hardware ranch 2014

Last weekend, my family and I headed up to Hyrum to a place called Hardware Ranch. My family has been up there a few times and we love going. If you aren't familiar with Hardware Ranch, it's a Wildlife Management Area that is a popular spot to view elk when the animals are wintering in a large meadow. At times, 500-600 elk can be seen there, including some large bulls.
During winter, elk are fed at the ranch to keep them in the high country, out of farmers' fields. Feed is taken out into the meadow on horse-drawn wagons and sleds. The elk become use to the wagons and sleds and are not startled. During the winter, people can ride on the sleds and get quite close, providing great opportunity to view and photograph the animals.

The wind was blowing and there was a storm warning all day for the area, but the storm never came through, but it was still freezing. I was worried that Smith would be too cold and cranky, but we bundled him up and he quickly fell asleep, so he was quite comfortable.

Here are a few pictures that I took. 

 All in all, it was a fun day trip even if the wind was blowing and we were all freezing by the end of it. If you've never been, I recommend going. Its $5 bucks per person for the ride and it's about 30 minutes long.