Not the deer

But the elk...in Cataloochee Valley, NC.    

I was scrolling through my Facebook page this morning and saw a post from the Blue Ridge Mountain Life where they had visited Cataloochee Valley yesterday and were able to see the elk as they grazed along the road.   Cataloochee is 3 hours away and is one of the most eastern places of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.   I mentioned it to Jerry and said that we should drive up there as we have always wanted to see them.

So we did.  An 8 hour round trip from 10am to 6 pm.  What a great thing to see up close!   We were watching the bull elk in the green grass by the barn when in the opening appeared one that was even bigger.  I hate that the sun was at such a bad location for photos.  Up until we got to this point it had been cloudy.   Anyway, these two elk meandered in the grass and crossed the road where there was a small herd of cow elk.  The biggest bull proceeded to lay down and roll his neck in a place that we are pretty sure the females have peed.  The hair under his chin was very moist and matted looking.   Courting will be starting very soon!    When we came back through after turning around there was one more bull there but his antlers were much smaller and we think he might have been born last year. 

Elk were almost extinct in this area of the US by the 1800's.  In 2001 25 elk were imported in the park and another group in 2002.  Now there are approximately 200 elk located in the park.    They are protected by the park service and will never be hunted.  

There was a park ranger there to make sure that nothing happened to the elk or those observing them.   You could get out of your vehicle but you had to be 50 yards or more away.   In the car, we were probably 40 feet away.  

The Gypsy dog was home alone and she did just fine.  We made a stop at the apple orchard and picked up a small bag of apples with two new varieties...and some apple cider donuts!    

I love spontaneous trips!