Elk Fest a Huge Success  (Publisher) - The Elk Fest of Colorado held in Estes Park ever year by the elk has now set people records as well. The elk gather for the annual rut and at the same time the aspen turn bringing even more people to the Estes Valley and Rocky Mountain National Park.

We have been going to this event for many years now and I will have to say even before the official records are out that there were a record number of people at this years event.

The weather this past weekend was particularly good with Saturday being as near perfect as it gets in these parts. There was not a cloud in the sky on Saturday.  This year's gathering seemed to be taking place on the east side of the continental divide. The Grand Lake side had fewer visitors and almost no elk or other animals visible on the day we visited. Which is a rare occurrence.

The elk were out from early morning Saturday until late in the evening. You could find them in almost all of the meadows and many hundreds of people set up their chairs at an early hour and just waited for the elk to appear at their location.

On our way from Horseshoe Park over to the other side at Moraine Park the traffic encounter a large bull and his harem near the side of the highway and no shoulders to pull off onto. This is spelled mess when you are on S. College at 5 o'clock. Here it does not seem to matter for the majority of the visitors.

The bull was determined to move them across the highway off the slope and into the valley. The cows on the other hand were not even mildly interested. It took us almost 10 minutes to reach the event from were we were in line and so the traffic had to be back up for well over a mile maybe longer.

When we arrived at the scene the bull was crossing the highway and that of course calls for hundreds of camera's to go off all at once. Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. The SUV's and car's designed with the moon roofs had kids and young people hanging out everywhere taking pictures be the hundreds.

Digital cameras are the only way to fly. Just shoot and shoot and shoot.

The picture above shows one such traffic jam around an elk herd. Be prepared if you go to be patient and enjoy yourself getting mad will not move the traffic or the elk any faster.

As you can see by the photo they aspen were at their peak this weekend. There is still time to enjoy the aspen but one more week at the 8500 foot or higher elevation will be pretty much it.

All of the hotel folks and merchants we talked to were absolutely amazed at the turnout this past weekend. Downtown Estes was having a people Elk Fest featuring Native American music , dancing and displays along with mountain man exhibits and the crafts that go along with that era.

I can almost guarantee that the Estes Park Chamber of commerce and all it's members were extremely happy. There were as many people on the streets Sunday afternoon visiting stores, eating food and at the park as I have ever seen on any mid-summer evening.

For those of you who do not know about Elk Fest or have never been, Rocky Mountain National Park boasts an elk heard of between 5500 and 7000 animals and the sheer size is becoming worry some. However, the elk seem happy and during the rut time large bulls gather their harems and protect them with a fight to the death if necessary. This occurrence is rare. Especially in the evenings the harems gather in the meadows and the bull bellow at each other to show how studly they are, not to mention show of their beautiful racks. Six points are common and a seven point is a rarity but happens every year if you are one of the lucky ones to see him.

The elk don't just gather in the park but you can see them on the city golf courses regularly and among the house all the time. The are not afraid of humans and have on occasion attacked and caused damage as well as injury. It is not wise to get to close but people do it all the time.

The rut lasts from late September to early November when the deer take over for another month. Oh yes, there are some magnificent deer racks (antlers) to view almost every day in the park.

You can see almost as many elk in the spring when they gather to move to the alpine meadows but there isn't any bulls in the spring like there are in the fall. They are there of course but the antlers are gone and they hang out together and are harder to see since they stay in the trees.

All in all I would say that this years event will set records at least for the number of people attending. The elk are yet to be heard from. My guess is that most every one had a bunch of fun.

Written by Dan Keating  www.go4itmarketing.com