MOOSE - 17

08.17.14

The title says it all. Out of all the things that happened, the best thing was, yes, the moose we saw! We were on a trail to Red Rock Falls, and there was a lake on the way. The whole way down the trail, people were saying, "there's a moose!" or "we saw a moose!" and it motivated us to walk faster and less tirelessly. But would we see it, or would we miss it? We had already seen a moose on our vacation, but people were saying that this one was big. I was nervous that we wouldn't be able to see it. But when we saw a huge group of people huddled on the trail, I was so relieved. People holding cameras meant an animal. And that animal was likely to be the moose everyone was talking about. Was it big though? In my mind, I'd imagined a huge moose with huge antlers. I hadn't seen a moose with antlers yet, and this had to be it. I crept closer, peering over heads. And there it was. The biggest moose I'd ever seen.

He's smiling!

It was chewing calmly on grass, while cameras clicked around it. Occasionally, he'd shake his head, trying to get rid of bugs. And when he did that, the antlers shook. His antlers were huge. Try and imagine the biggest antlers you can on a moose... and multiply that by 2. That was how big his antlers were. I'm not even exaggerating. Actually, maybe just a little bit. And his body was just... big. There's no other way to describe it. Enormous, gigantic, colossal, pick any word and they all fit the description. It was quite amazing to see such a large wild animal acting so easily around so many humans. I think we were way more awed than it was. Finally, after it got bored of eating the same grass, it went back into the forest where we couldn't see. And that was it. It seemed like everyone let their breath out, knowing they could make sounds now. And then we continued on.

What a cutie.

The falls weren't amazing, considering what we had just seen. They were only mediocre. I was still breathless from seeing the moose. And now I wanted to see a bear. Close up, not just from really far away. Unfortunately, the only animal we saw that day was the moose. But the moose was good enough. It was a close encounter, and a big moose. I was really happy. This might just be a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and I had experienced it.