big billy. I had a second tag which was good for any goat but would only shoot a mature billy.
We climbed down to 'The Plains' and found no safe way of navigating the gorge to find my bow. It was gone and I knew it. Johnnie seemed keenly interested in helping me find it but I made the call that it had been risky enough when I did it and finding the bow was not worth the danger involved.
We climbed back up to a high peak and sat down to a light snack. I took off my boots and worked on my sore feet. After a good long break, I put my boots back on and took out my camera. As I stood up to take a few panorama shots, a group of goats had somehow snuck in below us just a few yards. Now what are the odds of having a camera in your hand at a time like this?
Video of this scene (512k)The goats ran down and crossed the plains on their way to the craggies. It was great to see so many goats close and in the distance we counted over 35 one one hill alone.
Video of goats and Johnnie remarking about them in the plains (680k) As was typical on this trip, our high clouds and sun did not last for long and the fog socked in quickly. We had to take out the rain gear when the showers started. Visibility was near zero again as we reached camp. It poured all night long again but this time winds were building to 50 mph. It was not going to be a fun night.
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