How Close Is Too Close?

Rocky Mountain Elk -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

This, folks, is too close.

I shot this from across the road.  These tourists were as close as they look, maybe ten feet away from this elk.  I'm always amazed at the patience of these beautiful creatures.  I was frustrated with these people but not enough to chastise them.  I'm not a ranger, just a fellow tourist, after all.

This reminds me of another encounter with some even bigger elk in Redwood National Park.

Roosevelt Elk -- Redwood National Park, CA

Rocky Mountain Elk

Rocky Mountain Elk -- Grand Teton National Park, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, ISO: 6400, f/5.6, 1/1600s

Thursday, July 9, 2015.  This would end up being an epic day.  We toured the Northern loop of Yellowstone for the first (and only so far) time.  We saw and photographed elk, deer, hawks, eagles. bison and grizzly bears along with many of the geographical features of the Yellowstone and Grand Teton parks.

This was the first animal I shot that day.  It was an elk (obviously) not too far from our campsite.  Jim was still sawing logs in his tent so I went for an early morning drive to see what I could see.  I was hoping for a moose or a grizzly bear, but I wasn't exactly disappointed by this elk.  Little did I know the grizzly bears would come later in the day.

Dance of the Rocky Mountain Elk

Rocky Mountain Elk -- Yellowstone National Park, WY
Canon PowerShot SD770 IS

This is from a series of photos I took of elk on a ridge as we were exiting Yellowstone one evening this summer.  We counted five young elk on the ridge.  They look calm in this photo but they were anything but that.  They were frolicking in the fading light with this lone mother elk in view.  It was a magical end to what had been an amazing day of sightseeing in this oldest of national parks.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun, image #4305.