Sometimes even one-day
excursions are worth blogging about – especially when they involve national
parks. In July, Caty asked me to join her and her high-school friend Robin for
a day in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Was that a hard decision? No! I love RMNP.
 |
| RMNP from Trail Ridge Road |
Caty, left, and Robin
So, I had a momentary idea
that I would drive up the evening before so I wouldn’t have to get up early.
Well, let me tell you about Estes Park on a nice weekend in July. The ONLY room
available was at the Best Western for $429! I have no issue with Best Westerns
(stay at ‘em all the time), but not for $429! So, I go up early and drove to
Estes to meet Caty and Robin.
I won’t go into a lot of
detail about the day. We drove around, went over Trail Ridge Road and started
looking for moose. We decided to go out to the Holzwarth Historic Site on
the west side of the park. Caty and I hadn’t been there for a while.
 |
| Robin at Holzwarth Historic Site |
The area has a number of
buildings that reflect some of the important history of the park. Bavarian
immigrant and Denver saloon owner John Holzwarth Sr. (“Papa)” and his German
immigrant wife Sophia (“Mama”) moved to the valley, which was already within
the boundaries of the new national park, in 1917 to homestead after Prohibition
ended his saloon business. In 1919, they opened a guest ranch on the site,
which straddled the Colorado River. They named it the Holzwarth Trout Ranch and
then later changed the name to the Never Summer Ranch (I love that name!)
because it was close to the foothills of the Never Summer Mountain. It operated
until 1974 under the direction of their son Johnnie and was then sold to The
Nature Conservancy.
We went on a tour of the
main cabin presented by a great volunteer and learned a great deal about the
Holzwarths – including the fact that Mama was a great cook (which is how the
guest ranch business started) and Papa broke a hip in a wagon accident, which
limited his ability to run the ranch but motivated him to design and build a
custom brace/walker that is on display in the house. We also learned that
during Prohibition, Coors stayed in business by making and selling malted milk.
We then started looking for Moose, without a lot of luck. After lunch in Grand Lake, we finally found one.
 |
| Rocky Mountain Moose |
So, although our score was not as impressive as the 16 that Caty and I saw a few weeks earlier, the setting for this Moose (Beaver Pond) was lovely.
 |
| Pretty scenery |
 |
| Pretty Moose |
Then, back over Trail Ridge,
where we saw a couple of herds of female Elk.
 |
| Elk |
And, then, the most exciting moment. We saw
a Bear!
 |
| A rare bear |
I have been to RMNP more times than I can count and had never seen a Bear. Caty says they have only about 35 in the entire park. And, this one was a
beauty. Big, dark brown with a long, blond mantle.
 |
| We usually don't see them |
It was fun to watch people
(who initially thought we were looking at Elk) react. It was also scary to
watch crazy people (and their children) advancing toward the bear. These are
wild animals!
And, as we were headed out, we saw a fabulous Elk.
 |
| Elk |
Fall is coming!
We finished up with dinner
and then I had a long, dark rainy drive home.
 |
| Robin and Caty; Caty and me |
Trip date: July 28, 2014
Here is some more info on bears in the park (from http://www.nps.gov/romo/bears.htm)
ReplyDeleteBetween 1984 and 1991, due to a rise in bear sightings in the park, staff conducted a study of the bears. From that study, the average weight for adult female bears was 121 lbs. and for males was 175 lbs.,about 1/2 to 2/3 the weight of black bears in west-central Colorado. Females produced their first cubs at age seven or eight. Bears in other parts of Colorado produce their young at age five or six, and in Idaho at about age five. In addition to producing young later in life, park bears also tended to have fewer cubs than bears in other parts of Colorado. Estimates suggested that between 20 and 35 bears lived in the park. Those bear densities were 1/6 of those in west-central Colorado to 1/12 of those in other Rocky Mountain states. The study suggested that the park had naturally poor habitat for bears, but attracted them because hunting was, and remains, prohibited.
But what is the situation now? We honestly don't know. Because of our lack of knowledge and the park's commitment to managing our resources based on good science, bear research started again in 2003. Because the current effort is more focused, we hope to be able to have a much more accurate estimate of bear numbers, sizes, ages, and genders. We hope to understand more about what our bears eat and where they live. Most importantly, for both the bears and our visitors, we hope to understand how to reduce conflicts between them