We've become used to the icy road conditions during the winter in Montana and had made it fine all the way to Missoula. But...about a mile from Helena on the way home Saturday night, we came face to face -literally- with a huge female elk. Let's just say that she wasn't as easy to handle as the ice! She was standing tall and proud in the middle of the road...that is, until we knocked her off of it! For your information, an average elk cow weighs 500 pounds, stands 4-1/2 feet at the shoulder, and is 6-1/2 feet from nose to tail. We really feel extremely fortunate that the accident was not more serious. We've been through all the possible outcomes in our heads since the accident and are so thankful. I hope that before she died a slow painful death in the cold, she warned her friends about what happens when you stand in the road in front of the Hartleys!
