Time to Pack!

I just cannot believe how our days here have flown by. But we have managed to cram as much into each one of them as possible and we're leaving here with a ton of great memories and lots of wonderful pictures!

Today, we headed up (early) into the Rocky Mountain National Park. The road we took through the park is the highest continuous paved road in the US reaching an elevation of over 12,000 feet. We were determined to see some wildlife. I'd been here a week hearing about all of the incredible animals to see and all I'd photographed were a bunny and a TON of chipmunks. I felt like Holly Hunter's character in "Raising Arizona." But instead of a toddler, "I need me an elk." 

So, we started off on our quest. All day, every time I paused to catch my breath, (which was many, many times b/c there's like, NO OXYGEN AT ALL in Rocky Mountain National Park), I asked God to "just let me please see one elk." And I am not joking about how many times I said that. I mean the Persistent Widow had nothing on me.

Well, we went all the way to the other side of the park, stopping whenever we wanted to along the way to walk, hike, take pics, look for elk, etc. We saw many incredible views, and got a ton of great pics of various park wildlife, but alas, no elk. Finally, at the Visitor's Center Observation Window, we saw a couple of herds, but they were WAY too far off to even photograph. A kind lady from London let me borrow her binoculars and at this point, I was thrilled to see them from any distance. We were on our last leg of the ride back out of the park when we saw a few people step into a field and point up toward a mountain. Guess what? Right! An elk!! Lee and I ran across that field (surely it was NOT protected tundra that you're NOT supposed to walk on!) and headed up the rocks to try to snap a picture before the elk decided to amble off. Well, when we got to the place where he was and looked over the rise, there were 7 more! I almost started crying I was so excited. We were so close to them. The biggest ones were well over 1500 pounds and their antler racks are just regal looking. I simply cannot figure out how they can hold their heads up.

All that to say, it was a very successful day in the hunt for wildlife. I can now head home tomorrow (well, today, I guess) a happy girl. And I'm sure my four "little critters" waiting for me at home will be enough to make me teary-eyed, too!