Mountain Goat Rendezvous
I haven't really been planning my hikes out too far in advance since I've been in Montana. Normally I'll just search through a list of them during the week, and say to myself "this one looks cool" and off I go. Sacagawea Peak in the Bridger Mountain Range would be my choice for this particular outing, and it certainly didn't disappoint.
Living out of my truck has its ups and downs. One of the major ups, is being able to park at a trailhead and laying your head down at night knowing that you can wake up bright and early to be one of the first ones to hit the trail. On this particular night though, I wasn't able to get much sleep.
If you've been following my story long enough, you're well aware that I had a mouse invasion while traveling through Vermont and New Hampshire during the Autumn of 2020. I believe 9 of them made their way into my truck over a 2 to 3 week span. So I've become sort of an auditory expert, to the rather annoying sounds that they can make. I was sound asleep, when I was abruptly awakened to some scurrying on the roof of my camper top. I immediately thought to myself, here we go again. There was only one issue though, I was hearing a faint crying noise approaching closer and closer. My mind immediately went to worse case scenario "BEARS!" I jumped down from the upper portion of my living quarters and closed the topper down. The last thing I needed was a grizzly bear ripping through the fabric and dragging me out into the moon lit night air (OK a little over dramatic there.) I did however want to be safe and decided to ride the night out in the lower portion of the truck bed.
Curiosity finally got the better of me, as I lifted up on the shade on my passenger side window. To my surprise, I saw what looked to be like 8-10 mountain goats having overtaken the lot of the trail head. They scurried for scraps, knowing that the lot was full of visitors just a few hours prior. When I woke in the morning I was tired, but I noticed two weary eyed companions across the parking lot from me. I struck up a conversation and asked them if they had witnessed the madness of the night prior. One had slept through it, while his friend slept in her hammock awake the whole time.
Eventually I would meet these two beautiful souls again at the peak, where we shared some conversation and were greeted by these two mountain goats. Were they part of the gang that raided the parking lot? I'm not sure, but it made for one of those moments in life you just stop and stare in amazement. As for the scurrying on my roof that initially woke me up, I'm still not sure what it was, and to be honest I'm OK with never knowing.
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