I have lived in the Upper Snoqualmie Valley for 22 years and we see the elk herd often in the fields around the community. I previously wrote a piece about them, “The Elk and Our Complicated Relationship.” (link below)

No matter how much of a pest they can be at times, I have never grown tired of seeing them. They are beautiful and amazing to see them in large numbers. The bulls can weigh between 600-800 pounds and cows weigh between 400-500.

Often in the evening, the large heard can be seen in the fields around Highway 202 between Snoqualmie and North Bend. There is a larger field on the north side of the road with a band of trees, and you can see them in the field then a few minutes later they will just disappear like ghosts into the tree line. Sometimes they can be seen on the south side of the road in a smaller field just grazing. I know they must cross the road many times both in the morning and in the evening, but I have never seen this event.

Once I drove by in the early evening, and they were on the south side of the road, I drove around and around hoping to see them cross but they seemed content grazing in the smaller field.

Last night as Chris and I were headed home they were all queued up at the edge of the road in the south field. We stopped but the cars behind us started honking, so we pulled into a gravel lot. The lot was made recently for safety, because Highway 202 has a very narrow shoulder, and it was dangerous when people pulled off to see the elk.

We got out of the car and walked closer, but keeping a safe distance. It was a process, a few elk would get close to the road and cars would honk, or wiz past and they’d recede a little. The elk at the back kept pushing forward and they looked like people do when they trying to get into a concert… pushing in and looking up ahead to see what is holding up the crowd. Finally a car stopped in each direction. It took them about a minute but the lead elk ventures into the road and they all follow.

It was quite comical when the final two cross the ditch, one stopped to inspect or eat something in the middle of the road and then the other stops there too to check out what is going on. They really seemed to not care that cars were lined up waiting on them. They were going to take their sweet time. Finally driver that had stopped first and had been waiting now for nearly 5 minutes, started moving forward and the elk jump out of the way.

I shared the video with some friends and one of the asked me, “Why are they crossing the road?” Ha! – Of course just to get to the field on the other side and because they can.

To learn more about the history of the elk in the Upper Snoqualmie Valley follow the link below. https://www.meadowbrookfarmpreserve.org/meadowbrook-elk-history.html

The Elk and Our Complicated Relationship