Nature Notes and Our World Tuesday: more NC mountain shots

There was a large pasture with elk that I photographed before walking on the Oconaluftee River Trail.

There were signs that said not to go into the pasture and that it was dangerous to approach elk, especially during calving seasons.

In spite of the signs someone aggravated the elk to the point of one charging.

A police or ranger with flashing lights came onto the pasture and got between the tourists and the elk.

The elk went in the other direction and everything calmed down.

I photographed the whole sequence of events but have so many shots for my combined nature notes and our world post that I'll skip the police with the strobe lights getting between the elk and tourists.

Many shots are from the car and I particularly like the ones on the back country dirt road in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.

There was a big difference between fall color from higher and lower altitudes.

I can't think of the name of the next plant I spotted in the forest but I like it.

I also love furry moss.

I have gotten used to only posting one or two shots for most of my photographic themes but since I returned from vacation my posts are longer and longer.

I found it hard to narrow down the photographs I liked the most.

The conditions were so good for photography.

A lot of our fall trips to the mountains have at least some rainy weather.

This year it only rained a little bit one night that we were there.

There was such a great mix of beautiful skies.

I think I posted some similar shots for sky watch but not the same shots.

The only time we saw very many people was at Clingman's Dome but we were early enough to miss the heaviest crowds.

We timed our trip so our hikes would be on week days when there were less people.

Also the back country dirt roads we used part of the time were almost completely empty with a few exceptions.

I took the next shot in the back yard of the motel we stayed at.

I like the bridge in the next shot.

I love waterfalls of all sizes and shapes.

We saw most of the waterfalls on a Sunday afternoon walk a week ago.

I like the colors in the water below.

One last shot and I'll stop.

Click for Nature Notes and here for Our World Tuesday.