When I visit Eagle Creek in the Columbia Gorge, it's usually in spring when the flowers make a great display.  The fall season has its own special beauty I didn't discover until the trip when I took this photo.  On the way back on the trail from photographing Metlako Falls I found another shot looking up the creek with some nice ridges, trees and fog in the distance, oaks draped with Spanish moss, and some more golden trees closer to the camera.  It was on an exposed section of trail on a steep canyon wall.  I set up the tripod and focused, and was ready to shoot. Just then a herd of elk passed by above me on the cliff. I could hear crunching branches as they walked through the trees.  Suddenly a number of large rocks, a few as large as my head, came rolling down the cliff face.  Some whizzed by 30 or 50 feet away from me. I was about ready to grab the camera and run.  Fortunately there was a small overhang right above me that looked like it would protect me if any rocks came my way.  I ducked under it and yelled out to scare off the elk.  They moved off but knocked more rocks down in the process; fortunately they were still fairly far away.  I put one sheet of film in the camera, hunched under the overhang, and took the shot.  Then I tore down the gear and got out of there.  I may have been a fool to attempt the shot.

The difference between elk and people is that if people know there are hikers below them they usually don't roll rocks downhill toward the hikers.  Elk don't care.

The photo conveys a feeling of peace and calm, nothing like the conditions under which it was taken!