It’s been a year since I climbed to the summit of Mt. Evans in Colorado. In that year, many things have changed in my life, but nothing has changed atop the mountain. It is still super cold at the top; it is still 14,264ft; and it is still one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. The climb to the top of this mountain is mainly done via your vehicle on a narrow, winding two-lane road up the side of the mountain, but you do have to hike the last several hundred feet to reach the summit. At these altitudes, you have to do everything slow. It can be hard to catch your breath if you move too fast. I usually don’t have problems at high altitudes but I got a headache today. I’ve been a bit under the weather which may have played a role in this but the main culprit was me staying on top of the mountain for most of the day.
My goal today was to photograph mountain goats. Last year, dozens of goats could be found at the top of the mountain, so I thought this would occur again. I was wrong. I only saw two; a female and her kid. I did manage to get a few shots of the pair, but I was bit disappointed in not finding any more on the mountain. I did see a lot of female big horn sheep which I photographed early in the morning. My favorite image from these is of a female sheep that is warning one of the younger sheep to get out of her way. She has her head cocked back and is jumping in the air. In the next image, she hits the other sheep on the head for not getting out of the way fast enough.
My main pursuit this year while on top of the mountain was a pika. It’s a small rodent that’s in the rabbit family. This pika was busy gathering food, so I parked myself near his den to get the shots you see of him below. My favorite images of wildlife are those that involve action. I really like the shots I got of him jumping from rocks with food in his mouth. These are my favorites from the day. I stayed with the pika for about an hour before heading back down the mountain. On my way down, I spotted a yellow-bellied marmot on a rock near the road so I had to stop to take some photos. While shooting the marmot, several of her babies crawled out of their den. I was able to get a few shots of them before the mother hurried them back inside. After shooting this, I headed down the mountain and began my trek toward Yellowstone. I got about half way due to spending a couple hours in the Snowy Ridge mountain range in Wyoming. This is a beautiful place that I hope to get to explore more in the future.
Tomorrow I head to Yellowstone to begin a couple days of photography there before heading to my ultimate destination – Glacier National Park. Check back tomorrow for another update from the trip!
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