I read a newspaper article in the last year or so that talked about St. Vrain State Park and how someone saw a moose there. I knew that my chances were next to nil to spot one, but I was intrigued nonetheless to check the place out. After all, I had drived by it so many times on Interestate 25 that I figured I ought to stop in for a visit, even if for a brief period of time.

Before going I printed out some online directions and information about the trails in the park. To put it bluntly, the trail selection pretty much sucks unless you like walking around little ponds. I can't say it's something that interests me much, but then I saw one of them was named "Bald Eagle Pond." This caught my interest as I've been wanting to see some bald eagles in the wild for quite some time now.

My excitement was increased when I spoke with a ranger as I pulled into the park and she told me there was a nest in a tree just a quarter of a mile away from where I could park. She could even see them from where she was, and pointed to the tree telling me the mother was watching her chicks at that time.

I hustled out of my car, grabbing my camera and coat as I went, and made for the tree that sits on an island in the middle of the pond. I stayed back on the trail and off the ice, not wanting to spook the birds, and looked the whole thing over. I moved from one angle to another as I inspected the tree through my camera's view finder, but never once saw anything any bigger than a sparrow.

In the thought that the mother left the nest to hunt, I decided to finish the mile-long trail around the small pond and come back to the best viewing spot. Unfortunately the sun was setting and the temperatures dropping so I couldn't stay any longer than I did, missing out on yet another chance to see the eagles in the wild. My hopes were dashed and I was disappointed in the opportunity as the most exciting thing I saw was two guys ice fishing.

Before I left, I drove through the park a bit to check things out. I was quite disappointed in the rest of what I saw, not understanding how this newspaper article had actually praised the park, as it just seemed a collection of small ponds right next to the freeway with campground spots for use. What made it worse was that it appeared some people were actually living in these spots year round. I'm not sure how that's allowed in a state park, but people actually had potted plants out next to their trailers, along with all kinds of other things, making it appear as though this is where they came home each night.

Oh well, I guess each Colorado State Park I visit can't be more of a favorite than the one before.