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We often take the "long way" to our house in Estes Park. That is, we drive up Fall River Rd, through the park and then down the Beaver Meadows entrance. We were hoping to find a big horn sheep, but we saw LOTS of elk instead. It started out with a herd of 11 by the Stanley Hotel, then a couple of frisky bulls and their baby sitter. We watched them spar for over 20 minutes and they were so playful. By the time we got to Sheep Lakes and Horseshoe Park, the light was magical and then we saw over 40 bull elk grazing. Over 60 bull elk in one evening! What a way to "come home."                Pop goes the weasel! Andy tracked this weasel over to a big boulder in Rocky Mountain National Park. As he stood wondering where it went, out it popped from under the rock. Then it would go back under and pop out from one side and then the other -- repeating the processing again and again. Unfortunately, it got tired of the game before Andy did. What a cutie!     Andy has been seeing a lot of mountain lion tracks lately. Most have been way up on Deer Ridge, though, so we didn't think there were any near our house. Then, on a snowy evening, we saw the evidence. It walked right down the road behind our house. The next day Andy tracked it for about 9 miles all over the hills on Deer Ridge. On Saturday we checked the trail camera and there it was! Too bad for the 5 second delay on the camera, but you still get to see it. It also left a souvenir near our car (under the deck) -- a deer leg. We moved the leg so that whoever comes to feed on it will be photographed by the trail camera. Stay tuned...     We woke up to 3.5" of snow in Estes this morning and it now feels like winter. We've been working on our annual holiday letter and marveled that we hadn't seen any bobcats this year. Then Andy went for his run. A short time later, he came home and told me to "get my long lens." Yeah! A bobcat was in the rocks not far away. This is the same spot where we saw the mother and her two cubs about a year and a half ago. This cat was on the move, though. What a wonderful sight. Happy Solstice!     |