I was finished shooting with my camera and decided to go for a short walk down a forest service road a few miles off the pavement in the Grand Teton National Park.
It was early May and the snow was still on the ground in lots of places. My fellow photographers were still busy with their cameras, so I put my equipment in the car and headed down a wide service road for a short walk with my bear spray on my belt.
With a fast walk, I went over one or two rises in the road. Looking ahead I blinked a couple of times to comprehend what I was seeing: A female elk running very fast towards me, head up and eyes wide open still about 30 yards away from me. As I taking this in, I realized I was standing right in the middle of her path, and she was bigger than me. Then everything changed.
Over the crest in the road behind her appeared a light colored wolf also running very fast behind the elk. And I realized I was standing right in the middle of their path, and they were bigger than me. Still running full speed at me.
The next moment, the elk locked her eyes on me and veered off to the left, though the tall sagebrush and disappeared into the trees. I was still standing there with my mouth open when the wolf comes running forward, sees the elk disappear and sees me standing in the road. My turn for a moment of fear. It stopped, surprised as well to see me, turned around and disappeared back from where it first appeared.
I stood there for a moment taking in what I had just witnessed, with my mouth still open I suppose. I realized I may have just saved an elk from dying that day.
I retrieved my camera and followed the tracks. The melting snow soften the earth that made some good hoof and paw prints. I saw the moment the elk walked onto the service road. A few yards down the road and the large wolf tracks entered the road from the other side and followed the elk. Then there was the moment the elk saw the wolf and the tracks suddenly dug deeper into the earth–the chase began.
I am always honored to see such moments of life in the wilderness.