Bighorn sheep are such great animals to photograph. Besides their powerful presence and scenic habitat -- I love that they are usually so confident and comfortable. It makes for great photo opportunities, but that doesn't necessarily make it easy to get a great shot. I took a chance and drove up Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park in search of bighorn, and I spotted a couple rams in the distance almost exactly where I had hoped to see them. They were a little over a mile from the road and much higher up the mountain, but I decided to see if I could navigate through the woods to find them up above treeline.

At first, I hiked for a mile in search of them, but returned to my car thinking maybe I was mistaken. I drove around a little more and that's when I saw the couple again but this time much further up already. I decided to set back out, and I spotted the first ram after hiking another mile and climbing around 1,000 ft off trail. From the road, I swore that I saw two -- but pretty soon I saw a third, fourth... maybe ten. Eventually I counted nearly three dozen.

Their first reaction to me was uncertainty, with a short retreat before coming right back and then approaching a bit closer. They quickly went back to grazing without giving me much attention. The light was great, but the conditions were a bit challenging. I needed my tripod to make the most of this opportunity since the wind gusts were so tough and I was so physically tired after hiking up the mountain. Subsequently, these images aren't nearly as sharp as I'd like, but it was a great photo opp and another good learning lesson. I'll have to go back soon with the tripod and hopefully calmer conditions. Gorgeous creatures to see in the wild.