Morning Moose
During the morning of the Sunrise at Swiftcurrent Lake our continuation of that plan had been to visit the nearby Fishercap Lake where at the right times of day you can see many animals coming down out of the trees for a morning meal and swim.
I’ll be real with you all, mornings are never my thing, but the transition from that gorgeous sunrise into this short little hike to watch these massive beasts playing in the water, really makes me rethink my life ;-)
I’ve been on several trips (alone) to see various animals in their natural environment but I don’t often get to spend those moments with my family by my side. My children were standing there at this peaceful shoreline watching things we’d only seen in movies, things you’d only dream of after reading a National Geographic article (still dreaming natgeo will call me some day). This is a moment, among a few others, that my children later referred to in their “top 10 moments of the year” as the best thing they did all year. Que the allergies (aka dad tears), but that is exactly the kind of thing I want to offer my kids. Memories and bonds they’ll hold onto for life. I cannot recommend enough the importance of taking time in your lives to just explore this world, and to do it with those you love. I’ll also add that while this adventure sounds like something out of reach, and only in dreams and stories, this was quite the opposite. It took really no special skills, and outside of the camera, no special equipment.
It is one car ride away.
The moose photographed below were 3 different moose. One was there when we arrived, and eventually walked off into the dark woods. As the sun rose a bit higher and fell upon the lake another pair arrived as well to feed and play.
Be sure to check out the follow-up story just below to read about our encounter with a moose on trail as we left!
Mamma Moose
Knowing we were quite literally in the company of moose, and possibly bears we were incredibly cautious leaving Fishercap Lake, and sure enough not even 1/8th of a mile away from the shore we came across a big lumbering female moose coming up from the shore to our trail. The cracking of twigs had us instantly freeze in place and the moose was easily within 100 feet (30 meters) of us.
To further spark the fear of the moment, trailing right at the heals of the adult moose was a baby moose. I put up hand signals to the family, and whispered in a very stern way that nobody move an inch. I’d worried the kids would get overly excited and either make strong movements, or noise, that the mother moose felt was a threat, and we’d be in some painful trouble.
We stood there watching each other and it seemed as though the mother moose couldn't care less at seeing another pair of humans, the baby however looked on with curiosity as you’d see in any toddler exploring the world. Or like you’d see in any 34 year old bearded photographer capturing this awesome moment.
