In May 2005, Rachelle and I took a vacation to Colorado. After our slight detour into Utah to visit Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, we returned to Colorado and drove the scenic Rim Rock Drive through Colorado National Monument before continuing on our way east. We planned to spend the next couple of days at Rocky Mountain National Park before heading home.
The obligatory photo of the park sign.
Kawuneeche Valley
Because Trail Ridge Road was closed for the winter, we couldn’t drive all the way through the park. So, on our way back east, we decided to visit the western section of the park before continuing on to Estes Park and the eastern portion of the park. We planned to drive as far up the road as we could, looking for wildlife and taking in the scenery along the way. I had heard before our trip that the park’s moose were to be found in this area of the park. First, we stopped at the Kawuneeche Visitor Center, where a ranger told us where several moose had been spotted recently. The ranger also showed us photos of the road crews that were working on clearing the snow off of Trail Ridge Road. With its highest elevation at 12,183 feet, Trail Ridge Road is the highest continuous paved road in the United States.
To our delight just after we had left the visitor center, we passed a clearing on our right with two moose grazing not far from the road. The second moose is at the left edge of the photo, just inside the woods.
This one just seemed to go about his business grazing. Our presence didn’t seem to alarm him.
Moose are certainly a strange looking animal.
Uh-oh! I think we’ve been spotted.
