Category: Background

The elk is standing and facing me.  Taken near Woodland Park, Colorado.

So yesterday I went with a friend to Woodland Park.  She wanted to check out a consignment sporting goods store there.  The store was a bust, but it gave us a chance to get out of Colorado Springs, and to eat at one of our favorite restaurants.  Afterwards, we headed out the road to Deckers for a few miles just to look at the late winter scenery.

We took one of the side dirt roads that branch off CO 67 and go up into the Pike National Forest.  There are lots of them.  We drove to the end and stopped so I could take a few photos.  As we drove back towards 67, I yelled stop because I saw elk off in the woods.  I got out of the car and took a few more photos though the trees kept the photos from being very good.  My friend was surprised that I saw them, but as I explained, due to the number of mule deer in our valley, wildlife spotting while on the road is a survival skill.

I hadn’t seen elk in a couple of years.  They used to occasionally come into our valley from the Air Force Academy, but I rarely drive along the road at twilight these days, when one is most likely to spot them.  (Although our valley is bordered by the Pike National Forest, the sheer grades along the border tend to discourage most wildlife from coming down.) Although spotting mule deer is a daily occurrence, I always get excited when I see elk.

I got home about 6:30.  It wasn’t twilight, but it was overcast enough that I watched for elk as I drove up our valley.  I couldn’t believe it when I actually saw some.  I pulled off the road and took this snapshot.  I count ten in this photo but believe I saw at least fourteen.

Every spring our cottonwood trees bear these tassels.  Usually the wind takes them down before I get around to taking a photo.  In another couple of weeks the regular leaves will start appearing.