High Altitude Fighters…

… keeping fit for the autumn rut! I’ve never been so close to big males fighting before, the noise of those clashing horns! I heard them before I saw them, quite close to the Lammerenhutte at 2,500m (extra). Then they raced down a snow slope very fast (extra). The walk was stunning with residual snow pack and many flowers of course.

I’m staying at the Gemmi Lodge tonight which is at 2268m and have an altitude headache. I haven’t had one of those for a long time! Maybe it is also because the weather is changing and a thunderstorm alert has just popped up on my phone. I come up here at least once a year, always hoping to see the bearded vultures that live in the cliffs above here. No luck today, perhaps tomorrow morning. It will be stormy in the afternoon again! 

P.S. I just had a reply about the bouquetin with the GPS I saw on 6th June … « This is actually an ibex that was equipped by the Valais canton's hunting and fisheries department. GPS tracking of Valais ibexes is part of a project aimed at understanding ibexes' distribution in the region and the exchange of individuals between subpopulations. In addition, a doctoral student is currently working to understand how ibexes in this region move in response to the presence of snow and the risk of avalanches.

And the ibex you took a picture of is called Louis! » 

What shall we call these two big boys?!