Life is Hard When You're a Baby Elk - New Life in RMNP

Early June is when most of the babies of RMNP arrive. After birth the elk calf spends most of its time hiding in grass or near bushes and following it's mother as she grazes. Nature is momentarily kind during the elks' first week of life - the baby doesn't produce a scent for nearly a week to help allude predators. This reprive is short lived though, as June is a calf's most dangerous time when predators like coyotes are prowling the edges of elk herds looking for a baby hiding in the grass. Generally the mothers form very small herds and the calves start playing with other calves, learning how elk life works. From birth until mid-July the calf will drink about a gallon of milk a day gaining two to three pounds a day. Life gets even harder just a few weeks, or sometimes only days after birth, as the elk herds start to move up to the tundra and the calf has to hike miles gaining 5,000feet of elevation to start enjoying the tundra's sweet grass. Luckily, each calf has plenty of babysitters with the rest of the elk herd watching after them. Parents, when your child whines about a walk around Bear Lake, just remind them "At least you aren't a baby elk!"

Blog Post by Jared Gricoskie of Yellow Wood Guiding. If you would like a private tour of Rocky Mountain National Park (perhaps even catch a glimpse of these elk calves!), contact Jared at YWGuiding.com.

To book your Estes Park vacation, visit Estes-Park.com. Here you'll find the best information on lodging and activities for your Rocky Mountain National Park adventure.

Explore RMNP in the Winter - So Many Things To Do!

For many visitors, winter is their favorite season to enjoy Rocky Mountain National Park. The park is less visited but still very much open and alive with activity. Beautiful backcountry areas can be reached on snowshoes, skis, and at lower elevations - even with hiking boots! Elk, coyotes, deer, snowshoe hares, and other wildlife remain active through the winter. Their story is told by the tracks left in the snow. For those visitors who are prepared, winter is an enchanting time to explore the park.

Snowshoeing and skiing are fun ways to experience the backcountry of Rocky Mountain National Park. This winter, join a park ranger on a wintry excursion! Rocky Mountain National Park offers ranger-led snowshoe ecology walks for beginner level snowshoers on the east side, and for beginner and intermediate level snowshoers and cross-country skiers on the west side of the park. No additional fees are charged to participate, however reservations are required.

Snowshoeing is easy to learn and opens up a new way to see the beauty of nature during its quietest season. For beginners, the snowshoe program is a two-hour exploration of the natural world of the subalpine forest. No previous snowshoe experience is required. On the east side, this walk is held on Saturdays, Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. through March 27. The beginner snowshoe tour on the west side is held on Saturdays at 1:00 p.m. through March 19. Beginning on February 5, an additional west side tour will be offered at 9:00 a.m. on Saturdays.

For more experienced snowshoers, a two-hour snowshoe walk is offered on Sundays at 1:00 p.m. through March 13 on the west side of the park. Previous snowshoeing experience is recommended because of the elevation gain, mileage, pace and terrain covered in this program.

Ranger-led cross country ski tours are offered on the west side of the park on Saturdays at 9:30 a.m. through January 29. Participants ski a snow-draped landscape and learn about the Kawuneeche Valley. All snowshoe walks and ski tours require reservations. Reservations can be made in advance, seven days or less prior to the desired program. Participants must furnish their own equipment, including poles with baskets, and be at least 8 years old. To make reservations for east side snowshoe walks, call the Beaver Meadows Visitor Center at (970) 586-1223 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. daily. To make reservations for west side snowshoe walks, call the Kawuneeche Visitor Center at (970) 627-3471 between 8:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. daily.

Frontcountry and backcountry camping take place in the winter too! Longs Peak Campground, Timber Creek Campground and designated sections of Moraine Park Campground are open all winter; the fee is $14 per site per night. Water and dump stations are not available in winter at the campgrounds. Self-registration permits for backcountry camping in winter zones are available. There is no charge in the winter for backcountry camping.

