Hikers Beware! Ornery Goat on Mount Rose.

Cute but wild


Mount Rose is my favorite mountain in the Olympics, it's also not far from Shelton.  The Mount Rose trail starts at Lake Cushman.  Last week a hiker reported that a mountain goat chased him down the trail for one mile.   I've never seen a goat on Mount Rose, I always see them on Ellinor.   I am convinced that one day a goat will butt someone right of the summit of Ellinor.  I love the goats, but I fear them too.  People should  give mountain goats a wide berth, they are wild animals and they have really sharp horns!  No one has recently been hurt on Mount Rose or Mount Ellinor but a goat killed a hiker on  hurricane ridge last year and in 1999 a goat gored a hiker on Mount Ellinor.




Goat on Mount Jupiter, this is the way I like to see goats in
the Olympics.  These were on a distant peak, so I was safe but
and I had a great view of the goats during my lunch break

 So... be careful out there, give goats the right of way, it is their home that you are invading.  If a goat decides it wants to take up all of the trail, by all means get off the trail and walk around the goat!  (I prefer being uphill of the goats) One other tip that I can give you is to bring trekking poles with you.  Goats (and bears) will usually clear off if you clank your trekking poles together.  But only do this as a last resort.

The hiker posted a picture of the goat he had trouble with here:
http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20110617/NEWS/306179980/0/NEWS/another-mountain-goat-threatens-in-the-olympic-last-years-death



The ferocious domesticated Nubian is safe to pet, but she deserves your  respect too!



These beautiful black bears gave me the space I needed after I clanked my trekking poles together. 
This was taken with a 12X zoom from about 300 feet way.