Rocky Mountain National Park

Before the Fort Collins workshop, I had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado. The highlight of the visit was seeing several hundred elk gathered near one of the main park roads.

Entering the park at the Beaver Meadows entrance station, I asked the ranger where I might have the best chance to see wildlife. He said other visitors had reported elk barely a mile away, licking salt off Bear Lake Road. Since I had intended to head down Bear Lake Road to get to a trailhead, I eagerly followed his advice.

Coming down a hill and rounding a bend, I immed- iately saw groups of a dozen or so elk clustered together, apparently to brace each other from the wind. About 8-10 cars were parked along the side of the road, so I joined them, leading to a half-hour in which I was able to take about 50 photographs of the elk herd. Careful not to approach too closely, I'd zoom in to shoot an individual or I'd try to capture the distant mountains with just one or two individuals in the foreground.

Once I ran through the possibilities with the herd, I got back into the car and continued to the Cub Lake trailhead. There, I bundled up against the cold and the wind, took my camera and headed out toward Cub Lake. The scenery was beautiful, albeit somewhat barren due to the season. On my entire hike on the Cub Lake trail--a location known for its wildlife--the only creature seen was a single bird.

Here I go to one of my favorite national parks in the off-season, head out into the back country for a short hike, and the only animals are right along the main road, barely a mile from the edge of the park. In any case, it was nice to see elk and also nice to get a little exercise along the Cub Lake trail.