A walk at 12,000 feet didn’t produce any of the target birds. We did get some white crowned sparrows, horned larks, and American pipits. We also got some really cool elk. They graze the tundra all summer then move down to the valleys in the fall. We saw several herds of cows and calves, and a couple bulls.
Backcountry etiquette requires that if there is a trail on the tundra you stay on it. You don’t want to create any new ones. If there is no trail, you spread out so, again, you don’t create any new ones. Don’t create any new trails and allow any other critters you encounter a wide berth so you don’t disturb them. Apparently our elk didn’t read the handbook. He grazed his way along a course intersecting our path. We stayed on the trail as long as we could, but when he lay down next to it we had to improvise our way across the open ground. In spite of the irresponsible behavior of the elk, the balance of the backcountry was not disturbed. None of us were unduly alarmed.
