Before we left Colorado, we visited the Colorado Wolf and Wildlife Center.  This center was started several years ago by one woman, Darlene Kobobel, with a hybrid wolf/dog pup named Chinook  and a desire to save these beautiful animals.  Over the years she saved more wolves from being put to death and in 2007 moved into the current facility where they house wolves and foxes and educating over 40,000 people a year on conservation and preservation of these endangered animals. 

To get a chance to see a wolf up close and personal, I was all in.  The facitlity is very nice and they have a large population of wolves in a forest like setting.  To tour, you must make reservations in advance.  There were two types of tours, a general tour which we went on, and a more expensive private tour where you actually interact with the wolf in a pen.  Now at first I was very jealous that we didn’t book that tour.  Later I was glad we didn’t.

First let me say, this is a wonderful center.  The good that is done here, educating people, especially children on the facts about wolves and how humans, specifically ranchers on public lands, are threatening their very existence is invaluable.  The wolves are beautiful and well looked after and well loved.  We were educated on fur farms, kill farms and all kinds of other abuse these animals suffer at the hands of humans.  All good and needed.  The tour was great, as we saw the animals in their pens, and most would actually come up to the fence.  But walking around, looking at the animals, Dan and I and the kids, looked at each other and knew something just wasn’t right.  Something was off.  I think when our guide said for about the third or fourth time about going into the wolves pens to feed them and how they would come close to her and then she showed us the pair of Mexican Wolves who had just come in from a zoo in California and no one could go into the pen to feed them, it dawned on us.  Their wolves were domesticated.  They had done such a great job of  rescuing and caring for these wolves, they had domesticated them, taken the “wild” out if you will.  An essentially what is a domesticated wolf?  A dog.

Ok, why do I say this?  The pair of Mexican Wolves came from the California Zoo with very strict instructions: no one in the pen and a very high fence around their pen.  Looking at them you could still see their  wildness, feel their spirit, see the light in their eyes.  The other wolves had lost that look.  They were healthy but they weren’t happy.  They are fed, they never hunt.  They are fed by someone walking into their pens and leaving food for them.  I remember when we were talking to the tiger guy at Ocean World in Dominican Republic.  The tigers were fed, but every so often they turned it into a “hunt”.  He said they needed that to keep their wildness.   If  you haven’t seen animals in the wild you may not understand what I am saying .  After seeing so much wildlife on our trips, seeing their wild spirit, seeing the look in that Elk’s eyes at the Grand Canyon,  their wild spirit really shows through.  And isn’t that why we love them?  Isn’t that what we need to protect?  Isn’t that important to keep alive in our own lives?

I am not trying to dismiss what the Wolf and Wildlife Center has accomplished.  This is a wonderful place and it is great what has been done here: please visit, send donations, support keeping these animals from being euthanized.  What I am saying is that wolves don’t belong in a place like this.  They belong in our National Parks, in our mountains, on our public lands.  We should strongly support and have our congressmen and women strongly support the reintroduction of the wolves back into the wild where they belong.  We need to keep their spirit alive in our hearts, not in a pen.

  Mexican Grey Wolf

  Fox rescued from a fur farm

  The Royal Gorge was still as spectacular as Dan and I remember it as kids.  The suspension bridge, over 1000 feet high above the Arkansas River was still as scary.  We walked across the bride, took the cable car back, rode the tram to the bottom, saw the mountain goats, elk and white buffalo and rode the Merry Go Round.

  Looking at the Suspension Bridge.  Yes you can drive across it.

  The Cable Car. 

  The tram to the bottom

  White Buffalo

  “Awesome” waiting for us.

We really weren’t expecting snow on this trip.  I mean, September 30???  Snow???

