A couple of days ago I posted pics of an amazing flying pika. Here, the more common flying mountain goat kid is seen testing out its flight capability. 😉

On this day, as the goats worked their way up the mountain, the kids were very rambunctious, running around and playing as the adults lazily grazed. Here, after cresting one part of the mountain to meet the road, a kid seems quite proud of its climb and bounds around, catching some air.

A mountain goat kid shows off for the camera this past weekend on Mount Evans. In fact, it was preparing to pounce on top its buddy’s head and when it did, it knocked both of them off the rock. Watching the kids play ‘king of the mountain’ is so danged much fun and I can never get enough of it. This particular kid was actually a good bit smaller than the others indicating it was a bit of a late arrival for the season. All were of course crazy cute!

This mama and her likely offspring from last year were hanging out apart from the rest of the herd near the top of Mount Evans. While the younger one was mostly intent on feeding, mom was quite content and spent a lot of time just staring off into the morning sun. Junior joined her at one point, giving me this capture. Remnants of her winter coat were blowing in the cold wind, sometimes obscuring her face, but I managed at least one clear shot of the two of them.

Finally! Yesterday I finally had the first opportunity of the season to head up Mount Evans and was rewarded with some cool critters and scenes. Among them was this gorgeous nanny and her kid. My wife and I saw quite a few little ones but I kind of liked this capture the best as the pair perched high above the remains of the Crest House restaurant.

A very interesting scene near the top of the 14,265 foot high mountain. Temps were barely above freezing and the wind was howling more than I have ever seen up there – literally made me stumble as I walked. There is a lot more snow left than what we normally see this time of year as well, no doubt owing to the last couple of months which have been colder than normal slowing the snowmelt.

With bone-chilling cold and snow yesterday, my mind couldn’t help but wander to warmer days and summertime critters. Of course the temperature at 14,000+ feet is never really all that warm but it does allow for visits with these fun little ones.

This image, taken last July, is a cute, fun shot of one of the mountain goat kids as it paused briefly while bounding around the boulders on Mount Evans in Colorado. It almost seemed to purposefully pose for me. It will be another few months before conditions allow a visit but I am very much looking forward to it.

It doesn’t take these cuties long to get their legs about them and become mountain climbing pros. Almost immediately after birth, they are expected to keep up with mom, no matter where she goes.

After a few weeks, they begin to really get active, bounding around the mountain and the boulders like pros. That makes for a ton of fun to see, particularly when there is more than one and they play chase. Such was the case here as this little kid was in hot pursuit of its friend. 

The goats didn’t want to play this past Sunday during my visit to the top of Mount Evans. Only four appeared and even then, they didn’t stick around long.

Thankfully this beautiful one gave me some nice shots as it worked its way around the mountain and out of view. It paused, briefly, on this sheer rock face, seeming to look down below and the much smaller peaks to the east and Denver beyond.

I think it represents nicely the harsh, steep, high-altitude terrain that these cool creatures call home.

Oh to have long locks of hair billowing in the wind like that! The human Fabio has nothing on this guy.  😉 

These guys are always a highlight of the summer months here in Colorado. Not only are they tons of fun to photograph, but getting to them means heading to 14,000 feet and a much-needed break from the heat at lower elevations.

Mountain goats are actually not native to the Centennial State. They were brought here over six transplant operations from 1948 to 1972 as game animals and as tourist attractions.  Those 50 or so Mountain Goats grew to numbers in the thousands today.

No one likes to be constantly watched and that apparently extends to mountain goats as well. Colorado Parks and Wildlife (I presume) setup a number of trail cameras on top of Mount Evans, I assume to monitor the mountain goats.

Well, this one did not appreciate being constantly spied on and beat up one of the cameras pretty good. In truth, it was more just using it as a scratching post but the camera definitely got knocked around pretty good. 😉