A Mountain Day

Brainard Lake & Indian Peaks with shadows
Last week, when our painting workshop was at Brainard Lake, we saw lots of sign that moose were in the area, so I resolved to come back to see them early one morning.  Today, the last day of my vacation, we did just that, rising in the wee dark hours of morning, driving through the slow rising light in the eastern sky and arriving at Brainard Lake minutes after sunrise.  It's a time of long shadows and crisp mountain breezes that make one grateful for a warm jacket.  It's also the time when the moose are out and about.    

Bull Moose
Right away, we spotted a large bull, his antlers still red from having just lost his velvet, probably within just a few hours prior.

Bull Moose
What magnificent creatures ~ with just a touch of the humorous in that long soft snout.

Harebells
Autumn is already underway in the high country and there are just a few flowers left at this altitude (10,500 feet).  The little alpine harebells were scattered across the ground ~ so pretty in the early morning light!

Mt Audubon & Brainard Lake
The morning just got more and more beautiful as the sun rose in the sky.

Bull Moose
We moved around the lake to view the moose from a different angle.  This fellow knew he was being watched!  There were at least 3 different professional wildlife photographers there taking photos and a number of other people watching.  Thankfully no unhappy encounters!

Trying to get rid of the velvet
The bull on the left is flinging his head back and forth trying to dislodge the last large streamers of velvet that are clinging to his antlers.  He got quite frantic about it and we had the opportunity to watch this enormous beast dancing around in what seemed to be the silliest of antics!

Bull Moose trio
In all, there were three large bulls that we watched.

Red Rock Lake
After three hours of watching the moose, we headed down the road and stopped briefly at Red Rock Lake, which is covered in lily pads and reeds.  Lovely spot!

Bear Lake
The rest of the day we spent in Rocky Mountain National Park.  Sitting by the shores of Bear Lake was the perfect way to end our mountain outing!

Comments

Adrienne said…
What a treat! Thank you for sharing your adventure and your marvelous photos of these amazing creatures and the beauty where they live.
~Adrienne~
Que lindo! Que lindos! Que animais fantásticos! Que paisagem deslumbrante!
Obrigada!
Um abraço!
Egléa

How beautiful! That beautiful! What a fantastic animals! What gorgeous scenery!
Thank you!
Hugs!
Egléa


welltraveled said…
Lisa.. Thank you for the most awesome pix of the moose... Better than National geo

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