Driving from Mesa Verde to Rocky Mountain National Park was tough on our RV.  The roads were  steep, “Awesome” was really straining sometimes. The view was really beautiful.   Then we had the wind. The forecast called for gusts of up to 75 miles per hour and we reached our KOA campground in Estes Park, right outside Rocky Mountain National Park,  just in time.  Even though we were protected by trees and other campers, the wind still rocked the RV.  Dan decided not to use the pop outs that night.  The next morning we still had wind, and storm clouds were gathering over the peaks in Rocky Mountain National Park. 

Our plan was to enter the park, and drive across Trail Ridge Road.  Trail Ridge Road was 8 miles across and  11,000 feet high  connecting the east side of the park to the west side.  It’s highest point was 12,183 feet.  With the winds, the coming storm, we knew this was not a job for “Awesome”.  Fortunately, nearby we were able to rent a very small car.  We  loaded up with drinks, cameras, snacks, and as we found out later, not near enough warm clothes, and headed into the gathering storm.

The roads inside the park are very well marked and maintained. It was easy to find our way.  First stop was the Ranger Station to pick up the Junior Ranger books, and watch a movie about the park and the building of Trail Ridge Road.  It was amazing to me that this road was started in the 1920’s.  How in the world did they have the equipment to do that??   Driving through the park we stopped at a turnout to watch a large herd of Elk, lounging in a beautiful meadow, below a snow kissed peak.  The road climbed quickly, and as it did, the sky got darker and the wind stronger.  Suddenly, the snow came, gently at first, then harder and harder.  Dan pulled the car onto an overlook and  we all got out to see the “view”.  The wind whipped the snow harshly into our faces, making it VERY cold and VERY hard to walk.  We loved it though!  We laughed, jumped up and down to keep warm, and the kids tried to catch snowflakes on their tongue.  Growing up in the midwest, sometimes we would get an early snowfall at Halloween, but snow in September?  Incredible!!!  When we couldn’t bear the cold any longer, we raced as best we could against the howling wind back to the car, laughing all the way.  Along the way we passed a group of young Asian tourists, laughing and enjoying the snow as much as we were. 

The higher we went, the harder the snow came down.  The wind grew stronger and the snow was really starting to accumulate.  We had reached the highest spot, 12,000 feet and we could barely see the road.  I kept telling Dan we needed to turn around.  Not only could we not see, there was a real danger of us getting to the end of Trail Ridge Road (we were almost there), the Park Rangers closing the road and not letting us go back.  If that happened, we would have to drive south, through the west side of the park, then head east, then back north to Estes Park, probably about a 4 or 5  hour drive.  Since it was nearly 4pm now, that would not be a fun time.  But where to turn around?  It was impossible to see.   We couldn’t see if anything was in front of us, or coming from behind us.  One side of the road was the top of the ridge, the other was a sheer drop off.  Good times!!!!!! Thankfully the car was small, and didn’t need much room. Dan took a chance and in a very long 5 point turn, had us heading back down the mountain. As we hit the lower altitudes, the snow turned into rain.   Later, we found out that at 4:00pm that day, Trial Ridge Road was officially closed for the winter. 

We spent the rest of our time in the park at the lower altitudes. There was plenty of see. elk, ealges, and a beautiful lake.  We spent a day in Boulder and found the best bookstore we have ever been in.  It was a local place called Boulder Bookstore and had 4 floors of books, used and new.  We were in heaven!  

Our campground was closing for the season in a couple of days, (another thing we hadn’t planned on) so we knew we had to reluctantly move on.  We spent another day driving through the park and watching the elk.    This was peak mating season and we were warned again and again to stay away from the elk.  For the first time we were able to hear their mating call.  What a surprise.  The sound was a high pitch bugle, followed by a series of yips.  During the “yip” part, the male Elk urinates on himself and that attracts the females.  Go figure.  Tristan and Tessa finally finished their Junior Ranger book, and after some serious quizzing by the Park Ranger, they received their 4th badge. 

With the winds staying high, we decided not to visit Pikes Peak (14000 feet) and instead headed straight for another tourist area, the Royal Gorge.