Moose!

I had been here four weeks, and hadn't seen a single moose. Friends around me were seeing moose on nearly a daily basis, and they had started sending me emails about where they saw the moose and how it's unbelievable that I hadn't seen one yet. Frustrated, I decided four weeks was enough. I was going to find a moose.

I dragged a co-clerk along with me, and we started at Kincaid Park, a place just south of the Anchorage airport known for its many moose. A friend had just seen 7 moose there a couple days earlier on a bike ride. But alas, we found no moose. We did find a great view of Denali, however (off in the distance, a little hard to see in this picture against the light blue sky):

Undaunted, we drove to the east side of Anchorage, into the foothills of the Chugach. There in the hills is a place called Powerline Pass, where the moose hang out in September and October (their mating season). I was told I couldn't avoid moose if I traveled here, and I was not disappointed. On our way up, we saw ahead of us, about 50 yards, the hulking silhouette of a giant moose crossing the street. When we drove to where we thought we saw it, it had vanished. Luckily my co-clerk also saw it, or else I would have been sure I was being haunted by a spirit moose.

Anyway, here's the pass. Somewhere in this picture, blended into the grass and trees, are moose.

We took a trail down into the valley, towards where we heard reports of moose sightings. Then we saw them! First a female, and then this male:

I got up closer, which was quite nerve-wracking because these are ornery animals in heat. (No, Wally, I was not wearing my moose hat... this is no time to be confused for a moose.) Just before I took this next picture, the bull moose charged at a female moose, who then ran into the brush. It was enough to make me take a few quick steps back. But then he just kinda looked at me and shrugged.

And then, on our way back up the trail, we turned a corner and almost ran into two females who were grazing right next to the trail. It might not be clear from the photos how big these things are, but they were so close that I didn't stop to take this pic. It was a brisk-walk-shot.

In the end I saw seven or eight moose there. Quite a successful adventure, and plenty more moose-sightings to come, I hope.