Aug 14 – Early AM looking for Moose, then Trail Ridge Rd.

James Garrett

Inspired by our late afternoon success in seeing a moose, we decided to wake up before sunup, drive all the way across the mountain, and back to the Colorado River Trailhead as well as the other small trails around that area.  We went all the way to the park’s exit, and didn’t see a single moose while driving, so we turned around, and one walked right out in front of us!  This female wasn’t very photogenic, and we really had to struggle to get a good shot, going back and forth as she would attempt to hide herself.

After a few hours of moose hunting, we decided to go back to trail ridge road to try our luck at sheep again.  No such luck.  On the way back to Estes Park, we stopped near the Continental Divide, where we spotted what we thought were the same Elk that held us hostage yesterday.  We were talking to a local photographer who was commenting how odd it was that the Elk were shedding velvet so early in the year…and then it happened, two elk started fighting!  You can see the photos in the gallery. This was very cool, as we weren’t planning to get to see elk fighting this early in the year, and we were somewhat bummed that school prevented us from waiting a few weeks before making the trip!

We took an afternoon nap, and then headed back into the park before sunset in order to find a big horn sheep.  We headed over to Sheep Lakes, but on our way spotted a fox that you see in the gallery.  Unfortunately, once again, the big horn sheep didn’t show up at Sheep Lakes.  The park has a great visitor center in this area, that keeps count of sheep, as well as what time they show up, male/female, etc.  We looked at the sheet, and no sheep had been spotted in almost a week.  On the way out, we saw another large male elk, and took a few sunset photos that you see in the gallery.

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Aug 13 – Trail Ridge Road, Bear Lake, Colorado River Trailhead and more…

James Garrett

Today we decide to take Trail Ridge Road. It’s a one way dirt road that goes across the mountain.  As soon as we got off the main road, we encountered construction at Chasm Falls, and were told that it would be 15 minutes before we could pass, so we decided to take the short walk down to see the waterfall.  As we got close to the Alpine Visitor’s Center (where the trail ends) we encountered a few Elk, including one big Mule.

Once we finished with Trail Ridge Road, we headed back down to Bear Lake, where we took a hike along Flat Top Mountain Trail, and then cut over (and down the steep area of the mountain) towards Fern Lake Trail, which was much easier to follow, as it’s not nearly as steep, and is much wider.  We actually thought the Flat Top Mountain Trail was animal made, until we looked at the map, it’s that narrow.

Once done with that, we were told of Moose sightings near the Colorado River Trailhead, so we headed that way as the day grew late.  We hiked all over, in overgrown bushes, over logs that served as bridges over the creeks, and only saw one female Moose.  We decided that we would try our luck in the morning, and headed back west towards the Estes Park side of the Park.

On the way back, we stopped at the “Continental Divide”, where there was a rock face where big horn sheep were rumored to be earlier in the day.  Since we had nothing else to do the rest of the night, we decided to get out and take a look.  Now, since we had time to kill, we were hiking towards the rock face so we could get closer for good photos.  We took a trail that lead up the side of the rock face, and spotted some elk.  We decided to pause and keep a close eye out, just taking photos as they were eating, with several of them, including large males, laying down.  Within minutes, other people spotted them from the road, and began yelling at them to get them to look up so they could get a better photo.  This scared the elk, and they headed towards us, forcing us to remain still for almost an hour before we could go back to our car!

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Aug 12 – Flying to Denver, CO then the drive to Estes Park, CO

James Garrett

Today we had to be at the airport by 7:45, where we had a 4 hour nonstop flight to Denver, CO.  Once in Denver, we used the local bus system, which has a really cool integration with Google Maps (click).  So, using the Google Maps app on my iPhone, we were able to figure out our bus route, and purchase tickets at the counter before leaving the airport.  We took the bus to the rental car agency, then grabbed lunch.

After lunch, we took the scenic byway to Estes Park, Co. and checked into our hotel.  We were both exhausted, but  decided to go ahead and register for our week pass at Rocky Mountain National Park, and took a drive up to the higher areas of the mountain hoping to find elk.  Much to our surprise, we found several.

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West Palm with Little Deeper – Dive #2

James Garrett

Breathing Gas– 32% Travel (no deco)
Max Depth– 57ft
Avg Depth– 45ft
Visibility– 30ft
Water Temp– 78F
Dive Time: 44min

Notes:
Lots of wildlife out today.  Saw 2 turtles on this dive as well as another large grouper.  The dive boat sent almost 15 divers out with one dive flag, one dive master, I was NOT impressed.

Cow Springs – Mainline to 1400ft

James Garrett

Breathing Gas– 32% Travel / 100% Deco
Max Depth– 103ft
Avg Depth– 70ft
Visibility– 75ft+
Water Temp– 70F
Dive Time: 71min

Notes:
Met Stacey at her place and carpooled over to Dive Outpost to get the key.  Despite a few issues getting in the water, we had a great dive.  Unfortunately my doubles were only at 3100psi, so even with a stage, we only made it about 1400ft.  Running a primary reel while pushing a stage ahead of you isn’t nearly as easy as I’d hope.  For some reason the mainline seems to be run in less than ideal places, sometimes you can swim 5ft off mainline and be in a much larger area where you won’t bang your tanks, something to look out for if you’re backmount like me.

Cow SpringsCow Springs

Royal Springs – It’s just as crappy of a dive as you’ve heard it is…

James Garrett

Breathing Gas– 32%
Max Depth– 46ft
Avg Depth– No idea, I couldn’t see my bottom timer half the dive
Visibility– 0ft after, maybe 30ft to begin
Water Temp– 72F
Dive Time: 39min

Notes:
Dove with Jeff Marchand just to see if this place is as bad as people make it out to be…it is.  The cave looks a lot like Little River in color, without hardly any damage.  The silt is insane, on the floor and ceiling.  There are plenty of other dives in the area to do without resorting to this one.  We got about 200ft into the system and turned because it was small (barely backmount even for good viz), and the extreme silt.

Devils’ Spring Run – Scootering 101

James Garrett

Breathing Gas– 32%
Max Depth– 21ft
Visibility– 100ft+
Water Temp– 72F
Dive Time: 123min

Notes:
Met Bryce after he got off work at EE and went out to Ginnie.  I was very surprised at how hard scootering was.  We practiced towing each other, dealing with runaway scooters, turning, and getting used to riding his Gavin.  Fun time, and I REALLY want a scooter now!