Mim’s Missives

When we arrived at Whispering Spruce RV Park in Golden, BC early one afternoon, we were in for an unexpected surprise. There, in the area below our site, while we were getting parked, was a Bighorn Sheep, sunning himself next to a picnic table!

The setting was nice, located on a hill above Golden, with the Columbia Trench spreading north and south.

We set up camp, keeping the dogs under control but eventually the sheep disappeared down the hill. We noticed, however, on the the camp brochure, a photo of that area filled with the animals so we hoped for more sitings. A while later we went for a drive down the highway. We didn't get far when we saw a couple of them wandering in a grassy patch next to the highway. We realized there were cars pulled over, and that there was a bit of a traffic jam. Karen and I got out and tried following them down the hill but gave up the chase. We got back in the truck, pulled out on the highway, and then saw what others had seen.

We pulled off the highway into a maintenance area to watch the sheep graze, and of course pulled out the cameras.

I got to within about 15'-20' from this ram.

Suddenly the sheep were startled by something and took off.

They headed behind the fence into a gravel pit area and proceeding to butt, kick and generally cavort on the hills, as you would expect a bighorn sheep to do. Bill had a telephoto lens on the camera and got a great shot of them butting heads. Be sure to check out Karen's blog (see link above for On The Road Again). The wind was blowing and with the sun behind them, it made for high drama!

The next morning or so we awoke to find the herd grazing right outside our door.

We saw them one more time as we were leaving Golden and couldn't resist one last picture!

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