What a great day! I had low expectations going into the hike, and I ended up spending a lot of extra time practicing on a pair of birds. Several times after stopping for birds, something else happens that I feel like wouldn't have occurred had I not gotten distracted birding. After the Vieros flew away, I decided to hike back and I couldn't believe that I saw another long-tailed weasel. It was gone in an instant, so I walked around the willows trying to spot any movement at all. Nothing. They are so hard to keep track of, so I went back to the original spot where I saw it first. I waited for 10-15 minutes and I thought I started seeing a little movement through the dense willows and snow. There were at least two weasels, and one of them came out to give me a closer look. I couldn't believe that it ran right up to me. With all the grass, shadows, tree limbs and nearly perfect match to the snow... it was pretty challenging for me to maintain focus on it. I missed a lot of other good shots, but at least a handful came out decently sharp.

I had no idea that this wasn't the end of my encounters for the day, though! While driving out of the park, I was scanning the terrain left and right for anything else that might be around, and I caught a glimpse of the unmistakeable outline of bighorn sheep up the cliffs. I counted at least ten individuals, and my instinct is that there were several more out of sight. I never saw a dominant ram, or any other full curl males... which is why I'm pretty sure the rest of the group was a little higher. It was nice to see a young ~8 month old sheep with the group. It's super tempting to go back early tomorrow and hike up somewhere that offers a better view. Fantastic day out!