One of my favorite sounds

We made an impromptu visit to Estes Park yesterday to hear the elk bugling during their fall rut. It has got to be one of the most haunting sounds in the natural world. Listen here or here:

New Painting for Benefit

"Sleeping Elk", Acrylic on Canvas, 11x14", 2011
To be auctioned for Colorado Gives Day tomorrow, December 6th, to benefit Firefly Autism. I will post a link when available. My first elk painting after 5 years in Colorado!

Photo from Today

I took this from Trial Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park this afternoon. It was a cold afternoon up above tree-line.

Wild Neighbors

At our lodging on the edge of Rocky Mountain National Park this weekend we had several local residents over to visit: (in order of appearance)

(he picks his head up 20 seconds in on the video)

This doe was with two others - but this was the better photo.

Photos from the Weekend

Photos from our weekend in Estes Park/Rocky Mountain National Park:

Fern Falls Trail:

Elk in Estes Park lake:

We also had a close encounter with a moose on the trail. Had we been walking just a little faster we might have run right into him coming around the corner on our hike. Whew!

Elk Fest 2009

Elk at Rocky Mountain National Park, photo by Nathan Abels

Today we'll be in Estes Park for our third year in a row of attending Elkfest. One of my all time favorite sounds is the elk bugle - a haunting and beautiful call. Elkfest has come to be our stand-in for Fort Wayne's Johnny Appleseed Festival. The two fests are not related at all except for that they are fall traditions. While the cider, smells and foods Johnny Appleseed are hard to beat - so are the elk bugles in Rocky Mountain National Park this weekend.

Fall All Leaves All Fall

Ed Ruscha, "Fall All Leaves All Fall" (2009) - image from the NYTimes

This is my favorite time of year. We took a short day trip to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park yesterday to enjoy the beautiful, eerie sounds of elk bugles and the yellow aspen leaves.

Drive-by out-the-window photo by Lorna Cochraneriver reflection photo by Nathan Abels - after Alexander Binder

Photo of the Day

from the strange and awesome flickr collection of nequest.

Elk Sparring

Rocky Mountain National Park was packed yesterday. And traffic was backed up for miles because a few bull elk were sparring in the valley. We managed to get a glimpse of them in action on video. I added the music to cover up all the talking in the original video. It was cool to see this in person, although next year I think we'll go up to RMNP on a weekend that isn't Elkfest.

Elkfest 2008

Elk at Rocky Mountain National Park, photo by Nathan Abels

Today we'll be in Estes Park for our second year in a row of attending Elkfest. If we're lucky the elk will be doing their fall thing as well. It's no Johnny Appleseed Festival, but it is still pretty great.

Elk Guard

"The Elk Guard" Art Print by Daniel Danger

Here is a brand new exclusive screenprint by Daniel Danger. 19" x 25", signed/numbered edition of 150 (only about 130 will be released). Limit - 2 Per Person!!

PRICE:

$34.99

It may seem crazy to some of you outside of Denver, but people here are already skiing. So in getting with the winter spirit (ahhh!) - here's a beautiful new print by Daniel Danger. Again - minutiae spotlights more affordable hand-made artwork - go ahead, buy some art.

Speaking of Elk - I was reorganizing my flickr page today and the photography section on my dot com. Here's a elk photo I took at Rocky Mountain National Park.

Elk

I saw this elk (among many) at Rocky Mountain National Park today.