Thursday, June 6, 2019, Rocky Mountain National Park Wildlife, Estes Park, CO

What were we thinking? The alarm went off at 4:00 am so we could see a sunrise in the Rocky Mountain National Park. We had the idea we needed to arrive with the sun to properly view the wildlife. We were wrong but did not learn that until much later in the morning.

We didn't see the wildlife we hoped to see but we did catch a colorful sunrise. I really liked the red glow on the snow-capped peaks as the sun rose in the east.

The red glow only lasted about 10 minutes.

When the sun hit the trees it was such an intense yellow that reflected nicely in the still lake.

There were several early rising elk grazing in the meadow but we had already seen elk - where were the bighorn sheep?

The ranger told us, depending on many factors, the elk's antlers can grow up to 2 inches a day (the internet says 1 inch.) A video documents the growth (Click on the settings wheel and bump up the speed to 2.)

The air was so still, the lake was like a mirror.

A couple of geese were tending their brood. They wandered around the lake and through the fields keeping a close watch on the elk to make sure nobody was trampled.

I noticed that the daddy (I presume it was the daddy) never (when I was looking) took his eyes off his surroundings, watching over momma and the six goslings while they ate.

Best buds?

It was 6:45 and the sun had made it to the lake!

Geese are fierce protectors when it comes to family (search "geese attack" videos) but when they bond with "people" families, wow.

While we waited for the sheep, I noticed the ground moving. It was a bunch of Colorado ground squirrels. I was still enough to appear non-threatening so they started venturing out of their burrows.

A rather bold Magpie hopped right over to our car. Was he looking for a handout? He certainly was not shy. I was able to snap his picture from 10 or 15 feet. He's one big bird, as large as a crow but much more colorful.

There were some ducks on the pond diving for who knows what. I think they were just playing around.

Bottoms up!

My hands were numb by this time and we were ready for some breakfast. We packed up the chairs and tripod and headed for the Trailhead Restaurant at the Fall River Visitor's Center. I must have been hungry - I finished my three egg ham and cheese omelet, hash browns and an English muffin.

When we returned to Sheep Lakes, rangers explained that the bighorn sheep were not really your early morning kind of wildlife. They liked to show around 9 or 10. Just a bit disappointed, we decided to move along.

When we returned to the car, Joani panicked looking for her coffee (it had been in the cup holder between our front seats.) She finally found it in the back seat where Sam had decided it was fair game. He managed to grab it and drain it while we were gabbing with the rangers. I think I noticed Sam was a bit wired for the next few hours but I might have imagined that.

Sam loves coffee, but this is the first time he has messed with a lidded cup! (He didn't get the lid off.) He managed to drain it, but mostly onto his pillow (which he kept licking throughout the day).

We turned down Old Fall River Road (even though it said "Road Closed") and happened upon seven bull elk crossing the water. We, along with several other photographers, followed them through the picnic area, keeping a respectful distance.

It was definitely a boys club this morning.

"Hey, Dude, don't mess with me!"

Conga line?

Can you see the curl on his forehead?

Gotta scratch that itch!

The good news for the day was the Trail Ridge Road to the Alpine Visitors Center was now open. The great advantage to getting such an early start is having time for any contingency. Heading up the ridge road we quickly passed the point where we were previously stopped at Rainbow Curve Overlook. Soon we found ourselves above the tree line with snow drifts piled high on the sides of the road.

The snow-covered peaks were amazing and the cloud drama was adding to the beauty we were witnessing.

Joani was keeping tabs on our altitude with a phone app. Our journey to the Alpine Visitor's Center peaked at just over 12,200 feet above sea level.

When we reached the visitor's center we were disappointed to find it was still closed. As you can see, the doors were the only part of the building that was not covered with snow. One of the rangers went inside to find the National Park stamp for my Passport book - that was certainly going above and beyond our expectations.

We were told that it may open at noon (still several hours away), but we decide to head back down. We really wanted to see some bighorn sheep.

This is the snow still piled high next to the visitors center.

As we headed back down, we wondered if the bighorn sheep ever made an appearance. 

We were almost giddy as when we saw they were still around the lake. The ranger told us there were between 90 and 100 sheep in this herd so most of them were still high up the ridge. These intrepid youngsters made the trip down for some tasty meadow grass and some of that fine Sheep Lakes mineral-laden water.

Today, approximately 300-400 bighorn sheep live in the Rocky Mountain National Park area.

A dog (not Sam) was barking and it caused them to all look up at once.