Rocky Mountain National Park 2008

We visited Rocky Mountain National Park for a few days last fall and liked it so much we made reservations for a full week this year. The park is located just outside Estes Park Colorado at an elevation of about 8,500 feet. Fall is a favorite time of year there because of the turning color in the aspens and because it is rut season for the elk. We were a little early for the color but the elk were magnificent.

Our camp site in Moraine Campground overlooked one of the large meadows where the elk gather for their annual mating ritual. We could watch them from the site or go down to the meadow for a closer look. One morning we were awakened by bugles close by and found a herd right outside our window.

There were several dominate bulls, each with a harem of females, plus a lot of younger or smaller bulls waiting for their chance. The typical larger bull is a "six by six", meaning that he has six points on each side of his rack.

Occasionally there is a fight for dominance between bulls but they are usually short and end with no serious injuries. The females seem to have a "boys will be boys"attitude and pretty much ignore the whole thing.

We had a little adventure while there, taking the nine mile Old Fall River Road
up to Fall River Pass at 11796' elevation. This is the original park
road over the pass, completed in 1932. It is unpaved, narrow and
winding, but not too difficult. As it turned out the most harrowing part of the drive was the 25 mile return to camp on the highway. We had neglected to watch our fuel level and were running on fumes. Fortunately it was down hill all the way so gravity brought us home safely.