Seven Point "Royal" Elk in Estes Park - in back of our motel!
A Colorado AAA
A friend of mine likes to take what she calls 'AAAs' - Altitude Attitude Adjustments - which is a trip through the high country of Colorado. This weekend, I grabbed my camera and we were off for fall color, and 'shooting' elk.
I don't think we've ever had an AAA as amazing as the one we took this weekend to the Rocky Mountain National Park. We left Woodland Park Friday morning, then spent the day photographing aspens and elk. We stayed in Estes Park Friday night, then Saturday morning, drove back through the park and over the Continental Divide, (where if you pee on one side, and I pee on the other, yours goes to the Atlantic, and mine goes to the Pacific!), then down through Grand Lake. We arrived home on Saturday night, then left Sunday morning for Cottonwood Lake in Chaffee County.
The Majestic Rocky Mountain Elk
In the evenings during the fall, the elk gather in the meadows of the Rocky Mountain National Park. I've seen elk before (even in my own yard), but never like what we enjoyed this weekend. We spent several hours at one meadow, which gave us a unique opportunity to learn something about what we were seeing. This is what we learned:
The bull elk gather to themselves as many cows as they can possibly pull together (their 'harems'), and then spend the rest of
the evening keeping them all together in one place, so as to avoid other bulls 'stealing' them away. He constantly runs back and forth bringing the strays back , and 'bugling' (a loud and very unique sound), to prove he is worthy of them, and to entice them to stay. All the while, the neighboring bull is bugling to show the cows how very special he is, and encourage them to come over to him.
The cows decide which bull they like, looking for the biggest rack, ( now there's a switch, huh?), the strongest, and the best bugler. If the guy she's with doesn't cut it, she's off to one who will! The bull she's with tries everything he can to keep her, but if he drops his guard, she's out of there. And you can bet the other guy is waiting to bring her in.
The cows that are happy with where they are, are lazily eating, resting, or nursing their youngsters. 
Meanwhile, the bull, breathing heavily, and never stopping to rest or lay down, was closing in on utter exhaustion. Eventually, he had to rest. He laid down, and took a nap. 
When he did, the guy next door jumped at his chance! 
One by one, the bull with a harem next door stole 12 of his cows.
The two racing across the meadow is the thief with one of his prizes.
Our old boy was too tired to do anything about it.
We reluctantly left the park, as it was getting dark and cold. What a terrific experience, and an amazing photo opportunity!
Coming next, aspens in their fall splendor.
All Photos taken by Debi Boucher, all rights reserved and may not be reproduced without express written permission. Prudential Professional REALTORS, ASP REALTOR, Woodland Park Real Estate, Woodland Park Colorado 80863 – Serving the City of Woodland Park, Teller County, Ute Pass, and Park County since 1997.
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