October Eclectic

Field Notes II.XLII: A few unpublished photos and memories of elk

Welcome to Field Notes!

The half moon shone bright in the clear night sky. A quick cup of coffee helped lift the mist of sleep from my eyes as I carried my pack and my camera outside to my truck. The world still slumbered and Thursday morning had not yet arrived.

I stopped to fill up at a gas station nearby. Fluorescent lights cut the dark to expose the emptiness at the pumps. I stood in the eerie quiet, a lonely figure by his steed, looking outward to what he cannot yet see. I cranked the engine and the tires rolled. There were many miles to cover in the hours ahead.

My destination was the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Was it a race with the clock? I was not sure. I did know that my trailhead destination was one of the most popular in the park and I had to get there early for any chance at a parking space.

Passing the town of Cherokee, North Carolina, I approached the entrance to the Smokies just as the sun crested the edge of the earth. A large field sprawled in the valley at the Oconaluftee Visitor’s Center. I caught sight of his form not far from the roadway at the edge of the field. A huge bull elk with arching rack of antlers casually grazed on the golden autumn grasses.

Cars stopped on the roadside. Looking past them, I saw a large heard of elk scattered all through the field to the distant tree line. An urge swelled to pull over to the shoulder for photographs of my own.

Knowing the challenge of parking at my destination, I traveled on. I had a different mission this day, but it was a brief one. If the elk remained here on my return tomorrow I would take the time and savor the opportunity.

The above episode was this past Thursday morning, at the start of an overnight trip I took to Mount LeConte in the Smoky Mountains. That adventure story is upcoming in Field Notes.

A confession- I’ve been busy and did not have much new to offer this week. I did not have a chance to explore anywhere locally. Though one facet of Field Notes is philosophical hatchetwork, I didn’t want to try to share a rushed essay just to get something out. My ideas need time to ferment.

What I do have is a few photos from October that did not find a home in another issue of Field Notes. I like them and believe they are worth sharing.

The elk were not there when I passed through on my return the next day. Seeing them brought back very powerful memories of photographing elk in the Cataloochee Valley of the Smokies a couple of years ago.

The below issue of Field Notes, highlighting that trip, came out a year ago. However, there are many more readers here today than back then and I believed many of you will not have seen it. It is short on words, but I edited the post to rearrange and re-format the photos for a much stronger presentation, especially when viewed online. At this peak moment in October, I invite you to view some elk in the Great Smoky Mountains from a trip in 2022-

I had been very much looking forward to returning to the Cataloochee Valley this October to visit the elk once more. However, this valley was one of the areas hit very hard by Hurricane Helene. It remains closed to this day.

My love affair with the month of October isn’t over yet!! Like I mentioned, I took a quick trip to Mount LeConte in the Smokies this week. I took a ton of photos! Having learned from the past couple of issues of Field Notes, I did a lot of Trail Photography (as opposed to Street Photography) using my 50mm prime lens.

I haven’t looked at these photos yet, but I may send them out on Substack Notes if they cannot all fit in the adventure story post. So, get on the Substack bandwagon, if you’re not already!

Are you getting something out of Field Notes? Help me make it better! You can do this by sharing, subscribing, or supporting with a paid subscription.

By the way, I’m still offering this PDF ebook to any subscriber to Field Notes, but I’ve encountered a technical problem that I haven’t been able to resolve with Substack. If you can’t download it from the Welcome email you receive, just reply to the email and let me know. I’ll send you a link to it in Google Drive.

Photography Galleries

Store