Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to MARCH!!!! My header picture this month is a photo I took of the pretty Crocus blooms in our yard... The Crocuses and Daffodils are the first signs of spring here in Tennessee. I am definitely ready for SPRING...

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Elk at Cataloochie

If you have missed any of my posts from our recent trip, please go to my sidebar, scroll down to Labels, and click on Maggie Valley 10/10. This is my 3rd post from this wonderful trip...

As I mentioned before, there were two things which we really wanted to see on this trip (besides being with friends, Neal and Patti). These two things were: to see the Autumn Colors; and to see the Elk at Cataloochee Valley. We definitely accomplished both...

Today, I will show you some pictures of some of the elk we saw ---and then tomorrow, my photos will tell a story!!!!!! We enjoyed seeing the elk ---and hearing them BUGLE was just as exciting as seeing them... We had an awesome time.

Above is a picture of a group of them. Below are more!




This is a picture of a Mama and baby.... Cute, huh?




I was drawn to the males --because of their racks!!!!




The females are pretty too ---and in the groups which we saw this week, they seemed to outnumber the males.




Another beautiful male; Isn't he amazing?




Here are two males in another field.... No ladies around !!!! Guess they were taking a break!!!!! ha




Finally, this is one of my favorite pictures... The elk on the left is scratching his back --using his rack!!!! Neat, huh???

Hope you enjoyed seeing some of the elk from Cataloochee Valley (near Maggie Valley, North Carolina)... Tune in tomorrow for an Elk Story...

Have a wonderful day.
Hugs,

P.S. George and I got good reports yesterday at the Eye Doctor, during our annual check-ups. Our eyes are in good shape----no glaucoma, no cataracts, and no signs of macular degeneration.... That is especially good news for George since macular degeneration is in his family. Praise be to God!

57 comments:

Valerie said...

Glad to hear of the healthy check up!!

You got some great shots of those elk -
I don't think I have ever seen an elk in person - let alone hear the 'music' of their call!

Those racks really are impressive.

So glad you had so much fun!

Jane said...

Love the pictures! Glad that your eyes are doing well!

Jane

NENSA MOON said...

Woww... what a beautiful jungle tour, Betsy!
Love to see those elk with the beauty colorful trees as their back ground...
I just wonder... How far you catch those pictures of the object(elk)...

I also happy to know you both have a good report of your eyes check-up.

hugs,
nensa

Arkansas Patti said...

Congrats on the eye results. Marvelous news especially for a couple who not only like to look--but love to "see."
Laughed out loud at your "rack" comment. Had to be fun to be able to say that about a male and yes, they had beautiful "racks."

June said...

Their antlers are HUGE! What a thrill...I'm happy when I see herds of whitetail deer! ;-p

Kelly said...

...pretty cool when you have a built-in back scratch! Love the photos of the elk. I get excited when I see a deer, I couldn't imagine creeping up on an elk!

Jen said...

How many elk are there? Great pictures. They look pretty comfortable there.

Catherine said...

Wonderful creatures! Congratulations on passing your eye exams! ;)
xo Catherine

Peggy said...

good news on the eye checkup! Love the Elk pictures. Do you know I have never gone and seen them in person but eldest daughter Maggie has. Can't wait till the picture story tomorrow.

MadSnapper said...

the two photos of the males with the big racks are amazing. i would so love to see these elk. I have neer seen one except photos and TV, you were blessed to see them.

diane b said...

You sure did get to see the elk. They are beautiful animals. The rack is handy for back scratching, I wouldn't mind one of them.

Diane AZ said...

They are beautiful creatures. I love your picture of big male standing alone and the mother with baby and the back scratching one...they are all fantastic. So neat to see them with the fall foliage!

Susie said...

Glad to know you both got good reports from the doc's office.

Love these photos Betsy. I don't recall seeing elk before. The males really are magnificent.

Darla said...

