Elk Rut and Fall Leaves

Fall is my favorite time of the year and as a family, we take a few trips to the mountains to see the fall leaves, experience the changing weather, and see/hear the Elk Rut.

This year with a little one on the way, I'm concerned I may not get to experience as much of Fall as I want. Last weekend was early for all of the above and I'm so happy we got to experience it, but I'm hoping I get one more chance to go before this baby is born.



We had a barbeque in Rocky Mountain National Park with the girls. Ironically, it rained while we were trying to eat, so we ate in the car. As soon as we were done, it stopped raining ;) We did get to roast s'mores without getting wet, though. Moments later, we saw this rainbow.

The Elk have migrated to lower elevations. These Elk were taking advantage of the local golf course, which apparently the local police were trying to help protect. There were a ton of cars watching while a couple of the local law enforcement were attempting to run off this Elk Herd.

Ironically when we passed back through this town hours later, the Elk were still laying on the golf course and grazing :)


There were some magnificent Bulls in sight yesterday. This is one that was hanging out at the side of the road. I'm not sure where his herd was, but I'm sure not far behind. You can see he was pretty soaked in the rain.






We sat on the side of the road with MANY other families watching the herd. There was another Bull up in the trees that kept sneaking down to the herd. The Bull kept chasing him off, however, and we didn't get to see much of a confrontation.



We did get to hear some Elk calls/bugling.

This is my favorite of the bugles. This Bull was trying to keep his herd in order (the same Bull that was getting a little competition from another bull hanging out in the trees). If you watch closely, you can see the breath come out while he's bugling.