Alive After An Elk Encounter

Hello from Cody, Wyoming,

How was your day? We have had quite a day. We met Lucy and Steve at Ernie’s Deli for one last breakfast sandwich and a last goodbye. We’ve had a great time exploring the country with them. They are on their way to Bozeman, Montana, and we are on our way across the USA. We decided to take the northern route out of Yellowstone and went out the NE Entrance in hopes of finding a bear but no luck.

But we did have quite an adventure in Mammoth Hot Springs. It is the park headquarters and there are always quite a few elk lurking around. As we walked toward the gift shop we noticed a huge Bull Elk on the ridge looking down on us and bugling. He looked quite magnificent and Paul took lots of pictures. We kept walking and checked out the gift shop and Paul got some coffee. On the way back to our RV, we talked to a Ranger and he mentioned that ELK # 10 was down the way we were walking and to be alert. We started in that direction and were just innocently walking along. Well, pretty soon we saw another Bull Elk coming our way. He had quite a rack-that means he had lots of points on his antlers. Anyway he kept coming our way so we got on a porch behind some lattice work that we thought would protect us and he wouldn’t notice us. Well, silly me kept taking pictures and my flash was on which I didn’t realize. Soon he was about 10 feet away and kept eyeballing us and bugling. Finally a nice lady named, Martha, who lived in this house opened the door and asked us to come in to protect us. Of course, you know how I am about pictures and I kept taking pictures and pretty soon he headed our way with his head down and eyeballs flashing-yes we were that close-we both rushed inside Martha’s home. She was lovely and we thanked her for saving us. She had lived here for 25 years and loved the place. We asked about summer employment and she said there would be no problem getting hired. Finally it looked safe and we walked to our RV. The elk was resting nearby and ignored us. Another Ranger said we were lucky we weren’t killed so that’s the story and I stayed pretty much inside the truck for the rest of the day. I learned my lesson and will stay at least 75 feet away from all wildlife. That’s what the ranger told us to do. (Paul here- that is an unembellished account of our elk encounter.)