Awesome Elk photos...I wonder how the males hold their heads up ....those racks have to be heavy, lol. Lovely news frome the eye doctor.

Cicero Sings said...

Great shos on those elk, built in back scratched and all.

Nice to hear your eyes are on great shape -- me own Mither is legally blind with macular degeneration so I can understand George's concern.

DIGITAL WORLD PAGES ARCHIVE said...

Hello!How are You?!I am very glad to hear healthy check up!!!
What a beautiful pictures!Thank You for so beautiful pictures....

Anonymous said...

Praise the Lord for your good reports from the eye Dr.

I love these photos and I laughed at the elk with the built-in back scratcher. Neat!

Enjoy your day.

KathyA said...

They are amazing!!! And tell George, please, never mind about my question "Do the females have braces, too?" I got my answer!! :)

Sunny said...

These pictures are really fantastic! In the 5th picture, I like how his rack is set against the tangle of tree branches.
Happy to hear all is well with your peepers :)
☼ Sunny

Jeanne said...

Great shots of the elk! We saw a herd of elk last month on our vacation too. It was one of the highlights of our trip and I'll be posting it soon. We too heard their bugles - which I had never heard before. We stayed and watched them until they left the meadow and walked into the forest after dark.
Love looking at all your pictures!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Betsy: Wonderful captures of the Elk, they are majestic. I love the sigle 6 x 6 with the wide spread.

Unknown said...

Why Miss Betsy, are we being a bit politically INcorrect by drawing attention to the males' racks? ;-)

Why did I think elk were only found west of the Mississippi??? Now I will have another critter to keep an eye out for the next time we zip through your mountains on a trip south.

Beautiful pictures, and I can hear them calling!

Ginny Hartzler said...

These are great pictures, the antlers are so HUGE and amazing. How cool is it that you caught one SCRATCHING with his!!! I guess even in the naimal world, the girls outnumber the boys! Too bad I can't hear them!!

I Am Woody said...

Wow! Such beautiful creatures!! So glad you were able to see them:)

Pat - Arkansas said...

Thanks for sharing your elk photos, Betsy. They are elegant creatures, are they not? How exciting to be so close to them. I look forward to your tale.

Big Dude said...

You really got to Cataloochie at the right time - lots of great shots. They are really impressive animals. We were in Banff Canada many years ago and they were wandering around the town streets, so we got some real close up views.

Fred Alton said...

Great pictures of the elk! I remember reading somewhere that elk have been introduced into the mountains of TN. I'll have to google for the info. I'm sure we don't have anything like that near us in the South Cherokee Forest. They are beautiful and would fill up a freezer!

Diane said...

I love seeing the elk Betsy. Is it an elk farm or are they wild? Diane

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

These are such magnificent animals,and your pictures show them well.
Blessings,Ruth

Anonymous said...

I saw some elk in Yellowstone (I think that's where it was) when I was a kid but it was at a distance & I didn't hear them BUGLE! Heheheee
I can't image having to carry around all that weight, especially on my head, every single day! It seems like they'd be miserable! But they sure are gorgeous animals

Congratulations on the good eye report!

God bless you both

imac said...

Beautiful shots Betsy, glad you both got a good bill of health.

Anonymous said...

Dear Betsy, Fantastic pictures of those Elk. Being from the West, I really like seeing Elk.

Have a truly wonderful day!

pam said...

Wow! Those are incredible!

Busy Bee Suz said...

They are all so pretty...and they seem so calm and kind.
So happy you both have good and healthy eyes too.
hugs, Suz

Cheryl @ TFD said...

Hi Betsy,

These are some amazing photos. I think the second one looks like a painting! Looking forward to the next post.

Hugs,
Cheryl

Together We Save said...

Glad to hear your eyes are ok!! Thanks for sharing the amazing elk pictures!

Kay said...

Great photos of the elk. When we go to northern California, we always make a point to stop where the Tule Elk hang out in Del Norte County.

