Goodbye Autumn

A few weeks ago Dave and I headed to the mountains to see the last of the fall leaves. That morning was so incredibly foggy, it was actually a bit eerie driving through the open farmland by our home. Luckily we were able to leave the fog behind us on the plains, and enjoyed perfect weather in the mountains. We drove the Peak to Peak Highway to Rocky Mountain National Park, with a few detours down some small dirt roads.   

We continued our drive into the national park to see if we could catch the elk rut. And sure enough, at our usual spot was a large herd grazing on the other side of the river. I left Dave to fish the Big Thompson, and hiked over to watch the elk. I quickly noticed that the alpha male had some competition; off in the distance was a younger male slowly creeping closer to the herd, with high hopes of stealing a few females for himself. The alpha did everything he could to intimidate the intruder while keeping his group intact. But he was a little too slow, and loss three ladies to the newcomer.

Dave joined me towards the tail-end of the drama, very excited to tell me that he caught a small trout! He had been fishing the river in Moraine Park all summer with no luck, but ended that spell today with a homemade fly. It ended up being the perfect day for both of us to say goodbye to fall, as Colorado’s first snow storm was already predicted for the following week.