Contentment by design - Living

A couple of weeks ago, we drove with a visiting friend up to Rocky Mountain National Park, which still had the feeling of late winter. We went over to the Moraine Park meadow to try to suss out the aftermath of the Fern Lake fire (which burned down into Moraine Park) and came across a big herd of elk. They're a bit scraggily in the spring as they shed their winter coats, but still magnificent animals.

There's definitely a lot of fire damage, though the meadow itself didn't look as bad as I thought it might. You can see charred grasses in some of these photos. In places where there are stands of trees and shrubs, there was a lot more damage, though there are still many trees untouched. The fire burned very hot up in the canyon, which hadn't seen a fire in an estimated 800 years, because years of drought and beetle damage created an abundance of explosive fuel.

Even after the first significant snowfalls in December, the fire continued to burn under the snow. We didn't see or smell any smoke on this trip, though, so hopefully it's fully out now. I'm not sure what to expect the next time we hike up into that area. Even though I understand that this is part of the natural cycle, I'm sure I'll experience a sense of loss.