Nice photos, and a bonus memory for your hike.
However...
Those are sheep, part of a well-known group. I have hundreds of pics and hours of vids of them. They had a good crop of youngsters this year, at least five of which I've IDed for sure.
For the ID purposes, this is a deer at the ski hut:
And these are photos of some of the members of the 'horn herd you saw:
Male and female:
Three widdle wamb chops:
Frisky little fellow:
Don't spook 'em, and they'll stick around for further enjoyment.
Thanks for the clarification rock. I couldn't see horns on any of them so I rejected the sheep hypothesis in favor of the alternative. Makes the sighting even better.
Rico, that was terrific for you to see the dinksters out exploring en masse.
Look at the little guy in your first picture, peering out from semi-concealment at the left of the tree. When you see them in that state, with the others browsing or grazing nonchalantly, they are alert but not alarmed. They are easy to engage in playful interaction , if you don't press them. (but we don't want them *too* habituated to hoo-mans...)