EARLY MORNING ELK.
Day 348 – We got up early this morning to take a drive to see the Elk at sunrise. We were told that the Elk leave the Viewing Area every night to go off into the hill country, then return every morning as the sun rises. We got there just as the Elk were crossing the road.
They headed off into the trees and began bellowing back and forth. Since it’s a Saturday and the Elk Viewing Area would be crowded tonight, we thought the morning would be a better time to see them.
Since we were already on the Wildlife Refuge’s self-guided auto tour, we decided to spend the rest of the morning driving the tour roads. It was 49 degrees when we started and sunny. We saw several different places where campers had pulled off the road and were camping, including when we were looking back from the hill at the camping at the Elk Viewing Area. The scenery was nice and it varied, from views of the Missouri River and the surrounding hills to Birds, Cows, Deer, Prairie Dogs, Rabbits, and Hawks, plus some of our friends, the Grasshoppers. By the time we finished the drive and got back to the RV (4 hours later), the temperature was up to 65 degrees with clear skies.
Back at the RV, we had lunch, then spent the entire afternoon outside in the screened tent. The adorable Rabbit that visited yesterday came back again. The high today was 80 degrees.
