Return of the Wapiti

So excited to catch these Elk returning to Valles Caldera in northern New Mexico's Jemez Mountains. Also known as Wapiti from an old Shawnee and Cree word that means "white rump." They go down to lower elevations in the winters, but return as temperatures start to warm up this time of year. Thanks to the bounty of snow we had this winter, the valley will be green this year ..... and the elk happy. This is about 15 miles from Los Alamos and was the center of a volcano millions of years ago. There are many hot springs in the area because of the hot rocks beneath the Valle Grande.

NPS Photo.

These grass valleys seem to be landscaped throughout the caldera, with very few saplings and no lower branches on larger trees. This is because heavy browsing by elk and cattle along with common grass fires kill the lower branches on the various conifers of the area, including spruce, fir and Ponderosa pine. In addition, these mountains are high, and the extreme winter temperatures also contribute to the lack of new growth.

Robert Taylor and Lou Diamond Phillips on the set of Longmire.

The Valle Grande seen in the video here may be recognizable to Western movie fans, as it has been the setting for many scenes since the 70's. Most recently, the beautiful landscape was used in 2013's The Lone Ranger as well as the AMC/Netflix tv series Longmire.