Tag: Elk

Wildfires and more elk

We decided to go sightseeing today, but at a lower elevation since I had a bad headache the last two days. We took a lovely trip from Estes Park to Glen Haven then on into Ft. Collins via backroads. We wandered through a valley and crossed over a creek a number of times. It was classic Colorado backroads – mountains, ranches, hills, creeks, pines, willows, cottonwoods. Just as we got to the Cache le Poudre river (highway 14) we saw lots of smoke and then an active wildfire. Fire trucks from volunteer departments and the Forest Service passed us on the road, including a big van with Pike Hot Shots. When they bring out the Hot Shots, you know a fire is getting serious work. We pulled over and watched for quite a while. Here are some pictures and video. As usual, I apologize for not having the video in a easy format, but it is worth it.

Those itty bitty dots on the cliff top are firefighters.
The fire was only a few hundred feet from the road

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The Fire is known as the Seaman Lake Fire, and it is already partially contained according to this source: https://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/2018/09/12/seaman-fire-prompts-voluntary-evacuations-threatens-poudre-river/1280800002/

While in Loveland for lunch, we found we had a fire going flat! Walmart changed the tire, but I wasn’t willing to buy any of theirs. We ended up going to Big O Tires in Estes Park, and we get four new tires put on tomorrow. Painful price though.

After the pain there, we decided to head one more night out to RMNP for the elk. This time we decided to go to Horseshoe Park, and what a good choice it was! We first saw the young buck with his small harem of 3 we had seen in Morraine Park. Then came a much bigger buck with a large harem of 13 cows, yearlings, and calves. We watched while the big buck ran off the younger and stole his little harem. Of course there was much bugling involved. It was wonderful.

Tomorrow will be new tires, a leisurely breakfast in town, just goofing off, and a Chuckwagon dinner. Then home on Friday.

Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park

We finally got out of town! We are taking a trip to Estes Park and RMNP as an anniversary present to ourselves (40 years). We are not camping this time but instead staying at the Inn On Fall River, a first for us. It was a very, very long drive! We did eat dinner at an incredible Thai restaurant called Bai Tong in Loveland. We will definitely have to do that again. We got a two room suite that has a huge patio next to Fall River. The place is standard tourist rustic but clean and tidy. Chairs and lounges are on our private patio, plus a number of other “common” spots around the property. When we are here we have mostly just stayed on the patio. I love the sound of moving water. The pictures are from when we arrived and the next morning.

 

On Monday we took the standard RMNP drive: up the Fall River Road to the top of Trail Ridge Road, continued down the west side of the mountain, then back to town on Trail Ridge Road. It was an incredible first three miles. We saw 2 moose (an unusual sight), a herd of elk, and a herd of mule deer. I didn’t get pictures of any of those, but we made up for it later. We took a break for a bit, then we went to find the bugling elk, the primary purpose of this trip. I have seen thousands and thousands of elk, but we have never been here for the rut when they bugle. We ended up at Moraine Park, and we found this guy and his harem.

 

It wasn’t a big harem, but he took it very seriously, bugling like crazy when another buck came into range.

We also saw a number of mule deer including this guy.

I didn’t get a good picture of the harem, but he had six does with him.

Besides animals we obviously saw some gorgeous scenery. The aspen are changing colors on the hillsides, and it is glorious. I took this from the west side of Trail Ridge Road, and even with the haze it is lovely.

 

Since Monday was so successful we went to Denver today to visit their REI. It is huge, but a royal pain to get to and park since it is right downtown. We did get some new Helinox folding chairs. I found them obscenely expensive, but comfortable and very compact. They will fit in a backpack or on the bike carrier with ease. We also bought a Big Agnes air pump for our tent camping air mats. They are downfilled so you can’t just blow them up with your mouth, and we haven’t found our old pump since we moved! We still have some hope of going tent camping in Ely, MN next week though the weather is not looking good.

We came back from Denver though Boulder to Nederland to Estes Park. Much nicer scenery than I-25!

We haven’t decided what to do tomorrow, but we will probably go to Horseshoe Park to look for elk there.  We have a Chuckwagon Dinner scheduled for Thursday evening, then we head home on Friday. My poor kitty is staying with my son, and he says she isn’t terribly happy. She did come up to get petted for a few minutes, so it should improve. She just isn’t an animal that likes change or new people.