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ONE if by Land, TWO if by Sea - A Combo Summer Trip Report
- Thread starter HouCuseChickie
- Start date
Ok, I think this covers most of the photos…unless you want to see twenty pictures of the same marmot from slightly different angles.
June 30th-
It was an early start to the day…8am game = 6:45am field arrival. We were playing in Greeley, which wasn’t too far from our hotel, but early is early. We had a few early showers…nothing to stop games, but I did catch the end of a rainbow…
Beyond that, it was a pretty uneventful morning. I made a trip to King Soopers for some cinnamon rolls and brownies (among other things), but that’s really it. They played two games and we were done for the day.
Lunch was not the best choice. My trendy apple pizza was just strange…
…and it became very obvious we weren’t welcome with the group. Something similar happened earlier in the week at the place with the mini golf and go karts, but this … for whatever reason… felt more obnoxious. In both cases, the bulk of the adults clustered together like they were at the cool kid table in the high school cafeteria. I had suggested to David that we do our own thing (at the very least, it would have been faster), but this is what happens when I’m overruled. He and I had very different high school and middle school experiences growing up and he’s less triggered by being left out, so I usually notice well before him. He tried to point out that we’d sometimes have to split between tables in our last teams, but even when that was the case…we all still tried to interact as a group. This was different…like we didn’t exist. It’s a constant struggle in our different interpretations of social cues.
I hit a point where I just wanted out. It was still early in the day and it was the last day my national parks pass was good. So as soon as we finished, we were in the car and off to RMNP. Traffic was kind of crazy and I could see storms building, but I was determined to get there.
It was actually really nice once we got to the park. The elk were out in full force this day, saw a few more marmots, bighorn sheep (including a youngster in a prime spot), pika, wild turkey, coyote and what might be a beaver or muskrat. I’ll share more in a future photo dump, but here’s some for now.
I did finally get a Continental Divide pic this day…
And while no moose, more evidence of their residency in this park…
I also had a number of scenic drive pictures today, but I’ll save that for another post.
I took a lot of driving videos this day, mainly to give the feeling of driving Trail Ridge Road. I also found one I took the previous day in the burn area. Hopefully we didn’t say anything embarrassing or controversial. I do recall a Stranger Things discussion in one of them.
It was an early start to the day…8am game = 6:45am field arrival. We were playing in Greeley, which wasn’t too far from our hotel, but early is early. We had a few early showers…nothing to stop games, but I did catch the end of a rainbow…
Beyond that, it was a pretty uneventful morning. I made a trip to King Soopers for some cinnamon rolls and brownies (among other things), but that’s really it. They played two games and we were done for the day.
Lunch was not the best choice. My trendy apple pizza was just strange…
…and it became very obvious we weren’t welcome with the group. Something similar happened earlier in the week at the place with the mini golf and go karts, but this … for whatever reason… felt more obnoxious. In both cases, the bulk of the adults clustered together like they were at the cool kid table in the high school cafeteria. I had suggested to David that we do our own thing (at the very least, it would have been faster), but this is what happens when I’m overruled. He and I had very different high school and middle school experiences growing up and he’s less triggered by being left out, so I usually notice well before him. He tried to point out that we’d sometimes have to split between tables in our last teams, but even when that was the case…we all still tried to interact as a group. This was different…like we didn’t exist. It’s a constant struggle in our different interpretations of social cues.
I hit a point where I just wanted out. It was still early in the day and it was the last day my national parks pass was good. So as soon as we finished, we were in the car and off to RMNP. Traffic was kind of crazy and I could see storms building, but I was determined to get there.
It was actually really nice once we got to the park. The elk were out in full force this day, saw a few more marmots, bighorn sheep (including a youngster in a prime spot), pika, wild turkey, coyote and what might be a beaver or muskrat. I’ll share more in a future photo dump, but here’s some for now.
I did finally get a Continental Divide pic this day…
And while no moose, more evidence of their residency in this park…
I also had a number of scenic drive pictures today, but I’ll save that for another post.
I took a lot of driving videos this day, mainly to give the feeling of driving Trail Ridge Road. I also found one I took the previous day in the burn area. Hopefully we didn’t say anything embarrassing or controversial. I do recall a Stranger Things discussion in one of them.
