PITKIN COUNTY ” A collision between a vehicle and an elk calf led to a three-car accident and a traffic jam for upvalley commuters on Highway 82 Tuesday morning.

The accident occurred shortly before 7 a.m., when a car hit the elk, causing a chain reaction involving a pickup truck and another car, said Deputy Renee Rayton with the Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office.

No motorists were injured in the accident and no citations were issued, she said. Names of the drivers involved were unavailable Tuesday morning.

Another deputy shot the wounded elk, which was blocking the left-hand lane. Deputies halted all upvalley traffic briefly, in order to shoot the calf, but traffic crawled past the accident site ” near the Wildcat Ranch turnoff ” for the better part of an hour, as motorists slowed to gape.

Traffic was backed up to nearly the Aspen Village traffic light by 7:30 a.m.

Two other elk, apparently victims of other, separate collisions, could be spotted alongside the highway farther upvalley on Tuesday morning.