I grew up hearing intriguing stories about the Ozarks. When I heard there were elk in the Ozarks, I had to go and see for myself! The last thing we expected to find was a most amazing barn emerging out of the fog.

We were planning to fly from Utah to Florida to purchase a vehicle then drive it home. Secretly, it was an excuse for a photography trip. During my research I learned about the Boxley Valley elk herd. I grew up in the west and it wasn’t common to hear about elk in the east. This made it a “must have” to drive home through the middle of Mississippi.

Vehicles make for exciting adventures in our family, but that’s a story for another time. on this particular adventure, we were an hour north of Fort Lauderdale driving at freeway speed when a piece of trim blew off the side of the windshield. As I pressed the brakes heavily to pull over, the front brakes suddenly transitioned to bare metal.

After finally coming to a stop and retrieving the trim piece, we cautiously drove to an Auto Zone. In my mind I had planned to buy the necessary tools and some brake pads, do an emergency brake job in the parking lot and be on the road in an hour. Piece of cake, right?

It turns out that most of the lug nuts were rounded off, meaning I could not remove the wheels with a simple socket. By now, it was after 4pm. I started calling auto shops. We were so blessed to find an auto shop just a mile away. They were willing to take care of us right away.

Because of the delay, we pulled into our hotel at 1:00am, do-able right? Well…

We had to get up at 4am so we could reach Boxley Valley by first light. When there are great photos waiting, we do what it takes to make it happen!

As we wound through the tight mountain roads in the dark, our headlights bounced off the trees at every curve in the road. After a considerable amount of time driving, we finally crested the summit.

The morning light was upon us and we could see miles of green below us. As we descended down the windy mountain road, we dropped into a blanket of fog, prompting us to use our new brakes so as to not outrun our visibility.

I was so excited when we reached the narrow valley further down the canyon. This was the end of June and the bull elk had about 4 months of growing time for their horns. They would be in full velvet for at least another 1 ½ – 2 months. There is nothing more impressive than seeing a bull elk in the velvet.

As we slowly drove around a curve, the fog started to break up in places. We could see the canyon had opened up to a narrow valley. I looked across the field and to my amazement, there was a herd of elk, grazing on the lush grass.

We found a spot to park off the road and I pulled my camera out. The elk were feeding away from the road and deeper into private property. My time with them was short but very exciting! Our tight itinerary meant I only had this morning with the elk. The trees that lined the fence made for some very artistic images.

The valley was beautiful with lush green grass and miles of trees on the edges of the fields, with spots of fog rolling in and out of the clearings. There was a little rural community here with quaint little houses. As we drove further down the road, we ran onto a few other photographic surprises.

Among them, was the coolest barn, set in the lush grass next to a pond with a backdrop of the fog rolling through the trees. I saw this as a great panorama opportunity and immediately set to work!

We came away feeling rewarded for our adventures through the Ozarks. I have one of the elk pictures on my office wall. As for the barn, well I haven’t found a spot yet, but maybe you have room on the wall in your home!