Animals in the Park

Animals..........yep, but we'll get to them in a second. First let's see what it looks like up on Old La Veta Pass. You probably remember the ole pickup, it has been in many of the pictures over the last 8 or 9 years.


Anyway, the view from the old pass is great..........so why in the world anyone would even consider trashing it is beyond me. But, I guess it must have happened or the county wouldn't have felt the need for the sign.


Now it is time for the animals. The area around La Veta (Colorado) had only 1/3 of their average snowfall last winter and the spring and summer have been dry. Food is scarce and some of the smaller streams have dried up. We've had deer parading through the camp ground fairly regularly. They are munching on everything from the townies shrubbery to whatever grass is available in the fields.


We also have a family of four bears visiting our RV park, momma, poppa, and two cubs. There is a scarcity of natural bear food because of the dry conditions. This has made the bears bolder than normal, especially the cubs. The cubs have been parading through the campground during the early evening, during daylight and while people are out and about. They seem to get bold day by day. That may sound cute or adorable, but momma is always lurking close by and if anything should endanger her cubs she would be there in seconds. The offending dog, cat, or human might not fare so well.


The pictures of the cubs were taken while they romped within 10 feet of the door on my camper.


They eventually moved onto the next play area and pushed on this motorhome. There were some scratch marks where they had been, I am calling them claw marks!!!


The cubs finally had exhausted their allotted playtime. Momma then recovered her playful cubs and guided them back into some protective cover.....but they'll be back, they raid the bear proof dumpster several time a day. By the way, the dumpster is more human proof than bear proof. It takes momma bear half as long to get into it as it takes me.


That's my story and I am stickin' to it!!!!!!!!

Trail Ridge Road

Although this posting is about driving over Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, you have to enter through Estes Park. Estes Park is a very popular little tourist town, especially as the gateway to RMNP.

Besides RMNP, Estes Park also has the world famous Stanley Hotel. This hotel was opened in 1909 and is an absolute marvel, well, you can see that. Beyond being a wonderful tourist stop it is also a movie icon. Do you remember the movie "The Shinning", story written by Stephen King? The hotel was the center point of the movie. Click here to see more about the >>> Stanley Hotel.


Now let us proceed into Rocky Mountain National Park.....after waiting in line of course. RMNP is one of the most visited parks in the country and there is always a line to get in.


We hadn't been in long before we were in another line, waiting at a wild animal crossing. These are minotaurs, half horse, half human. If you thought minotaurs were mythical, just take a careful look around almost any national park, where they are a protected species.


Trail Ridge Road runs through the park, exiting to Grand Lake. During the drive you reach altitudes above 12,000 feet. Much of the drive is above treeline in the alpine tundra. The drive is a scenic marvel.

I have driven across Trail Ridge Road at least 20 times over the last 35 years. This is the first time that I have seen elk herds lounging alongside the road. They all had their photogenic side pointed in my direction.




Enlarge this picture and look carefully at the left most standing elk. She has on a collar. Many of the elk in the park are tagged or collared by the naturalist rangers so that they can be tracked and studied.




Here is just scenery, in its most magnificent form. A mountain landscape above treeline. There is an alpine lake just left of center. If you can't see it, then enlarge the picture by clicking on it.


Hope you enjoyed the elk, I enjoyed being there to take their pictures for you. If you would like to know more, follow this link to >>> Rocky Mountain National Park.

Steamboat Springs, Colorado

We stopped in Steamboat Springs for a few days, a ski town in the winter, but just a fun outdoors place in the summer. For those non-skiers, the green stripes running down the mountain are the ski runs.


The weather, as is typical for most of Colorado in the summer, was stupendous. Although it rained every day we where there, the storms are short and the sun returns.


We took a hike, with friends, to view the Fish Creek Falls....


which look like this from a distance....


and like this up close......


and see, we really were there!!!


We also took a ride on the Alpine Sleds. The runs drop for thousands of feet and the sleds can attain speeds in excess to 120 mph.........oppps, gross exaggeration, but it sounds much more exciting my way.


We also saw rafters.......


kayakers.......


and fly fishermen......

and the best part of seeing all these outdoor ethusiats in action was that we did it from the patio of a micro-brewery while drinking beer and eating nachos. That probably has something to do with the every increasing size of my waist.