Fall, Bugling, and Silly Questions

Last weekend Rob and I drove to Rocky Mt. National Park to see the leaves and hear the elk. It was a wonderful day, nicely timed to see the beginning of the leaves changing. Even the drive up the canyon was prettier than I remembered.

In the park we enjoyed the expected clumps of tourists gawking at some elk standing near the side of the road. There was one woman in particular who was not shy or quiet with her wildlife comments - about and to the animals! A few days later I saw a bit on the local news with an interview of a park ranger. This ranger said he'd been overwhelmed with the silly nature of some of the questions tourists would ask. "How old are the deer when they turn into elk?" Or similarly, "At what elevation do deer become elk?" While there might not be any stupid questions, I still think there are definitely silly ones!

And yes, there were many elk. While I had been into the park several times before, this was the first time that I'd heard the elk bugle! It was amazing to sit watching a bull with his cows and hear him call to another bull out of sight and hear that bull call back.

The last thing we did was hike to Cub Lake. I had done this hike with my dad about 10 years ago and have wanted to go back from the moment we left. It was a short hike, still longer than I remembered, and well worth the effort to reach the lake again!