Goat Camping

Lighting the wood stove

Over the weekend I camped out for 2 nights with Brooks while bow hunting for mountain goats.  We did not come home with a goat, but as usual with bow hunting we came REALLY close and 'should have brought home a goat'.

This was the first time I have camped out when bow hunting for goats.  It has been warm on Kodiak and I was surprised at how much snow there is up on the mountains.  The first night we camped on snow, and I was a little worried I'd get cold.  The snow underfoot did cause my sleeping pad to slide all around, but I stayed warm.  The next night we did not camp on the snow and based on my watch thermometer the little Ti Goat stove got the temperature in the tent up to 101 degrees!

Mostly we just hiked around in the mountains and chased goats.  Goats like to hang out in steep places and I'm realizing that as I get older I like steep places less and less.  We visited many places where I have hiked and climbed in the past and I did not remember them as particularly scary.  This time around some of those places seemed downright death defying.  And I looked at some places where I've climbed or crossed before and thought, 'how did I do that?' and  'What was I thinking?'

I am also realizing that I am lucky to live in a place where I can just take off for a weekend and bow hunt for goats in the mountains.  Most places you have to fly somewhere else and pay someone to show you around to do what we did on our own.  Kodiak is good.  Patrick

Drying wood on the stove and relaxing

Dinner cooking on the Ti Goat wood stove

Bow hunting for goats

Down below Brooks is where the goats hang out

Goat hunting at dawn