I also took some scenic pics of the driving from my phone…
This visit, we turned around on the western side and headed back through the park. While we still had plenty of daylight, it was early evening as we were exiting the park. This is usually a great time to see animals. I couldn’t get any pictures, but we ended up in the middle of a big elk herd near the Beaver Meadows entrance. While I was navigating, Sam spotted 5-6 wild turkeys. I looked up to see them…looked the wrong way…and spotted a coyote quickly trotting towards us. So it was a nice treat as we were saying our farewells to the park.
Once outside, we stopped for gas and a little bathroom break. That’s when I got this treat!
If you’ve seen my previous parks trips, you may recall that magpies are one of my favorites. We saw quite a few this trip, and I’d announce each one with a quick “Magpie!” They aren’t rare birds or anything like that. I just like them. So it was nice to have this little visitor on our way out of RMNP.
This visit, we turned around on the western side and headed back through the park. While we still had plenty of daylight, it was early evening as we were exiting the park. This is usually a great time to see animals. I couldn’t get any pictures, but we ended up in the middle of a big elk herd near the Beaver Meadows entrance. While I was navigating, Sam spotted 5-6 wild turkeys. I looked up to see them…looked the wrong way…and spotted a coyote quickly trotting towards us. So it was a nice treat as we were saying our farewells to the park.
Once outside, we stopped for gas and a little bathroom break. That’s when I got this treat!
If you’ve seen my previous parks trips, you may recall that magpies are one of my favorites. We saw quite a few this trip, and I’d announce each one with a quick “Magpie!” They aren’t rare birds or anything like that. I just like them. So it was nice to have this little visitor on our way out of RMNP.
We got into a big discussion on where to eat dinner. It was still a smidge early and none of us were ready for dinner, but we’d have to move fast if we wanted to make it to the Loveland area for dinner. Kendall was ticked off because she wanted a treat like taffy or ice cream, but we just didn’t have time. We said we’d try to get back to Estes Park one more time, but no promises.
When we did get back to Loveland, we had a tough time deciding on food. We settled on a Cajun place, even though it’s something we’d normally reserve for home. It at least looked neat and they had the right hot sauce.
The drinks were really good, the food was just ok, and the beignets were inedible. They weren’t fully cooked and had a toxic chemical taste to them.
Over the course of the meal, we also sang the praises of this little card and all of the amazing things we got to see with it over the course of the year.
Then it was back to the hotel for the night.
When we did get back to Loveland, we had a tough time deciding on food. We settled on a Cajun place, even though it’s something we’d normally reserve for home. It at least looked neat and they had the right hot sauce.
The drinks were really good, the food was just ok, and the beignets were inedible. They weren’t fully cooked and had a toxic chemical taste to them.
Over the course of the meal, we also sang the praises of this little card and all of the amazing things we got to see with it over the course of the year.
Then it was back to the hotel for the night.
erstwo
Well-Known Member
I love all of your wildlife photos! I meant to post yesterday how much I liked them, but glad I waited because that first sheep picture you posted today is just beautiful!
We are so lucky to have such an amazing National Parks System in the US. Every time I visit one, I'm reminded of how vast, beautiful, & varied our country is and how small I am in the scheme of things. I think it's important to be reminded of both of those things every once in a while! Your photos capture that beautifully.
We are so lucky to have such an amazing National Parks System in the US. Every time I visit one, I'm reminded of how vast, beautiful, & varied our country is and how small I am in the scheme of things. I think it's important to be reminded of both of those things every once in a while! Your photos capture that beautifully.
Thank you! That’s one of about twenty of that sheep, so I’ll be sharing a few more as well as a little bit of backstory on some of the sequences (including that one). It was a great day for wildlife! It’s definitely my favorite kind of photography.
We once had a guide/ranger in Yellowstone who really put it into perspective for me. I can’t quote her exactly, but it was something about how these parks remind us that “we’re all just critters” in a big world. Each park is awe inspiring yet humbling in its own unique way. I’m hoping we can add a few new one to our list next summer, but we’ll have to wait and see.
I’m going to do this photo dump a bit differently. I’m no expert, but just sharing the little things that keep me taking pictures of the same subjects. First up, we’ve got this marmot. He’s not really doing anything remarkable, but by giving it a little extra time…I go from face in the grass to flowers in the mouth…then thinking about the next bite and a little bit of grass. Ok…I messed up the order but you get the idea. It’s just subtle little things. Ok, they are ridiculously cute, which also helps!
