« Red Marbles | Home | Feedburner Email Subscriptions »
Hiking on an Elk Trail
By PK | July 28, 2008
On an earlier occasion, Dalton had seen a huge bull Elk as we were driving and sightseeing. This big daddy bull Elk was headed into a secluded, elongated valley where there weren’t any roads. Now Dalton being the big hunter that he is, and me being the photographer I am, decided we would hike back to this valley. There were only two problems that morning, one…there weren’t any roads, I mentioned that earlier I just wanted to stress that fact, and two…I didn’t have enough coffee in me on Sunday morning as we began our hike.
One of my first discoveries was another species of wildflower. While I’m hiking, and keeping an eye out for wildlife, I look for wildflowers that I haven’t photographed. I came across this one, beautiful, delicate, and unknown to me what it’s name is. I’m not a botanist and not about to learn the names of the 1700 species of wildflowers in Colorado.
We started out hiking straight up…no trails in this part of the Routt National Forest. I soon found myself maneuvering through tall brush and grasses up to my shoulders at times. The terrain was rough, twisting my feet to different angles I wasn’t all that fond of. I did mention in an earlier post…these are new Cabela hiking boots that aren’t quite broke in yet.
We were on public land but soon found ourselves skirting private land. We followed the fence line up and around, walking along the edge of the forest. Down below we began to see some cattle. Then the cattle began to see us. We stopped. They looked. We took one step and all hell broke loose. Those cows started stampeding down the mountain toward the pasture and their home at the bottom, bellowing and bawling all the way. This was not a good sign.
But we continued on our way until we came across an elk trail. This might be good, maybe we’ll see some wildlife if the cattle hadn’t spooked all away. We were pretty high up at this time and the scenery was awesome. So, I had to share…
Our trail started showing signs of wildlife. The first sign we saw was a bush with no berries and a lot of brush knocked down. Only this was a sign we didn’t want to see for Dalton said it was probably a bear with cubs. Okay, I’d seen a bear last week, but was in the safety of our vehicle. The truck was miles away and could not be seen as I glanced behind me.
I began thinking…this hike was all for one bull Elk. Was it worth it?
It didn’t take long to answer that as our next sign was these trees with fresh bite marks. The marks of an Elk as they find nutrients in the bark of aspen trees. That fueled us on…
Another opening, and another chance to relax taking great pictures of the surrounding neighborhood. Isn’t that unusual..one rock protruding out of this large, open valley?
We began to see more signs…one the average hiker doesn’t necessarily look for. What is it??? It’s what I call Elk dookie, droppings as the hunter’s call it. These droppings are relatively fresh. We were on an elk trail that apparently is used quite frequently and recently by Elk.
Every step we took, there were Elk dookie. Piles and piles of it, some older, some fresher. It fueled us on even more. We wanted to see Elk. They seemed scarce of late since the warmer temperatures hit Routt County. Another good sign amongst all the bad signs we seemed to be having. An Elk rub. It seemed too early in the year yet for Elk to be rubbing their antlers. They shed them once a year usually right before rut, their mating season. This looked fresh, though.
We walked on…the trail leading us up and down ravines, in and out of the forest, all headed towards THE valley. It now was considered THE valley, our final destination. The point where we could turn around and head back to the truck. Yes, I wanted to see Elk. Yes, I wanted to photograph Elk. But more importantly, I was ready at this point to head back. Elk may have the ability to hike an Elk trail, but NOT me. It was grueling, rocky at times, slippery as I almost did slide down a 600 ft embankment next to the trail, and I wasn’t seeing any wildlife. At least not until we walked up yet another incline, around a copse of trees and scared this grouse. Or I should say, the grouse scared us as it flew out of it’s nest on the ground and up to safety in this tree.
We continued to hike on Elk trails, sometimes together, sometimes apart, as we each had our own Elk trail, but within eye sight of each other. At times we could still hear the cattle bawling down below us. ‘Bawl-babies’ I’d mutter under my breath. They’ll scare away any chance of wildlife.
We hiked on and I seen some dookie I didn’t recognize. Trying to get Dalton’s attention and not succeeding I passed the opportunity to learn more. Later when we finally stopped for a breather:
me: I wanted to ask you what kind of dookie that was back there, but you didn’t hear me.
Dalton: Next time whistle. (soft whistle) Can’t you do that?
me: no
Dalton: Well, how did you call me?
me: I said psst.
Dalton: Just throw a stick at me next time.
me: More than likely, it’ll be a rock.
(picture of the Flat Top Wilderness Area)
We were high up almost on top of the ridge. He wanted to climb even higher. I stopped hiking and looked up. No way. I wasn’t climbing any higher through more brush to the top. We’d just have to keep to these Elk trails to THE valley after ONE bull Elk, which the chances of seeing were slim to NONE. As I took this next picture, I’m thinking, ‘that’s the road we drove in on and I wish I was on it about now!’
But again I was lulled by the scenery even knowing we would not see any Elk this time. We began to see another sign. One we don’t see very often, and one I want to see. Moose. That fueled me on even more.
Moose dookie is different than Elk dookie as it’s lighter in color, a little larger and more elongated. I have yet to photograph a bull Moose. It will be my greatest achievement!
We arrived at THE valley and it wasn’t even worthy of me to photograph. I was disappointed, tired, and ready to make our way back to the truck. Just our luck…as the entire trip smelled of more than just dookie and bad signs. A storm was now moving in. Time to hightail it back to the truck and ease my poor feet.
Hope you enjoyed this hike more than I did. I will have to confess though, I did enjoy it, to an extent. We didn’t see any Elk, or Moose, but the scenery as always, was beautiful. This mountain range you see in the background of this last picture, is part of the Flap Tops Wilderness Area. Until next time…happy hiking!
216.237.246.94
38.103.63.61
Stumble it!
Topics: Colorado, Hiking, Camping, Fishing,, Routt National Forest, Wildlife and Hunting |
July 28th, 2008 at 8:10 am
[...] bookmarks tagged hiking Hiking on an Elk Trail saved by 10 others rehtnapkcalb17 bookmarked on 07/28/08 | [...]
July 28th, 2008 at 7:46 pm
Awesome Pix! I’d hve had to stay the nite atop those mountains after climbing all that way!
July 28th, 2008 at 9:34 pm
I don’t think I would have wanted to hike all that way with camping gear. As it is, my backpack got awfully heavy. Camping with the truck nearby is much more suitable for this adventurous girl!
July 28th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
To rehtnapkcalb17, thank you for tagging my article. Keep in touch as hiking is one of our favorite pastimes or read my previous articles on hiking.
July 31st, 2008 at 2:45 am
Glad to hear you had your truck nearby! I was beginning to think maybe I’ve become a whooz! LOL!
July 31st, 2008 at 9:52 am
On that Elk trail we didn’t have the truck so close and the terrain was so harsh we were only managing about a quarter mile in a half hour headed towards our destination. However, just like a horse returning to the barn, on the way back our paced picked up in spite of the fact that my cabella boots aren’t broke in. I was a whooz by the time I got back to the truck and took my boots off. LOL