After 200 years, elk are once again wandering the high ridges of the Great Smoky Mountains. After being re-introduced to the Cataloochee Valley in 2000, the population grew and slowly the elk started to move beyond the boundaries of the valley. They're now showing up across the eastern end of the park, but are most often seen either in Cataloochee Valley or in the Oconuluftee region near Cherokee.
On this day, we had ridden across the Parkway to visit the Heintooga Road that cuts off of the Parkway and meanders down to the Big Cove region of Cherokee, via the Round Bottom one-way dirt road. The large bull in the photo above had staked out the grassy roadside near Polls Gap as his own personal kingdom.
In the photo below, the bull charges out of the woods by the road to round up his harem of cows. We stopped to enjoy the show.

On the way over the Parkway, we stopped near Mt. Hardy to pick some of the world's tastiest blueberries....

...and to enjoy the spectacular views of the mountain ridges that marched off to the horizon.

It's not a bad way to spend a summer's day in the mountains of western North Carolina.