
Elk, Wapiti - Cervus canadensis (female?)
Female (?) Elk at Kanati Fork Trail. I was finished for the day and descending the trail slowly. I came around a bend and there was an elk in the trail, browsing. It turned and saw me but was not alarmed. There was no way to get around it. I decided the safest thing to do was just stay put and watch quietly so that it always knew where I was. (I had to get down the trail to get back to my car, as there was no other. Dense woods stopped me from detouring around the trail, and there might have been other elk back there.) After maybe 45 minutes it moved on up the hillside. I descended when it was well away from the trail.