Rocky Mtn Nat'l Park, CO - Sep 2007

While staying at Stillwater Campground, we took a day trip over to Rocky Mountain National Park. The view from the highest point (at 12,183' near the appropriately named Alpine Visitor's Center) was pretty spectacular. We were there on a partially cloudy day, so my pics didn't turn out all that great.

Even at 12,000' we got stuck in a traffic jam. Actually, that was not unusual since there is only one paved road over the top of the mountains -- it's called the Trail Ridge Road and is quite famous. Unfortunately, it is pretty much under repair for the few months of the year when the road is not under snow. The day we visited was no different and we waited about 30 minutes to get through the one lane bottleneck.

After descending the other side of the mountain, we drove over to check out the campgrounds. On our way, we encountered another traffic jam -- this time a fun one. A herd of elk were crossing the highway and, of course, a large group of tourists (including us) were stopped to ogle.

This big guy was a traffic cop of sorts. He walked out to the middle of the road and stopped while his harem crossed the road. When all were safely across, he then followed them into the field and they all went on their way.

The huge meadow near the campground offered up several small herds of elk -- each with a singleton bull and about a dozen does. It was the beginning of the rutting season and the bulls were strutting about, displaying their impressive antlers and giving out their best bugle calls.