What a weekend I had! Three days in Rocky Mountain National Park with unbelievably warm weather! The morning sunrise didn’t disappoint on Saturday with beautiful colors. On Sunday the sunrise was a bit of a disappointment as far as color, but the elk were out and made it worth it! The photo above is a pair of bull elk in the midst of their morning tussle. What a scene to see a meadow covered in elk and all these bulls fighting. The noise from the antlers was amazing against the peaceful quiet of a morning. These two guys were at Sheep Lakes where there is a nice parking lot to stop and watch. You know it’s a great scene when the ranger stops to say hi and then returns with his camera! 
On Saturday after enjoying a beautiful sunrise and breakfast to follow, I hiked up past the popular Bear Lake to Lake Helene in Rocky Mountain National Park. It’s not a trail for the faint hearted as it is steep in places and goes up to an elevation of about 10,600′ over 3 miles. The scene below is at Marigold Lake which was frozen over enough to walk straight across! I didn’t want to put my camera down because the scenery was stunning. The contrast of snow, mountains, and blue sky made for an unreal setting. It was also amazing because it was in the 50s and my hiking buddy was in a t-shirt. Since I did a sunrise shoot, I had to stay around for a sunset one as well. It was nice, but nothing spectacular. Below is a shot of a glowing cloud which was my favorite part of the sunset stake out. Hope you enjoy the photos and I highly recommend a hike in Rocky Mountain National Park. Until the next photo outing…
