A little excitement!

Friday, Sept 7, 2012
We returned to our campsite yesterday at lunchtime. We noticed on the way out that most other campsites are empty. Some trailers are still there, but nobody is around. As near as we can tell, there isn't another occupied camp within a mile of us. That's good. No barking dogs, no revving unmuffled ATV's, no chain saws, no shooting. Maybe we will be able to see some natural wildlife. We didn't see any cattle on the way out either; they must must have been relocated again.
We were a little bummed that some miscreant took our hummingbird feeder from the tree where we left it for the 24 hours we were gone.
Last night while we were preparing dinner, I heard some cows lowing in the distance. Then I heard the keening of a bull elk. Close by. I grabbed my binoculars and began to scan. The forest has some pretty clear spaces allowing more than 50 yards of visibility. Whoosh! I saw a tan hide flash through a gap. The elk was flying!
We couldn't interrupt dinner prep, so we decided to sneak into the woods after we ate. And we did.
Casey will know the way we walked because it is the way she drove out to avoid all the mud and rocks from the other road. As I sit here the next morning writing this, the pachinko squirrels are at it again. But last evening as we walked into the woods, we discovered that elk running through the trees sound just like the invisible elephants. We barely got a glimpse of the lone elk I had seen before, when we heard the elephants behind us. We turned and there was a herd running through the trees fifty feet away. They moved fast and we estimated a dozen or more. They stopped briefly in an open area but the bull saw us right away and led his harem up the hill into the denser woods. We could hear them crashing for a while. Then we could hear the two bulls keening for a long time afterwards. It is too bad they were moving so fast. It is the closest encounter we've had with elk.
This morning dawned cloudy and we awoke to sprinkles. We want it to dry out so we can go looking for the elk herd. From the sounds it appears they are still in the vicinity.
Of course, I will probably sprain my neck snapping at every dropped cone.
Today, only invisible elephants.