Bull Moose Grazing in Sprague Lake

I was super excited to see a moose at Sprague Lake yesterday in Rocky Mountain National Park. I’d just finished shooting sunrise at Dream Lake with my large format camera and was chatting with another photographer who mentioned he’d seen a moose just yesterday. Now, I’d been hearing chatter about a moose at Sprague Lake, and even hiked around the lake a couple of times in recent weeks to see if I’d find him, but hadn’t had any luck. Yesterday, though, he was hanging out on the west end of the lake happily munching on the grass and vegetation growing near the inlet.

It is always a thrill to see a moose, especaially a handsome bull like this guy. I’m thinking he still has some growing to do before he reaches full size, but even a young bull is a very imposing animal. The subspecies of moose that we have here in Colorado is the Shiras Moose (Alces alces shirasi), so they are going to run a bit smaller than their Alaskan cousins, but don’t get too comfortable around them! A bull moose in rut, or a cow with a calf can be a most dangerous animal to encounter.

In Rocky Mountain National Park it seems that the moose have been expanding their territory further and further east in recent years. I am excited to see them thriving in Colorado and hopefully we’ll all be seeing more of this awesome animal!

The exhibition Colorado: Everything but Aspens has concluded at Anthology Fine Art in Denver. I’m extremely pleased that my photo of the Petit Grepon was awarded the people’s choice award! Thank you to everyone who voted for my photos, and to the great folks at Anthology for making it all happen.

For those who didn’t make it to the gallery, I exhibited four pieces in this exhibition, which was themed around photos taken outdoors in Colorado that do not contain an aspen tree.

Longs Peak from Forest Canyon Overlook
The Petit Grepon and Cathedral Spires
Hallett Peak from Dream Lake
Eldorado Canyon Sunrise

Thank you again to everyone for your votes and support, it means a lot to me!