Next up is that highly photogenic juvenile sheep. We found him in a spot where we saw a whole herd back in 2019. It was sheer luck that we saw him. He appeared while we were standing there and was gone a minute later. I took 15 pictures of him. I won’t share all 15, because he stood there like a little statue for much of it. It wasn’t until I reviewed them more closely that I saw a difference. Not to be gross, but he seems to be urinating ever so lightly. It just made me laugh that something so natural (differences in droplets) is what separates each of these nearly identical pictures. So, here’s 10 of the 15!
It just made me laugh that something so natural (differences in droplets) is what separates each of these nearly identical pictures. So, here’s 10 of the 15!
Next up is the pika. We had seen them in this spot in 2019, but none were out the previous day. Today was a much better day, but man…these little guys are FAST! It’s part luck just getting one in the frame with all of the scurrying about. They also camouflage well. I had people standing next to me who had no idea what I was photographing, because they didn’t see them. Obviously, some of these pics are awful, but just an idea of how many pics it can sometimes take to get one decent one of a fast moving little guy.
I think you know we love marmots. We found some more in this other area…and when we find multiple frolicking together… we like to call it a marmotzvah Not quite as many as previous visits, but love seeing them cluster together.
Not quite as many as previous visits, but love seeing them cluster together.
So, I insisted we stop for pics at the continental divide. There were some big bull elk there that captured everyone’s attention, but just as I’m locking in a shot, David Mr 20/20 vision spots a bunch of mature bighorn sheep. These guys were pretty far up there, but they were still pretty visible. So I got a pretty cruddy bull elk pic, but not bad sheep pics. I also shared with those around me…who greatly appreciated the information.
So the last animal to get a lot of attention from us is a bit of a mystery. We made one last attempt to see moose on that coyote trail area. Lots of fresh droppings and that track I previously shared, but no moose sightings. I was photographing this elk cow waaaay off in the distance when Sam frantically called me over to see something swimming in the river. I should have switched to video, but I didn’t want to miss him altogether.
I ruled out river otter pretty quickly. We periodically see them here and they are much more slender. They also swim differently. So that leaves beaver or muskrat. They look very similar swimming in the water and share the same territory. The odds are much better of seeing a beaver (75%) compared to a muskrat (about 25%), but the tail looks more like muskrat. Then again, I’ve seen some out of water pics that show an obvious ridge going down the center of the beaver’s tail. It’s hard to tell in the water. I think we saw a muskrat. My dad thinks it was a beaver. The odds favor it being a beaver, but the visuals point to the less common animal imo. On one hand, it’s cool to see a less common animal…but I’ve never seen a beaver! It’s like a guy I was talking to the day before…they had spotted a bobcat. We’d both seen bobcats before, but it’s different in the middle of a national park where it’s uncommon.
Sooooo…you decide…beaver or muskrat? (I have more pictures, but nothing any clearer)
I ruled out river otter pretty quickly. We periodically see them here and they are much more slender. They also swim differently. So that leaves beaver or muskrat. They look very similar swimming in the water and share the same territory. The odds are much better of seeing a beaver (75%) compared to a muskrat (about 25%), but the tail looks more like muskrat. Then again, I’ve seen some out of water pics that show an obvious ridge going down the center of the beaver’s tail. It’s hard to tell in the water. I think we saw a muskrat. My dad thinks it was a beaver. The odds favor it being a beaver, but the visuals point to the less common animal imo. On one hand, it’s cool to see a less common animal…but I’ve never seen a beaver! It’s like a guy I was talking to the day before…they had spotted a bobcat. We’d both seen bobcats before, but it’s different in the middle of a national park where it’s uncommon.
Sooooo…you decide…beaver or muskrat? (I have more pictures, but nothing any clearer)
This is all that seems to be left from that park day…
Some fuzzy bulls I tried to get while we were moving, I peak way off in the distance that became a close up because I had on the big lens, and a cow from the elk jam on the way out that was dark and fuzzy because it was taken through the car windows.
Whew!
Some fuzzy bulls I tried to get while we were moving, I peak way off in the distance that became a close up because I had on the big lens, and a cow from the elk jam on the way out that was dark and fuzzy because it was taken through the car windows.
Whew!
ajrwdwgirl
Premium Member
I think muskrat, based on the more pointed face and the ear shape.
