In these photos, two of the elk, a cow and her calf, have escaped the bull by swimming directly out into Shoshone Lake. They swam for a long distance, probably a half mile, directly towards my tent on the other side. The bull, slowed by the burden of his huge rack, was unable to head them off and still keep the other cows in check. I wondered if perhaps they chose to swim towards my camp, knowing that the bull would be reluctant to follow. Note the steam from the hot springs in the background of the photos.

This end of Shoshone Lake is pretty shallow, so once they got within a hundred yards of shore, they were able to start leaping through the water, beating an even faster retreat.

The cows that were left behind are still trying to find a way to do an end run around the herd bull. The other bull has moved in a lot closer by that point, and the cows seem desperate to reach him. It must have been the cologne...