Wow another 'easy' hunt. I have yet to read a goat hunt that seemed "reasonable". They make sheep hunting seem like a Sunday stroll. Congrats on gutting it out, you earned it and enjoy the memories.
By the way, what caliber on that Kimber Montana?
As to the cave... we spent 2 nights out of camp this year sheep hunting. The first was in a cave, and semi-planned. We saw the cave from spike camp and had planned on it as a backup plan to getting back to spike. We had sleeping bags and foam pads, and it wasn't that bad. The second was after failing to make our planned water crossing in the near dark and not wanting to cross uncharted water in the full dark. We slept under tarps in puffy's and space blankets for that one, and it sort of sucked. Having the sleeping bag with you is huge, and the tarp is just a no-brainer.
Very nice. After spending a night in a snowstorm, spooning with my partner on a Kenai peninsula mountainside after we killed a goat and sliding off an 6 foot drop in the dark. A cave would be very nice to have. Nice job and nice goat!
As others have said, great write up and as the saying goes, "you don't pick an epic, it picks you." Looks like you got picked.
Congrats on the goat and you are a great writer.