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. 😉

A bit later than normal but I was finally able to get to Mount Evans this past weekend. It is absolutely one of my favorite places with a stunning landscape and awesome wildlife. The highlight is usually these high-altitude denizens and especially their little ones. The mountain goats are quite entertaining, fun to watch and one of the best wildlife photo ops you could hope for. Here, not long after sunrise, a batch of them works their way up the mountain. The lead goat was mama followed by two kids and then a yearling and a smaller adult.

Taken in the middle of June last year, the snow at 14,000 feet was quickly melting away with only a few patches left on Mount Evans. This mountain goat seemed pretty darned happy to have found a spot to cool down on. 😉 

We’ve been so crazy dry in recent weeks here along the Colorado Front Range that I think I might do the same if we manage to get any snow in these waning weeks of the season.

Aww! This poor little one was being left behind by the herd and it was not happy about it.

The mountain goats were working their way up the mountain as they usually do in the mornings, providing some cool photo ops as they walked by me. One little one though was not so sure about the climb. It hopped on top of some rocks and began bleating loudly, beckoning its mom to come back. Its call didn’t fall on deaf ears and mom turned around, came back, and coaxed the young one to keep up.

These little ones are so stinking cute and one of my favorite summertime photo subjects. Taken back on July 4th, this was one of several new kids that came out to meet the public on Mount Evans in Colorado.

They were a bit slow to appear that morning and when they did, they stayed lower on the mountain than normal. This was okay though as it meant fewer people were around than at the top and allowed for some real quality time with the herd.

This capture is a nice one that shows the environment in which these hearty creatures live, well above timberline where snow can linger throughout the year.