On Day 2 of this trip to Colorado National Monument, I set out to find the large group of ewes and newborn lambs that I had spotted the prior afternoon. They were out of reach yesterday, but I thought that I would be able to find them the next morning in the same general area.

I hit the trail very early and quietly hiked back to the same cliffs and canyons. The terrain can be tricky to follow, but eventually I was sure that I had hiked to the same spot. They were nowhere to be found. Evidence in the form of hoof prints and droppings was all around, but they had moved on elsewhere. I counted at least six baby lambs yesterday, and newborns were my primary objective on this trip.

Based on what I could infer from the herd's movements, my instinct told me that they were either to the south or to the east. I decided to head south, but I wasn't ever able to find them.

Luckily, though, I happened to bump into a nice group of rams. It was very quiet out and given the direction that I came from, they had to have seen/heard me hiking their direction for at least thirty minutes before I saw them. It's amazing how well they can blend into the terrain.

When I finally noticed the group, I was already fairly close to them. Of the eight that I could see, all except one was very relaxed about my presence. The youngest was nervous, but all the mature males didn't seemed concerned about me one bit.

The young male relaxed and sat back down like the rest of his group. After reading the situation a bit, I decided to hike away to the east in hopes of better light and backgrounds. Slowly but surely I made my way to a better vantage point. They showed no reaction to my movements and all remained seated. Slowly I climbed up a blind cliff in hopes that I would be in the right spot and that the rams wouldn't run off when they eventually saw me again.

I got up the cliff and was in the best spot that I could hope for, given the steep/forested slopes. I only had a clear view of a few of them, but that was the best that I could expect. For a while, I thought they might have not have even realized that I was there. But, they definitely knew I was there -- they just didn't care. The youngest one would occasionally show his nervousness, but the elders went on about their daily lives of napping, scratching, grazing and sunbathing.

Eventually they would all get up and walk around. I mostly stayed put once I got up the eastern cliff, but I re-positioned a few feet here and there to try and get a cleaner look at the rams. Several of them approached closely, and after around two hours I decided to head back.

Gorgeous morning and a fantastic little encounter with some very relaxed bighorn rams. I might not have found the herd with newborns, but this was a great consolation prize. The next morning, I would find the lambs, so it all worked out in the end... especially since these shots turned out to be some of my favorites from the trip!