Mountain Goat, Colorado

Photograph by Morgan Estill

On a weekend trip to Westcliffe, Colorado , we drove to the peak of a mountain, got off and hiked the rest of the way. After a few minutes of taking photos, I turned around to see an old, wise buck walking right up to us, stopping maybe ten feet from us. It seemed as though he was just happy to have some company. He watched me set up my tripod for some landscape shots and followed me around like a dog for a good half hour and even appeared to pose for me when I took photos of him. I shot this at 24mm on a full frame digital camera that's how close he was. It was an experience of a lifetime.

(This photo and caption were submitted to the 2012 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest.)

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