On our first full day in Estes Park we awoke to a few inches of fresh snow on the ground, and temperatures in the teens (F). We dawdled at breakfast to allow time for the roads to be cleared a bit better before attempting to drive into Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) in our little hamster car.
Our first stop was the Beaver Meadows Visitor's Center to get information on which roads were passable that morning without 4WD or even good tires. The ranger we talked to looked very worried for us, but I assured her I had driven in winter conditions quite a bit which seemed to calm her fears. She also gave us good information on where we should go for the best birding. Armed now with knowledge of what laid ahead and a park map, we entered the park and paid for our week-long day use pass at the entrance gate. Almost immediately, my partner spotted our first "new" mammal - Mule Deer! They were grazing alongside the road, and even crossed the road in front of us. I have worked with GPS tracking data from a Mule Deer study a few years ago, but never actually saw one until this moment!
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| View from the Beaver Meadows Visitor's Center |
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| We made it! |
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| Mule Deer!!! |
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| Mule Deer along the road |
First we tried to visit the Cub Lake trail, but ended up turning around because of very steep, icy, and snow covered roads that I did not want to chance without a good vehicle. However, once we got turned around, we were eager to get out and do some sight-seeing on foot, so we pulled over at the first place we could park and took a short hike at Upper Beaver Meadows. This is when we realized that we would have to take things a LOT slower than normal. Neither one of us had adapted to the major increase in elevation, and at about 8,000 ft, even a normal walking pace on flat ground can knock the wind right out of you, especially if you are used to living at 650 ft.
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| Some scenery along the way |
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| I could not take enough photos of the scenery! |
After we caught our breath, we continued deeper into the park to a place called the Alluvial Fan which the ranger had said was often good for winter birding. As soon as we arrived at the parking area, we were greeted by a few Black-billed Magpies who were not in the least bit afraid of humans. It is illegal to feed wildlife in the park, but it seems that these guys were accustomed to getting handouts.
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| Black-billed Magpie in the snow |
In case you aren't familiar with physical geography terms, an alluvial fan is a fan-shaped "dump zone" of a stream or river where the velocity of the water decreases and allows rocks, sand, uprooted trees, and whatever else was picked up along the way to be deposited in their new location. Alluvial fans can also be created by floods, such as the Lawn Lake Flood that happened on July 15, 1982 when Lawn Lake's earthen dam broke. This flood killed one camper and flooded Estes Park with 6 feet of water within 3 hours of the dam break.
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| Part of the alluvial fan. |
After checking out the alluvial fan area (and me taking the first slip and fall of the trip), we walked down into the Endovalley. Breathing was still very difficult, and on about 3 inches of powdery snow, walking was not the easiest. About halfway down into the valley, I saw a woodpecker fly across the road, and got only a split second glimpse of it before it slipped behind a tree and did a disappearing act. This was most unfortunate because I am about 70% sure it was an American Three-toed Woodpecker which would have been a lifer for both of us. The rest of the walk was mostly birdless with a few peeps now and then from Black-capped Chickadees.
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| Our walk down into the Endovalley |
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| Endovalley |
By the time we reached the end of the road, I was really struggling with how many pairs of pants I had on, and really needed to remove a pair before I made the uphill hike out of the valley. There was a sign for the Endovalley picnic area, so we trudged on, hoping to find a somewhat dry picnic table where I could sit and rectify my pants situation. We finally found such a place, and I set about taking 2 out of 3 pairs of pants off so I could remove the middle pair. Overhead somewhere a Red Squirrel was announcing our presence with its "raffle wheel" ticking chatter. I thought my partner was looking for the red squirrel when he quietly said "Oh, right there". I look up to see where he is looking, and after some confusion as to what he meant by "right there", I come face-to-face with a....... Stellar's Jay!!!!! I thought my partner had found the squirrel, but here, sitting at eye-level, about 5-6 feet from our faces was our most wanted bird of the trip! The takeaway from this story is that if you want a really good bird to show up within smartphone photo-taking distance, take your pants off.
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| Stellar's Jay - photo taken with a smartphone!!! |
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| Just can't get enough of this magical bird! |
Still stunned by the chain of events that led up to the Stellar's Jay sighting, we slowly made our way back to the parking lot. The walk back seemed to be a bit birdier, and we heard some woodpeckers hammering, but just couldn't get eyes on those darned birds! At the parking lot there was a lot of chickadee activity, so I started to carefully look through the tops of the trees and found our lifer Mountain Chickadees!
Finally back at the hamster car, we loaded up and headed toward the Fall River Visitor Center to poke around in the gift shop a bit and get warmed up. As we were about to leave the visitor center, we spotted our first Elk, which was an individual male with a huge rack of antlers bedding down right beside the main road! We watched many vehicles zoom right by him, not even noticing his presence. Can you see him in the photo below?
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| Do you see the Elk? |
Upon obtaining a birding location tip from a lady at the gift shop, we decided to take a quick drive to Devil's Gulch to scout an area for the next morning's adventures. This little exploration turned into an absolutely beautiful drive on dry roads, and the spotting of a Rough-legged Hawk! More on this area in my next post.
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| The Lumpy Ridge area of RMNP |
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| Rough-legged Hawk |
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| This scenery speaks for itself |
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| RMNP from Devil's Gulch Rd. |
After we stuffed ourselves with our first hot meal of the day at Wapiti Colorado Pub, we took a long walk around the mostly deserted downtown area of Estes Park. I am not sure I want to know how crowded this place gets in the warmer months. During our window shopping, I ran across a sign that perfectly described how I felt trying to hike out of the Endovalley while still not being able to breath due to the elevation.
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| Downtown Estes Park in winter |
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| Trying to hike uphill in snow, while still not adapted to the high elevation. |
Stay tuned for Day 3 of our adventure!
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