It was an amazing day. We spent the day in the Rocky Mountain National Park. We took
the high road, soaring up over 12,000 feet often above the smallish pockets of snow
left from last winter. The views were incredible and along the way we came across
quite a few who were painting them.
We exited the park near Grand Lake and although we'd had a great day we did feel the
wildlife spotting had been a little less than we'd hoped for. That was until just
out of the park we finally got to see moose! For three years we've been on the
lookout for moose but only managed a glimpse of a fast running one well in the
distance on a highway. Today it was so different, we spent well over a half hour
watching a mother and her calf just casually munching their lunch a few meters from
us. It was so good, neither of us could shift our grins

We finally tore ourselves away and took the big loop around the lakes back to Estes Park. Just out of town we spotted a few elk grazing so stopped to cross the road to check them out. There were several females and a young stag which we got some pics of. Pete turned around and there above us on a slightly raised area were the rest of the herd, about 40 more! We again spent some time photographing and observing them, what an epic wildlife day it turned out to be!

After a quick shop we returned to our lodge for the evening. We tried to extend our stay but they're fully booked for tomorrow night so much as we love it here and could easily stay on we won't be able to.
We watched 20/20, all about the killing of Cecil the lion. It left me more convinced than ever that until they give these wild creatures guns and the ability to fight back it can never, in all honesty, be called a sport. Hunting for food is a whole other thing but this "trophy" hunting is just wrong.
After midnight we drove back into the park and high up we again went to approx 11,000 feet so Pete could get some night sky shots. It was blowing a gale up there and freezing despite the temp reading as 15C. For the first time this trip we delved into the cold weather suitcase and dragged out jumpers and jackets. Pete got some ok shots we think then headed back down the hill and out of the park.
Pete again took an allergy tab and I had another concrete pill as my stomach is still playing up and crashed out for the night. It'll be nice to both be totally well again at some stage