Mount Ellinor
Date: June 6, 2014
Difficulty: 6 out of 10
Distance: 6.2 miles roundtrip
Elevation Gain: 3,200 feet
Time: 3 to 4 hours
Location: Near Hoodsport, Washington
Users Group: Hikers & Dogs Only
Permits: Northwest Forest Pass Required
Trail Conditions: Dry to Snow-Pack
Hiking With: Jim Darmiento & Macho the dog wonder.

This is a short but fairly steep hike with 360 degree views, unfortunately the summit was socked in so we stopped short and had a quick lunch. As we were putting our backpacks on and getting ready for our descent, along came a huge ass mountain goat on the trail.

Two years ago an older gentleman was killed by a mountain goat on this very mountain so this was in my head during the ascent. As we were approaching the summit, three young men was descending and they stated they saw a lot of goats and mentioned they were not afraid either. After hearing that…I was being cautious. So when my friend Jim Darmiento bellowed out the word “GOAT”, that was all I needed…I quickly grabbed my poles and jumped on the snowy slope and glissaded to a safe distance. Mr. Mountain Goat had a baby goat with him and when we looked back up the slope he was proudly staring down at us.

We finished the day at Jim’s cabin on Lake Panther where we cooled off with a nice swim and a few beers around the campfire.