NORTHWEST ADVENTURE: ELKS OF HOH RAINFOREST It was a beautiful morning in the Hoh Rainforest.
NORTHWEST ADVENTURE: ELKS OF HOH RAINFOREST
It was a beautiful morning in the Hoh Rainforest. We woke up and had oatmeal with peanut butter for breakfast, then we quickly packed up our backpacks to hike out. As we wandered slowly through the forest we heard some noises in the bushes. Alix was the first to notice him. It was what I had been wanting to see for years, a Bull Elk about 50 yards off in the distance. He was partially obstructed by humungous trees but as he pranced away we could see his enormous size. The moment was too precious and I didn’t bother taking out my camera. I was just happy to be here. We waited about five or so minutes to see if he would reappear but he never did. We continued our stroll through the forest admiring the trees, mushrooms, banana slugs and droplets of rain. At this moment we were clueless to the fact that we were surrounded by a herd of Roosevelt elk. They slowly revealed themselves to us as we hiked through the forest. We were ever so quiet, moving in slow motion and rather delicately. If you weren’t paying attention to your surroundings you could easily not see a single elk at least until they were completely blocking the trail. When we finally realized that we were completely surrounded by we were in complete shock. It was just too cool. Leaning just a little to your left or to your right could reveal dozens of elk, that’s how hidden most of them were. We stood there in awe surrounded by babies, youngins and females. Then a massive bull elk lifted his head right in front of us, we were twenty feet away. It took my wife about a minute to even notice him because just one tree blocked her entire view of him. I slowly inched her over until she could clearly see him, then I took a few photos as he checked us out. As he slowly wandered away the elk bugling began. It was magical, a moment in time that I will never want to forget.
Northwest Adventure Post 01: Portland
Tue, 16 Dec 2014 08:59:00
