outdoor photography

  Cow On my hike into Rocky Mountain National Park from the YMCA to Cub Lake, I had the pleasure of seeing my best looks at two Moose I've ever had (I've only seen them before in Glacier National Park, and that was an adult bull that was pretty far away). These two were a mother and calf, and the calf was frolicking in the water and in the grass near the shoreline. Both posed in the water near the shore, giving me similar looks at both (cow above, calf below). Calf Calf At one point the calf came up to mom and, well, I guess you could say "snuggled" with mom for a bit. I think my favorite photos were of the mom still in the water, looking rather protective of her son already frolicking in the grass.

While in Colorado, I took a hike from the YMCA in Estes Park to Cub Lake in Rocky Mountain National Park. The hike was one of my favorites during my stay there, with plenty of pretty mountain views, and Cub Lake was delightful. Much of the path followed a moraine, much of which was grassy and marshy. In one of the drier, grassy areas I came across a very vocal magpie, which posed nicely for me. This gave me some of my absolute favorite photos of the species.

About a month ago, I took my father to Estes Park, Colorado to visit his sister. One day we went up to the Visitor's Center on Trail Ridge Rd, which is at about 12,000 ft. Nearby we stopped along the side of the road where there were some rock outcrops; I was hoping to show my wife Pikas and Marmots. We ended up seeing both, but not at our first stop. At my first stop we were treated to my first ever Horned Lark. It's perfect habitat for them, but seeing them was not even on my radar, so it was exceptionally thrilling. Later I hiked a little trail and found two more, one of which posed nicely for photos. Horned Larks have been my nemesis bird for years. But on this day, not only did I find them, but they posed so nicely I got some of my favorite bird photos.