12/01/2023
PHOTO(s) OF THE WEEK: "Bighorn Sheep"
We had a neat, but potentially dangerous, experience making our way down the other side of Hailstone Butte during our September trip. As we picked our way through the mountainside, we came across a grazing herd of female bighorn sheep and their babies. We knew it best to keep our distance to not disturb them and also play safe in the back-country. Well, apparently, they were more curious of us and it wasn't long before they had us half surrounded. They seemed friendly enough, but they are wild creatures after all and things can turn in a hurry. Everything was fine for a couple of minutes, until we decided to leave them be and continue on our journey. There was a choice to make. One option was to continue straight ahead, but that meant cutting off some of the herd from the others, which would make them nervous and put ourselves in a seriously unwise position. The other option was to head up and over them, giving us some distance and out of potential harms way faster. I gave one last sweeping glance around us before heading up and caught the eye of what must have been the matriarch. She had moved directly below us, head down and eyes fixed. Uh oh, that is most definitely our sign to move along! Nothing more to see here folks! Up we trod! After a few paces up she seemed to relax and went back to her lunch. Whew! I guess the moral of the story is that there is always risk for danger in the back-country, even when you are trying to make all the right choices haha!
-Leslie
