My daughter recently returned from a camping trip in Rocky Mountain National Park, not too far from this ranch. Aside from an elk, they saw few “large” animals on the trip.
We were there a few years ago staying in Estes Park. We found the spot where you could watch the elk herds at dusk across an enormous meadow. It was pretty cool. Next morning my wife went out for an early walk around our B&B and came across a bull elk and his narem of 6 or 7 cows in the neighborhood, far too close for comfort.
Poor kid in this story. I can’t imagine waking to the crunching sound of your skull in a bear’s mouth. I hate the sounds and vibrations of a dentist working on a tooth!