Corey and I drove by where we stayed on our June vacation 2015 ,as we turned the corner onto the street we came across our first encounter with an Elk for the evening. He looked a bit bedraggled with his drapery of grass entangled in the malformation of his antler. It was without a doubt he was content to graze on his own since no others were sighted with-in visible range.
Getting beyond all the shops of downtown ,following HWY 34 just outside of town, we came upon a mountain meadow filled with groups of Elk Bulls,Cows and calves from the past season. We pulled off the road to catch glimpses between parked or passing cars of the roaming Bull Elk pictured on the left-hand of the collage,hearing for the first time up close and personal a bugling .
We were privileged to once again capture a collared Cow lazily grazing among the rest of the herd. My understanding of the purpose of the collar is to keep track of travel patterns, age and where her collaring originated.
As we approached the Rocky Mountain National Park the blinking signs notified tourists that the Park was only open to the 12 mile point due to poor visibility on the mountains. So, we didn't get to go on into the park since we would have still had to pay the entrance fee of $20 and daylight was fading fast.
On our reverse trip to Estes Park we caught two young Bulls feeding alone. A little further back towards town, we came across a different large Bull Elk ,which is featured in the middle of the collage and found in the middle of the herd on the outer right top picture. What was awesome was the echoing of bugles from so many parts of the hills and meadows in our travel path. The group just above, to our right,didn't come to my attention until I tried focusing on a far bugle.
I know that I've talked about lodging before, as in renting a room but there are several camping areas available for either campers or mixed sites including tents; as well as vacation homes and Bed&Breakfast accommodations.
By the time daylight was done we were ready to retire back to the Twin Owl Motor Lodge since our day had begun so many hours and miles ago.
We documented our stay...
Time to eat supper and prepare to head off to Goshen Hole,Wyoming. Another long day on the road.
I hope you enjoyed our pictures and blogpost for today.
Here's wishing you Have a Great Day!
