We arrived in the rain. Of course! A visit to the Visitor Center to pick up maps and more and we were off to drive the Trail Ridge Road. For those of you who described it as being a 'must see, must go, fabulous life experience . . . you were absolutely right. For those of you who have never been on it, please add it to your bucket list and put it at the top.
The road up and over the hill is just two lanes and there is no passing. There are many pullouts and on a Saturday traffic is heavy and slow. But people are wondrously patient. Tom took most of the photos as he hopped in and out of the car while I watched for a spot to park or just drove slooooooowly while he clicked away.
In spite of the periodic rain, some of it heavy, the birds were abundant and some of them new to me. I have no idea what kind of bird this is but it is banded!
We rounded a curve and traffic had stopped! Red lights in a row. Accident? Nope, just elk crossing the road? It seems that the understood acceptable behavior is for each car to slooooowly drive by the elk alongside the road and take a photo or two and move on. No horns from the back. Just patience. The elk were very close.
The image that I like the best of the many taken is the following:
We then inched up and took the first photo in this set.
This morning finds us in Boulder at Chautauqua. We are at the base of the Flatirons and the views are spectacular. We are starting a two 1/2 day conference, one that I have gone to yearly for 8 years. My daughter, Erica, has joined us for the conference (life is very good). As I post this Tom is already out shooting what he fully expects will be a great sunrise. Expect photos from this historic location in the days to come.
By the way, we have really enjoyed the comments via email and the photos you have sent us of your own shooting to share with our photog friends!
Have a great week.