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Moose!

I’ve always wanted to see a moose. After dozens of trips to the White Mountains in New Hampshire and hours spent hiking through their natural habitat, the fact that I never happened upon a moose seemed odd. Just last Friday, Mr. P and I were half-joking about taking a touristy “moose safari.” Because we were desperate to see a moose.

But then… on Saturday we hiked to the Kinsman mountains (more on peak-bagging tomorrow) through the popular Lonesome Lake area. As we rounded the lake to connect to the Fishin’ Jimmy trail, a young woman was coming rapidly from the opposite direction.

“There’s a moose in the middle of the path,” she half whispered, half hissed to us, looking more than a little scared as she fled behind us. I did a double-take. “A moose?” We walked a few more steps forward. The young woman’s companion was standing in the trail, staring as we were…

At a moose not ten feet in front of us, literally in the middle of the path. He was huge and magnificent, with a curved set of antlers that towered 8 or 9 feet into the air. He stared calmly at us. We gawked in disbelief at him. Just as Mr. P began digging for the camera, the moose took off into the woods towards the lake.

Mr. P and I walked a short distance down the trail, then picked our way through the woods to the lake. We watched the moose walk slowly across the lake and then take off into the woods. It was one of the most thrilling experiences I’ve ever had while hiking. It was as if I had gone on vacation in Los Angeles, saw a movie star in a Starbucks, and they, like, totally smiled at me.

moose

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