Most people who own RVs also enjoy getting outside to sample the natural pleasures of our bountiful planet. I’m not talking about the pleasures of ice cream, barbecue, and cold pale ale. I’m talking about activities like kayaking, surfing, biking, and hiking. These endeavors go hand-and-hand with camping.
Personally, I enjoy a nice hike – especially on sunny, low humidity days in the great American Rocky Mountains. There’s no better way to clear one’s head while stretching one’s legs. Of course, rocky mountain goats also enjoy hiking. In fact, although they are rarely seen surfing, goats hike on a daily basis. This brings us to today’s video, one of my favorite episodes of our long, long honeymoon. This video contains … the unexpected.
We shot this footage along a jaw-dropping hike through the upper stratosphere of Montana’s Glacier National Park. I’ve said before that if this incident had involved a bear, my memories of it may not be so fond. But it doesn’t involve a mama grizz; it stars a mountain goat. You can’t really plan this sort of thing. Life just happens, and here it unfolds on camera.
In case I’ve offended any mountain goats out there, it should be stated that the goat in question was an amiable, good natured fellow. He didn’t really “attack” anyone, although I’m quite sure he thought about having my camera for lunch. (Thankfully, most goats are still eating old-fashioned standard-definition cameras; HD is an acquired taste.)
Amazing video with the mountain goat!
Thanks Mary! As a hiker, I was startled. As a filmmaker, I was thrilled.
You have a cool website yourself. I read your stories of Costa Rica with interest. You might be interested to know that we have small scorpions in Alabama. I killed one tonight that had crawled into our shower!
That is some incredible video. For a wild animal like that to come so close it would seem as if it either had to be too old or too sick to care about the fact you all were there. By it’s appearance though it looks quite healthy. Pretty amazing encounter.
Keep up the great videos!!! You are living the life big guy!
Thanks Mark… Glad someone out there is enjoying these videos! A filmmakers’ work is never done… It’s quite a creative challenge, so it’s nice to receive positive feedback.
Glacier is one of the best national parks in terms of not only scenery, but wildlife. One day Kristy and I enjoyed three separate bear sightings (totaling about eight bears). (We “enjoyed” seeing these bears because they were at a safe distance!)
I thought our mountain goat friend might go for my camera, but thankfully he strolled on past.
OMG! That was one of the most amazing videos you’ve ever posted. I was laughing about how, at first, you seemed okay with the goat walking between the two of you… but then Kristy decided to … uh… protect you.
Also, how are you getting those shots of the two of you? Yeah, I get that you’re setting the camera down (or using a tripod), but it seemed like a couple of the shots involved some zooming. How’d you do that?
Keep ’em coming, Sean.
Ha! Harry, yes it was a strange moment… I wasn’t really sure what to do, but I knew we didn’t want to startle or provoke the goat (after all, he’s the one with the horns). As it turns out, he was a polite fellow; I think he was out on his own afternoon hike. 🙂
With regard to the camera, yes I typically position it in whatever location seems best. If there are trees handy, it might go in a tree. In this case, it was on the ground. It’s kind of like what Les Stroud does on Discovery Channel’s Survivorman series. The zoom effect was added in post, in order to better view the approaching goat.
Anyway, glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for letting me know!