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:

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.

Update

Possibly the best elk photo I've taken - from last weekend in Estes Park

My work in the "2011 National Contemporary Exhibition" at the Grand Junction Art Center


One of my favorite works in that show - "Telerama" 2010 - transfer print, paper collage, 16in. x 16in. by Lili Francuz

On the way back from Grand Junction the river through the canyon was raging

We also stopped at the Aspen Art Museum where I enjoyed a show of small, dense paintings by Cathy Wilkes - this one is Untitled, 2009. Courtesy of The Artist and Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch, Berlin and the Aspen Art Museum.

Estes Park Traffic

Taken Saturday in Estes Park.

RMNP

Off to Rocky Mountain National Park for most of the weekend. I'll resume regular posting on Monday.

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

Songs of the Rockies

I found an illustration from Songs of the Rockies, by Charles Edwin Hewes, 1915-1921 in the visitors center in Estes Park yesterday and sought out the book online. I was happy to find that you can read the book on Google books here. There are many beautiful drawings (block prints) by Dean Babcock are found throughout the book. I had trouble limiting myself, so I've posted a lot of the drawings:

I love this drawing of ptarmigans. I posted about these beautiful mountain birds in September.

Not live

These are screen captures of web-cams at night. Here are the live versions.

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.