Skis, boards and snowmobiles are exchanged for bicycles, dirt bikes and four wheelers. A spectacle in itself, though hardly one worth watching. Big horn sheep at Georgetown seldom even look up. Rambling along the interstate, break lights flashing, jockeying for position, vehicles pass, then repass each other, weaving in and out of lanes at 15 miles per hour, depending on which appears to have the psychological advantage. Eventually I return to converge with the flock, when the frontage road disappears.
Migratory creatures encounter hazards in their travels and the cranes are no exception.
Electric wires and Canadian hunters pose the greatest problems. For those with four wheels on the ground, the challenge lies in sharing the road with thousands like us and weather that can turn a pleasant day in Denver into a blizzard at the tunnel and dead winter on the other side. Soaring in great numbers in the ever identifiable 'V' formation, several groups of cranes often fly together, one group above the other, with no danger of collision. Wandering at the will of inherent impulse, cranes are driven to great distances to repeat a pattern that promises propagation and survival of the species, and they do so with undeniable elegance and grace. Our migrations, less compelling in purpose, and our methods tend to center on what we perceive to be a limited resource- time.