We took our time driving to Townsend, stopping in Franklin for lunch, and then going through Cherokee and planning to take scenic US-441 across the mountains. Just past the Blue Ridge Parkway we were stunned to see the largest herd of elk we had ever seen. We have seen only one or two solitary elk in the past on this road, and none at all on two trips to Cataloochee Valley where they are supposed to be. But here, unexpectedly, 15 or 16 of them were grazing calmly out in the big pasture next to the Oconaluftee Village Visitor Center on this side of the Great Smoky Mountains.
A young woman in the Visitor Center was counting heads as I had done. "That's a big chunk of the herd!" she said. Then, as we were watching, several visitors came running in alarm from the direction of the restrooms, and the big bull elk himself appeared, striding majestically through the midst of us to join his herd. He definitely owned not only the herd but all of the real estate.
We arrived in Townsend late in the afternoon, texting some of the others on the way. We had arrange to pasta-load Friday night at Brianna's, a tiny Italian restaurant that had been nice enough to make reservations for us a week ago. The food turned out to be hearty and delicious, and our waitress Kim was especially nice to us. An athlete herself - a distance swimmer - she appreciated our need for nutrition and our good spirits the night before.
"This feels like a race," Martha said later as we unpacked our running clothes for an early start in the morning. "I feel like we should have race numbers." But it was going to be a fun run and not competitive, some planning to walk three miles or so, some planning to ride bikes, some planning to complete the entire 11-mile loop, and one dedicated marathoner, Anthony (black shirt center) planning on completing two loops in preparation for a marathon a month from now.
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