Rocky Mountain National Park

Hee hee, I forgot! My friends David, Megan, Julie and I went to Rocky Mountain National Park last weekend. I have always wanted to go on one of the horseback trail rides and I finally got to go! It took about 5 years, but better late than never!

Since we've been getting more rain that normal, everything was lush and green up at the park. Driving to the stables we saw bighorn sheep and a herd of elk. I never saw a bull elk in person; we mostly had a lot of female elk and mule deer around campus, but seeing the bull elks made me a little afraid. They were huge. Huge. And I'm going to say it again. They were huge. Their antlers were growing in and those were gigantic. I knew they wouldn't rush the car or anything but still, very intimidating.

The trail ride was awesome. Great views and the weather was a little overcast and cloudy but it wasn't too hot or cold. It was perfect. Here are a few of my favorite pictures and I can't wait to get them printed and framed.

I just love this picture; all the boulders that rolled down the mountain covered in moss, lichen and well, I guess some sort of shrubbery. It's just peaceful looking at it.

Another one of my favorite pictures. We rode into a grove of aspens and I just loved how bright green their leaves were. Granted, you can't see it in this picture but I love the smooth white bark and the contrast of the aspens to the darker pines trees and overcast sky. All these pictures were taken on horseback and I have to say, they turned out really well. I think having the height advantage of sitting on an animal that's taller than me helped get some shots that I never would have been able to unless I found a sturdy rock to stand on. David said that the lighting was perfect because of the overcast skies and he was right. I used the automatic setting on my camera and these were the results. Of course, I have more but I don't like waiting for them to upload.

Despite having a pine beetle problem, I thought the park tree's looked great. Sure, more of them looked dead than alive but there was plenty of other greenery around and I suspect that some of those pine trees have darker pine needles than I'm used to.

It was very pretty up there. It made me want to go out into nature more often. I live in one of the most beautiful states and I should really take advantage of that. Even though the drive was long and kind of boring, I would love to go up there again soon. And maybe I could bring Cooper! :)