Hualapai Mountain Park, June 8, 2021

Early on I came down a hill and one of the biggest elk I’ve seen was about a gully away, “Hey I’m cool if you’re cool,” I said, and took a few photos. The animal’s eyes stayed on me like there wasn’t anything cool here, so I left.

Later on the same beauty was around the bend from me and looked up like, “You?!”

A mile or so later, I was concentrating on the climb and wondering if this was too much to do after a hard 20+ on Sunday when I looked up to see a different but just as enormous elk looking up at the same moment as I did.

We surprised each other, and with minimal effort, this giant bounded away.

The sound of all that weight and muscle moving that fast was wild to be close to, as invigorating as it was surprising, a real blessing to have on my morning.

Other than being remarkably gorgeous this run was a bit of a slog. Sometimes they have to be, so I loved it. Bummed the Hualapai summit trail was closed due to fire danger, a lot of the damage is very fresh in the area, but I still got what I came for, and then a lot more.

Couldn’t have asked for a better lens flare, so subtle.