I guess we could call this a #ThrowbackThursday image since it was taken a few months ago. 😉 

This handsome fellow was one of five bulls that hung out within a quarter mile of our camp for all of the week we were in Arapaho National Forest. It was a ton of fun to be able to readily see and photograph them and they were always ready and willing to be my photo subject.

On this particular morning, the boys were being pretty lazy with most of them lying down and relaxing. Best of all, they were easily within walking distance of our RV. I took my morning coffee and my camera, pulled up a nearby stump, and sat in the forest with them, enjoying the quiet and the companionship.

Well, the Great Facebook Outage nearly put a kibosh on Moose Monday but it came back up in the nick of time. ?

Here we have a handsome bull moose as it relocates to a different grazing area in the Colorado high country. Three bulls gave me a nice show on this morning back at the end of August. Two were pretty impressive, including this fellow.

Hope your workweek started out well despite the lack of FB!

Taken on an evening hike in one of my favorite moose hot spots late last month. Three good-sized bulls were lazily grazing on willows, enjoying a mild late-summer evening. They stuck largely to the thickest part of the foliage, preventing a clear shot of their entire body.

However, that also provided some opportunities for some different types of captures like this one. Taking a brief break from munching, the handsome fellow cast a glance right at me, making eye contact for just an instant and giving me this shot.

A bonus pic for #MooseMonday showing one of the handsome fellows I spent this weekend with in his home domain. At 10,300 feet, this spot is just below timberline and affords some amazing views of the wildlife and those dominating Rocky Mountains. There was a hint of smoke in the atmosphere on this morning aiding in casting everything in a golden glow.

Another weekend spent camping in the Colorado high country is in the books. Once again, moose were the primary focus of my lenses. Each evening and morning was spent watching the big boys as they lazily grazed just below timberline.

For the time being, they are playing nice and getting along but very soon that will change. Within a week or so, the velvet on their antlers will start to come off and soon after that, the testosterone will rage and the rut will be on.

This good-looking guy was initially intent on staying in the shadows making it difficult to get a nice shot of him. Finally, as the sun rose above the horizon, he decided it was time to move on to the cooler environs of the forest and stepped out into the light.

This guy wasn’t too concerned about me but he didn’t care too much for another, nearby bull. As that other bull ascended the hill, this guy was keen on keeping an eye on his potential competitor.

Taken soon after sunrise a few weeks ago, not only do you get a good look at the handsome fellow, you can again see the damage caused by the East Troublesome Fire last October.

What was once a stand of pine is bare above ground level. Beneath though, the fireweed is taking advantage of the sunlight and the moose really seem to enjoy eating it as an alternative to their preferred willows.

Following a full day of rain, the next morning brought fog to many of the valleys in this area of Arapaho National Forest. As I ventured out and navigated the dirt roads, I alternated from clear conditions to visibility down to less than a few hundred feet.

With the fog so thick in the places I had been seeing moose, I didn’t figure I would have much luck spotting them. As I drove back toward camp through a clear area, I saw I was about to enter the fog again and said, “Sure would love to see a nice bull up there on the hill.”

No joke, 10 seconds later I turn a corner and there one is, silhouetted nearly perfectly, tall and proud. Serendipity! With the fog there was virtually no color or detail to the scene so I converted this image to black and white to add some drama and focus on the form of the big bull.

Check out this dude – and notice the drop tine on the right antler. Kind of unusual and in such a nice setting.

• You can purchase prints of this unique image here

Sadly, the surrounding scene around him wasn’t quite as pretty as this was taken within the burn area of the East Troublesome Fire. That blaze last October devastated 193,000 acres of forest and at its worst, threatened Estes Park.

We just returned from six days in one of our favorite spots in Arapaho National Forest, one we knew was well within the burn perimeter. It was very sobering, somewhat sad, but as you can see, recovery has already begun. The wildlife was as abundant as ever and the wildflowers, in this image, fireweed, covered the forest floor more than we have ever seen.

I have tons of pics to share in the coming days but this was by far my favorite. This handsome gentleman and four other bulls were regular visitors within a quarter mile of our campsite and, naturally, got their picture taken a lot. 😉

Who hasn’t wanted to just stick their head in the sand (or the water in this case) at the start of a workweek?

While it could be this pretty moose cow had enough and just wanted to hide, in reality she was just dunking her head to grab water plants off the bottom of the pond.

Moose can hold their breath for over 30 seconds, allowing them plenty of time to find the juiciest greens.

Taken in Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming. Have a fantastic #MooseMonday.

Oh man, I really wanted a good look at this guy. Check out those massive paddles on his antlers and if you look close, he has a drop tine on the left one.

Unfortunately, he did not want to pose on this morning last week. After grazing in the near dark, once the sun came up, he was off and running, disappearing into the trees on the far side of the river.

Nevertheless, I kind of liked the scene he was in with what almost look like “layers” of various foliage from the riverfront willows to the grasses and then the aspens in the background.