Please. If I ever say I am too busy to go camping, someone shake me till I come to my senses. He's messing with the moiety of this relationship.
The upside of a solo trip is that I pack food that only I like. I eat spaghetti for breakfast. There's not a lot of meat in the food cache. Philo might shrivel up if he doesn't have meat.
My destination was the Boxley Valley in Arkansas, where elk have been reintroduced after dying out several dacades ago. In fact, they've been reintroduced twice. The second time it stuck and the herd has grown and thrived.
The first day I was there it was raining and chilly, but that meant the elk stayed out in the open for most of the day, instead of retreating to the trees after sunup.
The bugling was amazing. From mountaintop to mountaintop, from one meadow to the next, I've never heard so many bulls at once. The mist and drizzle just added to the eeriness and wonder.
Bulls challenged and bluffed and charged and pawed, and...
"Hey. I'm not taking this lying down. Oh wait, maybe I am."
The town of Ponca is located at the north end of the Boxley Valley. People line the road to take photos of the elk. There's a one-pump gas station. There are no restaurants. Elk tourism has not made an inroad into the local economy yet. Take snacks. Fill up the tank before you get there, it's a long ways to civilization.
"Hey there, gorgeous. Want to come over to my meadow?"
"Oh good grief! You bulls are all the same! Can't you see I'm busy?!"
If you like hunting with a camera, this is the place to be.
Happy Trails, and may your adventures introduce you to something wonderful!
3 comments:
looks like you were pretty close! Are they tame?
No, they run away if you get too close, but they're not bothered by traffic or cameras
They do have snacks and drinks at the Buffalo Outdoor Center (BOC). Tourism in this area centers around floating the Buffalo River. However, autumn is not the best time for this due to low or non existent water on this, the Upper Buffalo River.
Post a Comment