Wildlife may hide as they see you coming, and then, when you pass, slip back out to the beach or riverside to continue feeding or watering. In the summer bighorn sheep, mountain goats, caribou, and other species can often be seen high on hillsides along rivers. There, in the high places, they find food, cover, and windy places that keep the bugs at bay. Beavers and otters can sometimes be seen not on the riverbank but right in the water. Learn the signs.
Tracks are an animal's signature on the landscape.
Riverbanks, because of the wet mud and sand, are a great place to search for tracks. Bring along a good track guide. Mounds of vegetation piled among rocks in the high country could be signs of pikas. Husks below a ponderosa pine could be evidence of red squirrels. Diggings on a hillside could be from a bear searching for food.