I decided to hike up Mt Ellinor over the weekend. The views from the top was surreal - seeing the mist and cloud below us! I also witnessed some mountain goats, which are not typical in this region. Passing the goats on the trail was interesting. They are pretty strong, and you don’t want to accidentally aggravate a mountain goat next to their young ones!
I talked to a few folks on the trail who looked like they were working about the mountain goats. Apparently, the mountain goats are native to the cascades and someone introduced them to the Mt Ellinor region to raise them for food. Now, there are thousands of goats in the region. Volunteers now are trying to safely take them back to the cascades, because this region lacks salts that the goats need (if you haven’t seen it, search for mountain goats licking rocks for salt - it’s fascinating!). Kudos to the volunteers! :)
