The next morning was dismally cold. Brrrr. Time to pull out the winter coats. We decided to forego Trail Ridge Road and finish our geology field trip at the Alluvial Fan. We had started it the day before after horseback riding, but after lunch the clouds started rolling in and the rain fell. We decided to drive past Sheep Lakes and conquer the geology before rain started again. It was in the air.

Sheep Lakes is in Horseshoe Park, on the way to the Alluvial Fan. It is a glacial valley with mineral lakes that the sheep enjoy. There are signs for sheep crossing and the park rangers work there all day awaiting their arrival. Then the rangers run out and stop traffic, to safely give the sheep the right of way. At least, that’s what we’re told.

This was our first stop last year. We parked and saw other wildlife. From the mountain to the side of us, we heard a sharp chirping noise. Turned out to be a marmot standing on a rock calling the alert…a grey wolf was stalking him. DS was so excited he started yelling and eventually scared off the wolf. We stayed for the ranger talk to the kids on bighorn sheep. DS got to be in a skit about how the lambs are protected by their parents. Then we sang the welcome song to the Bighorn Sheep, perfectly timed to coincide with their arrival. They never arrived. We drove through here everyday to get to various points in the park…no sheep. We had already been through here a few times this year and still, no sheep.

We’ve been looking for bighorn sheep for years. It’s one of those animals that rarely get checked off on the "RMNP Wildlife to See" list. They usually reside in the alpine areas of the mountains where there are no trees. Occasionally they come down the mountain to take in the minerals at the lakes.

When we first came to Colorado 6 years ago, we drove to the top of Pikes Peak. Knowing our best opportunity to see them would be the treeless alpine mountain top, we looked far and near. No big horn sheep. However, at the end of that week, we had been hiking through the trees dh found a bighorn sheep! It was a ram. It was standing with his back to us, but only a few feet away. We were very quiet and excitedly I took a peak…but there was something wrong. It never moved. I finally told dh it was a statue. It took a while for him to believe me… Five years later we saw him on another hike…he was still standing there.

Last year after a few days in RMNP, we spent a week camping in Colorado Springs. Disappointed that we had not seen bighorn sheep, we were determined. As we drove up Pikes Peak, we saw lots of marmots, but no bighorn sheep. After a chilling hour at the top, we started to make our way down. Before reaching treeline, the kids started yelling! They saw bighorn sheep in the distance! We parked near the side and yes, there were a lot of something there. But they were too far away to tell exactly what. Maybe mountain goats? DH got the binoculars out and sure enough, there was a large herd of rams, of the bighorn sheep variety! And they were moving; grazing to be more precise.

Mission accomplished! We stood there for quite some time taking the obligatory pictures, attracting the attention of the other motorists who had to pull over to see what they could see. Fortunately dh’s digital camera had great zoom that enabled him to take the photos that clearly showed they were bighorn sheep!

Therefore, we had little hope of seeing any bighorn sheep as we drove to the alluvial fan. As we drove past Sheep Lakes, I was looking up the mountainside hoping I’d see some wildlife, when the kids started shouting…there were bighorn sheep at the lakes! I hadn’t been paying attention but dh had noticed the flurry of activity of tourists and park rangers. We turned around and parked and sure enough, there they were (not statues). There were 2 ewes and 2 lambs.

They were funny to watch. Because after a while one would get the idea to run elsewhere and everyone else would follow. I could just imagine the leader calling in a high pitched voice, "Oh g-i-r-l-s! Lets try this tidbit over here!"

Eventually they crossed the street to go back to their alpine home.