close call

as a final fairwell to jasper, we climbed our favourite viewpoint, old fort point. uptop, a heard of bighorn sheep grazed the grassy meadow, almost unaware of our existence. 40 minutes later upon our descent we stumble upon the heard at a lower elevation. they were occupying an area that formed the shape of a bottle neck. beyond them was the long stariway to ground level - the only safe passage down. we cautiously side stepped the heard only to find another renegade further down. he looked spooked by something out of sight. suddently, without warning, not one, but two well developed males come barreling over a hill 20 feet from us. we were trapped in a 10 foot gap, backed by a steep incline stariwell and parallelled by two cliffs. there wasnt anywhere to go. last second, the sheep took a sharp turn left, one after another. they were being chased by dog. all three animals bolted out of sight leaving me breathless, bent forwards, hands on both knees. if i were struck at the speed they were running, i would have been sent into outerspace. close call..

jl