2012 Estes Park Scenery and Elk

We very much enjoyed our visit to Estes Park. We were so very lucky to stay for "free" using our remaining 2012 timeshare points which were already paid for and would be lost if not used this year! The Crags Lodge was terrific, had very helpful and friendly staff, and it was particularly fortunate and unusual that they had RV parking for us.

Fall is a beautiful time of year to be in Estes Park; fall colors, lovely weather, fun festivals and the elk rut all bring in large crowds. However, big crowds combined with large unpredictable and unusually iritable wild animals...this generally makes a bad combination. Elk were everywhere (always on the golf course, and a herd in just about every neighborhood). I found it very entertaining to watch (from a safe distance!) a big bull elk trying to keep his harem together while at the same time, chase off all the loitering bulls. Saw one bull lose a couple females who just kinda "snuck off" to a competing bull. Saw a pair of bulls battling (you could hear their antlers crash from the other side of the lake). Of course, we took a few pictures...

Here is a small sample of Estes scenery and elk shots.
pics around Estes / Elk

A few short videos of the elk in Estes:

]