Cold Splinters

No question that a mountain goat is one of the more spectacular things you can see while hiking/camping. The only time I’ve seen one, albeit from a hefty distance, was on my first trip to ROMO in 2001. Pretty amazing creature. Despite its vernacular name, it is not a member of Capra, the genus of true goats. According to Wikipedia:

The mountain goat is an even-toed ungulate of the order Artiodactyla and the family Bovidae that includes antelopes and cattle. It belongs to the subfamily Caprinae, along with thirty-two other species including true goats, sheep, the chamois, and the musk ox. The mountain goat is the only species in the genus Oreamnos. The name Oreamnos is derived from the Greek term oros (stem ore-) “mountain” (or, alternatively, oreas “mountain nymph”) and the word amnos “lamb.”

Interesting? Maybe. (Via OhRanger)

Eric Ryback hiked the entire Appalachian Trail in 1969 when he was only 17 years old. The next summer he was the first person to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, 2500 miles from Canada to Mexico. He did it in 132 days carrying an 80 pound pack. Two years later he became the first person to complete backpacking’s “triple crown” by hiking 3,000 miles along the Continental Divide, approximating a route that now makes up the Continental Divide Trail. He wrote a book (above), had a bunch of articles written about him, tasted a little celebrity, then hung up his boots and reemerged in the 90s as a one of the nation’s most accomplished mutual fund managers. Makes sense.

A few pictures from his PCT hike can be found here.