Trail Tale for September 2, 2004

September 2, 2004

Maine's beauty unfolded before my eyes today as I began my hike with temperatures in the low 40's. The puffy white clouds draped themselves in the varied shades of blue skies. The mountain air, although chilly, invigorated me. I hiked past several ponds today and enjoyed the glistening sun on the water. At one pond lay two canoes with lifejackets begging to be paddled. So I did. I took a solitary ride in a canoe in a very remote area of Maine.

I hiked on and was thinking to myself, "My trip would feel complete if I saw a moose in the woods." Not more than five minutes later, I glanced up and spotted a HUGE bull moose! I had not seen another hiker all day long so when I saw the moose I reminded myself that I was in HIS woods. I found a tree to hide behind for safety as I reached for my camera. The moose was munching on something and turned to look at me. I snapped several photos and reached for my cell phone which is a picture phone. I wanted to share my moose sighting with my family so I took another photo with my phone. The moose cooperated. Wow..."I think he likes me," I thought. I then pondered my predicament. The 1,500 pound moose was straddling the A.T. where I, at 115 pounds, needed to hike. Hhhhmmmm. I crept up, tree by tree, to see how the moose would react. He looked back at me again and went up into the woods. I hiked onward warily knowing that the moose had the capability of pulling up behind me pretty quickly. What a spectacular encounter I had today in the Maine woods!