runaway truck » rocky mountains http://queenofsubtle.com/rt a travel journal. with words. and pictures! Sun, 20 May 2012 18:58:54 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 saturday 9.16.2006 (rocky mountains) http://queenofsubtle.com/rt/denver-dalai-lama/saturday-9162006-rocky-mountains/ http://queenofsubtle.com/rt/denver-dalai-lama/saturday-9162006-rocky-mountains/#comments Fri, 22 Sep 2006 18:52:18 +0000 jenni http://queenofsubtle.com/rt/denver-dalai-lama/saturday-9162006-rocky-mountains/ Saturday morning, we drove Poontang up to Estes Park to get our hikin’ in the Rockies on. It was freezing there and we were unprepared, so we stopped at an outfitter so I could buy a fleece. There were elk everywhere, wandering around in people’s yards and everything.

We encountered a snowstorm around 8,000 feet! It was gorgeous, though the wind was ridiculous. They closed the main park road because 80mpg gusts were pushing cars off of it.


nymph lake


on the emerald lake trail, with a snowstorm in the background.


dream lake


me freezing at dream lake

We hiked a ton, til we couldn’t feel our toes anymore, and then descended from the mountains around dusk in order to see the elk rut. It was fascinating. An elk would trumpet and a whole herd of ladies would try to fend off his advances. We saw a little bit of aggressive behavior between males, but nothing major.


elk in the mood for love

We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant north of Denver on the way back to the hotel, then fell over exhausted from hiking.

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