We Woke Up Surrounded by Elk in northern California

The basin was completely empty. Recent storms had the OHV network shut down, hunting season was over, and the elk had zero reason to hide. We found the bulls first. Then the whole herd came out into the open along the lake as the sun dropped. Dozens of tule elk, drone light, nobody else for miles. Woke up the next morning to fog. Elk grazing along the lake edge, barely visible through the mist. Then we broke camp and pushed into the mountains. Two bald eagle sightings on the way to the Eel River headwaters. Deep canyon country, game refuge, late winter silence. We set up camp and spent the evening glassing a steep hillside for a resident black bear known to work that slope. And then on a hike back into the refuge we stumbled into a half dozen big bull elk a dozen miles from the rest of the heard. The bear situation you'll have to watch for yourself. Mendocino in winter is a different place. No crowds, no dust, no noise. Just snowcapped peaks, raging streams and rivers, and plenty of wildlife. About the Tule Elk The tule elk (Cervus canadensis nannodes) is California's only endemic elk subspecies and the smallest elk in North America. By the late 1800s, market hunting and habitat loss had pushed the population to fewer than 30 animals — one of the closest brushes with extinction of any large mammal in North American history. A single rancher protected the last surviving animals on his property, buying enough time for conservation efforts to take hold. Today the statewide population sits around 6,000–7,000 across roughly 20 free-roaming and managed herds. The Pillsbury Basin herd in Mendocino National Forest is one of the more accessible wild populations, occupying the open grasslands and oak woodland edges of the basin at elevations where the animals can move freely across a largely roadless landscape. Spring and late fall — outside of hunting season — offer the best odds of finding them in the open and at close range. Get the route guides and GPX files for the Mendocino NF https://bit.ly/overland-trail-guides Overland Trail Guides Overland Trail Guides features North America's most extensive library of curated overland routes. OTG features over 100 overland tracks across the USA, Canada, and Mexico with the internet's most detailed overland route guides. https://bit.ly/overland-trail-guides