Christy, Saucony and I went to Pennsylvania this weekend to visit her family for the holidays. While we were up there, we decided to visit her parent's fishing camp, which is located in the mountains of northern PA, on a tributary of the Susquehana River. Along the way, we drove through Elk State Park, which is in Elk County (notice a theme here?). We thought it might be a good place to see, yes, you guessed it, elk.
It was early on Christmas eve, and temperatures were approaching the teens as we headed out. After a long drive through the woods, we hadn't seen so much as a squirrel. We reached the end of the forest in a remote valley of the Susquehana River. I had all but given up when I glanced back out the window. There, in someone's front yard, were 6 or 8 elk.
Christy slammed on the brakes and we pulled off the road. We hurried over, camera in hand, to get a closer look. Not too close though, as these animals were huge! They were easily larger than a typical horse. All were males, and one in particular had a tremendous rack. For better or worse, they were pretty tame, and our presence didn't seem to bother them. It was a great experience seeing them, especially since we couldn't get out hiking this weekend.
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Please remember to Leave No Trace!