David and I headed to Colorado to celebrate our friend Keith's 50th birthday. After landing in Denver, we headed to Estes Park. On the way to the hotel, we saw at least 20 elk in Estes Lake. We pulled over so I could get a shot (boy do I regret not bringing my big lens!) and this is what I got. He was only about 6 feet in front of me.
and that's when I noticed I was between him, the females, and his babies! *Great placement...
Back in the car and off to The Stanley Hotel.
Keith and I went for a run in Boulder. I'm so glad we did as the colors were amazing! I'm also thankful that the amazing colors distracted Keith enough for me to almost pretend to keep up with him!
Back in Estes with friends. I'm not sure who took this iPhone shot for us, but thank you :-)
Another Elk stop on the way to the hotel:
A little macro while waiting for everyone to get ready for our hike:
Hike number one turned into more of a drive through Rocky Mountain National Park because of the threat of rain.
The next day we managed to complete a 7 mile hike. All of the following photos are from 1 day. We saw snow, sun, sleet, heat, cold. It was an amazing display of weather and scenery! Thanks, Kelley, for the next two iPhone shots!
Nymph Lake
Thank you, Glen, for taking this shot!
Thanks, Beth, for this shot!
And then it started to sleet...
and snow...
The chipmunks were so insanely friendly. I think I was in shock watching the first one climb up Keith's leg to grab an almond out of his hand! I'm still fairly confident that he is the male version of Snow White...
This one is a little closer showing the impatient chipmunk that sat on David's knee waiting to be fed!
The last day, we hiked up to Gem Lake, which ended up being about 4 miles round trip. Here are a few views along the way:
Gem Lake - this photo doesn't do it any justice!
A view of the twin owls from the road:
All in all, a fantastic trip with some wonderful people!
