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September 20, 2007
No Denying Fall
Bull elk, as seen from my house, yesterday.
The days are growing shorter. The air temperature is cool. The hillsides are filled with yellow swatches of fading aspen. The elk are rutting. Cross country season is in full swing. There was snow upon the mountain tops two days ago. There is no denying fall.
Summer arrived late this year, and fall was right on time. I've spent a bit of time complaining about the summer's short duration and bemoaning this fall's impeccable timing. However, fall really is a nice time to be in the Rocky Mountains, so I'm trying to embrace it.
Our still-developing cross country program will be hosting its first-ever home meet on Saturday. A surprising 9 schools are coming all the way out to the middle of nowhere Montana to race. Quite possibly, we are the only high school who will host a race inside of a national park!
Yesterday, an elk rut battle took place in my yard. It was fascinating to watch the show, and I captured it in photos. I will shortly post a photo-documentary of the two gigantic bull elk (one is shown in the above photo) duking it out for the ladies.
Posted by Meghan at September 20, 2007 11:46 AM
Comments
ye ye Elk Battle and some popcorn :-)
here is a sweet photo...great looking couple
See pic
Posted by: Bob Gentile at September 20, 2007 1:38 PM
http://www.bearmother.com/images/bearmo1.jpg
link dont work on ur blog:-(
on discovery today they did a show on grizzlies
big bart little bart...pretty wild stuff
Posted by: Bob Gentile at September 20, 2007 1:42 PM
The night before the Run Rabbit Run 50, an elk bugled twice. Then during the race, it bugled some more. Once it was so close I swear all I would have to do is run 30 feet off-course and I would've seen it close by on the other side of the ridge.
Won't be long and they'll be doing all over the place all day and night.
Posted by: JeffO at September 20, 2007 3:00 PM
hi!excellent pics from your race.
fall out there sounds so wonderful. good luck on your scenic home course!!
Posted by: Audrey at September 20, 2007 4:49 PM
Meghan,
Thanks for answering the dog questions. I used to try running with our lab - she heels beautifully - but didn't like having to pick up the invariable mess and carry it for the rest of my run. I agree with you about dogs deterring the human animal though.
We got to see an elk battle once at our local free-range wildlife park (NW Trek). It was amazing.
Posted by: backofpack at September 20, 2007 5:34 PM
Good luck with your cross country meet! How awesome - I bet the course will be quite scenic - let's just hope for no wild animal encounters. Now that would be TRUE cross country! :)
Posted by: Beth at September 21, 2007 4:48 AM
That is some backyard you have!
Posted by: olga at September 21, 2007 6:23 PM
LOL! Olga, great post!!
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at September 23, 2007 11:46 AM
LOL! Olga, great post!!
Posted by: corrado giambalvo at September 23, 2007 11:48 AM
What? That was taken from your house? Who needs TV or the Nature Channel? Honestly: YOU WIN. That is unbelievable. It must be hard to get any work done when you have that to gaze it, or do you get used to it?
Posted by: Kendra Borg8675309 at September 25, 2007 1:11 PM