Sledding activities can be enjoyed in Rocky Mountain National Park at the Hidden Valley area. Hidden Valley slopes have been contoured to enhance the safety of sledding and other snowplay activities. Facilities at Hidden Valley include a warming hut, which is open weekends, and heated restrooms which are open daily. This area is also a good base location for visitors interested in backcountry skiing, snowboarding and snowshoeing in the undeveloped areas in and around Hidden Valley.

Podcasts on Winter Recreation and Introduction to Snowshoeing can be found on the park website at, http://www.nps.gov/romo/photosmultimedia/roaming_rocky.htm Backcountry users should be aware of avalanche conditions, check the Colorado Avalanche Information Center website at http://avalanche.state.co.us/

Whenever visiting Rocky Mountain National Park to snowshoe, ski or hike, stop by a park visitor center or call (970) 586-1206 for current trail, road, snow and avalanche conditions. Come enjoy Rocky Mountain National Park in the winter!

Big Horn Sheep - Love on the Rocks in Estes Park

Today's Guest Blogger is Jared Gricoskie of Yellow Wood Guiding YWGuiding.com

Here in Rocky Mountain National Park, December is the Big Horn Sheep's mating season. Big Horns spend most of the year in small bands of females and lambs, with the males in separate bands of mixed ages. Most of the time females just want to eat grass generally on a southern facing slope, but for as little as 48 hours a year the ladies are in estrus and looking for the right guy. During these extremely brief mating periods, females attract males through scent and may attract more than a handful of suitors. Females select males on a basis of body size, horn size, and fitness. They attract a few males and then run, much like a scene from a school yard where the boys chase the girls. During the pursuit, the lead male will often turn on the males behind him and clash. The sounds of two rams crashing their heads together can be heard from over a mile away. In the end, the female selects a male to mate with and will very likely not interact with him again. So be sure to scan the rocky southern facing cliffs around Estes Park during the first two weeks of December. For Big Horn Sheep, love really is on the rocks.

For All you Lovers of the Wild!

A friend (and fellow L.O.T.W. - that's Lover of the Wild for my acronym challenged readers) posted this on her blog: http://whitneyconnerclapper.blogspot.com/2010/11/outlive-bastards.html , and I loved the reminder to all of us who love the wild - revelling in it, playing in it, and staying alive because of it - to "get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, encounter the Griz, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate that precious stillness, that lovely, mysterious awesome space." Thank you Whit, and Edward Abbey...now I'm headed outside.

Photo Credit Nathaniel Wilder http://www.ngwphotography.com/

Observe Wildland Firefighter Training in Rocky Mountain National Park

When: Cancelled due to four inches snowfall.
Wednesday, May 12, 9:45 a.m.

Where: Beaver Meadows Visitor Center in Rocky Mountain National Park - then depart to other park locations

What: On May 12, media will have an opportunity to observe the second annual Firefighter Challenge in Rocky Mountain National Park. The challenge consists of a 5 Mile Run, Water Handling (pump assembly and hose deployment), Chainsaw Assembly (assemble and fire a chainsaw that is in disrepair), Oral Quiz, and a 4 Mile Hike (full fire line pack hike). The entire challenge encompasses 14.9 miles.

Who: There are expected to be ten teams of four. These teams will be comprised of the Alpine Hot Shots (a national resource based in the park), Module 32 (a regional fire and fuels resource based in the park), and Squad 33 (the park’s hazard tree crew).

The purpose of the training is to test the mental and physical endurance of team members. Being fit, knowledgeable, and skilled are critical components of any successful wildland fire program. Throughout the event and this season, our wildland fire staff will be faced with challenges that will require clear thinking, decisive action, professionalism and a high fitness level.

This is a demonstration, in a single day multi-phase event, of the mental and physical rigors wildland firefighters face. This is not a competition, but rather a challenge testing the standards of the job in a high stress/time compressed arena.

Please contact Kyle Patterson, Public Information Officer at Kyle_Patterson@nps.gov for more information.

New Nature Note on Snow Shoe Hares

Snow Shoe Hare - Changing coats

With our recent April snow storm there were plenty of tracks in the snow. One of the most common tracks are that of the Snow Shoe Hare. These interesting rabbit relatives... more>