Encounter on Black Elk Peak

A few years back I went on a school trip to South Dakota. We visited resevations, the badlands, the black hills, but my favorite was the day we hiked Black Elk Peak. From the start of the trail we hiked over 1000 feet in elevation to the peak, which towers at over 7000 feet above sea level. Being on top of the mountain was an exhilerating experience. Surrounded by sheer drops and deep cracks in the jagged rock, I was both amazed with the beauty of the view, and frighted to venture beyond the path. As it became time to eat I decided to venture down a passage between two rock faces. To my surprise at the end of the path the was a large circular patch of green gress seemingly cut out of the mountain side, completly inaccessable from anywhere other than the passage, or so I thought. While I was eating with my friends we looked up to see a stark white mountain goat stainding just feet in front of us. We all sat there motionless, and watched as it went on to travese the verticle rock face that was its home.
While the top of the mountain was far from wilderness, the clearing I had stumbled across with my friends seemed completly untouched by man. By entering the clearing we became visitors, and luckily were able to observe one of its inhabitiants. To us it was a mesmerizing scene. I had never seen a wild goat so the sight alone was a new experience. But, it was when we watched it gracfully climb the rock face, which was no less than 100 feet, did we understand that we were truly strangers on this mountain. Over the course of an entire afternoon we had gained a little over 1000 feet in elevation, but in the course of two minutes we watched a goat climb 100. After it was over, we did not say anything about the encounter. We considered ourselves lucky, and were thankful for the experience we were able to have.