Photographer says he reported now dead cows when they were alive

While the U.S. Forest Service wants people to now stay away from a popular hiking destination near Aspen, some hikers wonder how no one saw and reported a small herd of cows near Conundrum Hot Springs before they were found dead in late March. The rancher who lost the cattle says it cost him tens of thousands of dollars. 9NEWS spoke to Bill Trampe, the rancher who owned the cattle, on Tuesday evening. "The hardest part for us is the lack of being able to take care of our cattle," Trampe, a third-generation rancher, said. "That really hurts. We're still shaken over it. There is an emotional part of it that continues to drag on us. You get to the point you don't know if you want to continue in the business after something like this." Trampe has been a rancher in Gunnison for 40 years. He told 9NEWS the cows would've lived on the ranch for eight to 10 years, producing calves. "We lost part of our mother cow factory in the mountains this fall," he said. He says the dead cows represent $30,000 worth of cattle. A hiker who's taken this trail for the last 10 years sent 9NEWS pictures of the cows while they were still alive. Bill Kight, spokesperson for the U.S. Forest Service, told 9NEWS the agency did not receive any notice of the animals being stranded until their bodies were found by Air Force Academy cadets snowshoeing in late March. Kight believes the cows came over the Elk Mountains and West Elk, which would've been at least 12 to 15 miles from where they started out in the Gunnison National Forest. "In my 35 years of government service I've never known a situation like this for the cows to come over the entire mountain range down into a different forest. This is a new one for me," Kight said. Kight says Trampe reported 29 cows missing - all but 19 are accounted for and six were found inside the cabin...more