Hiker bullied by aggressive mountain goat near Lake Cushman
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LAKE CUSHMAN, Wash. -- A run-in with an aggressive mountain goat gave one hiker the scare of his life.
Jim Decker was hiking on the Olympic Peninsula near Lake Cushman on Tuesday night when he noticed he was being trailed.
"Actually, I took the picture after it had already been stalking me for a little while," he said.
Decker was on the Mount Rose Trail, which rises from the shores of Lake Cushman in Mason County. He had been hiking with his wife, but they'd become separated.
"That (goat) had been stalking him, trying to gore him, charging him for about a mile and a half on the Mount Rose Trail," said wife Cindy Decker.
Goats in the Olympic mountains have been known to turn aggressive. One confrontation turned deadly when a goat gored Robert Boardman last October. The Port Angeles man bled to death.
Jim remembered the deadly story as he became increasingly concerned about the goat on his trail.
"That went through my mind, and I was wondering where my wife was. I wasn't sure. I didn't want her to run into the goat, so I just wanted to get down the hill as quick as I could. But it seemed to follow me all the way down the hill."
As try as he might, Jim couldn't lose the goat. And soon he realized he'd have to face off with his mountain goat.
"There was one clearing where I had no cover. So I took my backpack off, pulled a knife out of my backpack and thought, 'If it's going to get me, I'm going to get it, too,'" he said.
Fortunately, he didn't have to. When other hikers showed up, the goat ran off.
But the incident left Jim shaken.
"I have swam with sharks in Mexico, and this scared me a lot more than that," he said.
After a night's sleep, Cindy could finally smile about the incident.
"I am smiling about it, but last night, I was a basket case," she said on Wednesday.
The U.S. Forest Service planned to post several warning signs to let other hikers know of the danger.
Jim Decker was hiking on the Olympic Peninsula near Lake Cushman on Tuesday night when he noticed he was being trailed.
"Actually, I took the picture after it had already been stalking me for a little while," he said.
Decker was on the Mount Rose Trail, which rises from the shores of Lake Cushman in Mason County. He had been hiking with his wife, but they'd become separated.
"That (goat) had been stalking him, trying to gore him, charging him for about a mile and a half on the Mount Rose Trail," said wife Cindy Decker.
Goats in the Olympic mountains have been known to turn aggressive. One confrontation turned deadly when a goat gored Robert Boardman last October. The Port Angeles man bled to death.
Jim remembered the deadly story as he became increasingly concerned about the goat on his trail.
"That went through my mind, and I was wondering where my wife was. I wasn't sure. I didn't want her to run into the goat, so I just wanted to get down the hill as quick as I could. But it seemed to follow me all the way down the hill."
As try as he might, Jim couldn't lose the goat. And soon he realized he'd have to face off with his mountain goat.
"There was one clearing where I had no cover. So I took my backpack off, pulled a knife out of my backpack and thought, 'If it's going to get me, I'm going to get it, too,'" he said.
Fortunately, he didn't have to. When other hikers showed up, the goat ran off.
But the incident left Jim shaken.
"I have swam with sharks in Mexico, and this scared me a lot more than that," he said.
After a night's sleep, Cindy could finally smile about the incident.
"I am smiling about it, but last night, I was a basket case," she said on Wednesday.
The U.S. Forest Service planned to post several warning signs to let other hikers know of the danger.
