This was my first time ever going to The Grand Canyon, so you could say I was pretty stoked!
I got up early where I was staying, in Flagstaff, which is just a little over an hour from the park! I threw on my spandex and USA hat and hit the road! I knew I was going to be going to a lot of parks that summer so I picked up a National Park Pass. It’s usually $20 per car each time, or you can buy the year long pass for $75. It makes more sense to me to buy the year long one!
I had Charles, my cat, with me so I was only planning on staying on the paved areas along the rim. I don’t like to bring him on heavily trafficked hikes, I usually end up carrying him lol. He can be anti social.
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We started walking and within the first 10 minutes or so we saw a beautiful female elk! She was about 20 yards from us. I could feel Charles getting stress, so I put him in my backpack and covered him with my flannel. He enjoys it and it calms him down.
We continued walking and a few minutes later, a guy coming from in front of me started pointing. I looked behind me and Mary, what I named the elk, was RIGHT behind me. She seemed very docile and calm… but ya know I was on a cliff at The Grand Canyon so I was a little stressed to say the least.
I’ve been around a lot of wild life in my days, but nothing like this!
She started to fall further behind and I relaxed. I packed a lunch. Charles and I found a nice rock to sit off just off the side. I let him out to stretch (with his harness and leash). All the sudden my cat starts making this weird howling noise. I looked behind me and MARY was right there!
Luckily I had my bear spray on me, it gave me some peace of mind! I kept it in my hand the whole time she was near. Elk can get agitated and aggressive. I always bring it, even when there aren’t bears. It works for bad humans and other animals!
Not to mention… I was sitting about 3 feet from the cliff at this point. She was grazing and kept moving closer. She started grazing next to me. It was almost like she was a third wheel to Charles and I for lunch lol.
I covered Charles with my flannel and tried to get him into my backpack while she was a little further away. Which worked.
She was still super calm and walked around the little area I was in. When she was about 30 yards away, I got up and went back to the trail. And little to my surprise, she followed me again! Man, I must smell good or something.
She walked right next to me for a long time! Every time I stopped, she would stop. She grazed her head on my shoulder one time (I never touched her, I would never touch a wild animal).
I took a joke picture to make it look like I was being chased to send to my parents hahaha, they had just Face Timed me right before telling me not to do anything stupid.
And to end the day with a bang, I met some Brits who gave me a good laugh! Check it out. (inappropriate satire, don’t worry they were with their parents, they post a lot of comedy videos).
This day will forever be something that I will never forget. I was at one of the most iconic nature locations in the world, and got to be up close to a big beautiful animal. I’m truly blessed!
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