Continuing with my journey and Mount Evans:
The Mountain Goats I found on Thursday, (July 28th). But, I had also gone up Mount Evans on Monday, the 25th. At 14,100 feet (the last turn before the top) I found about 12 Bighorn Sheep; all Ewes or Lambs, no Rams. Here is a young Ewe standing at the edge with a drop of I'd guess 1500 feet just a half step away:
Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep comprise the largest number of Bighorns. The Desert Bighorns, here in Arizona, and the California Bighorns on the West Coast are subspecies and make the total of the US population of Bighorns about 44,000. About 15,000 exist in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta and British Columbia. When I found them on Mount Evans, the Bighorn Sheep, like the Mountain Goats were shedding their coats. This is the hottest it ever gets on Mount Evans: 50 degrees, so to them this is "short-sleeve shirt" weather. The photo below gives another perspective on the terrain:
While some of the Bighorn Sheep were grazing, a young one was content to contemplate life:
On Thursday, while I was sitting on a rock photographing the Mountain Goats, I turned around and saw this Bighorn Sheep Ewe standing precariously on a rock behind me about midway down the mountain slope:
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