Neal said...

Those two males were just looking for some peace and quiet time and that means no females around. :)

They are beautiful to look at. Patti and I always enjoy seeing wildlife.

SquirrelQueen said...

Great shots of the autumn colors and the elk Betsy. I really like the photos of the males and those very impressive racks. I miss seeing the elk herds like we saw on the coast, there is a herd in this area but I haven't seen them.

Glad to hear you and George got good news on your eye check up.

Anonymous said...

Great news from your eye appointments! I enjoyed looking at the photographs you took of the elk. We have an elk herd here in PA, about 1 1/2 hour drive from our house. We have seen them a few times, albeit not recently.

Unknown said...

So glad I found this blog. Because my accident makes it tough for me to travel I had just about given up on ever seeing elk anywhere but on TV and here you show me a herd not too far south of us. Can't wait until I see my brother in law again. Have I got a destination for our weekend photography road trips! Thank you so much!

Connie said...

Amazing animals, Betsy! You got some really neat shots. :D

nanny said...

Such beautiful animals.......
glad your checkup went well...we knew your eyes were in great shape...we see the results of your perfect vision everyday/ha

Velvet Over Steel said...

Love the pictures!!! The fall colors make the them look like paintings. So beautiful!

So glad that your eyes are GREAT! Esp. so you can keep traveling these awesome road trips & taking amazing pictures!

Have a wonderful Friday, Betsy!!
Big Hug,
Coreen

Sharon said...

Beautiful pictures (although for some reason they never all load completely).

Congrats on the great eye check-ups!

Annie Jeffries said...

Hi Betsy, I'm so happy to meet you. I saw you over at Ginny's earlier today and was going to visit you and then left the computer til now. When I returned, what should I find but a delightful note from you. I'm grinning from ear to ear.

I've been scrolling through your blog and your recent travels. I don't think I've ever seen some many male elk in one place. Even in photos there is the one with the harem. These shots are just staggering.

You and Ginny have followed my path of meeting friends who have been made through blogging. After five years, I'm just loving my blogging world. There are so many wonderful people out there and I've just added another.

Thank you so much for dropping in. I'll be back, you can be sure.

Hugs,
Annie

Pat @ Mille Fiori Favoriti said...

So glad to read that you and George had good exams Betsy!

Your Elk photos are fabulous! They are such magnificent creatures. I saw many out West in Colorado and Wyoming. Boy Scouts often collect the horns when they drop off and they sell them as fund raisers.

carolina nana said...

Great news from the doctor !!
Those are neat pictures of the elk. Why do just some of them have those collars around their necks?
Have a blessed tomorrow
Marilyn

Sue Mac said...

Your pictures are wonderful
Take care
Sue

Jo said...

A built-in backscratcher! Imagine! Delightful photos of these animals which I've never seen in real life. Praise God indeed, Betsy for your clean bill of eye-health. How is your knee? Have a great weekend. Blessings and hugs Jo

eileeninmd said...

Wonderful post and photos on the elk, Betsy! The males are awesome looking and the females are pretty. What a nice trip.

penny said...

What a wonderful gathering of Elk you stumbled upon, Betsy.
One has to be careful when wandering through the wood, you never know who or what you might meet along the way.

Janie said...

I'm glad to hear of the excellent eye checkups.
Also glad the beautiful elk in your photos don't have to worry about hunters coming after them.
The bull racks are gorgeous. I love to hear them bugle.

Kirigalpoththa said...

What a magnificent animal!

Mary said...

The mama baby shot is great! Could be on a calendar. Glad that both of you have good eyes. Always a blessing.

ruthinian said...

Awesome! Amazing! I have not seen such many elk or shall I say a real live elk yet. hahaha thanks for sharing. i love it.

Joe Todd said...

Betsy you know "guys" have to conserve their energy.. "Gals" have all the "get-up-and-go" LOL