they were safely positioned, we tucked up
underneath them, all four of us now
perched six to eight feet up.
As if on cue, the moose was now in mo-
tion and coming our way. With his head
lowered, his demeanour was calm, cool and
collected as his long, lanky legs clomped
along the shale-covered trail. He tilted his
antlers intermittently, looking up at us to
ensure we were not posing a threat. Now
directly beneath us, his pace picked up
slightly, with his steps becoming more de-
liberate. From our perch, we all froze in
place, being careful not to touch him. He
appeared to be in good health with no scars
or cuts. He had a thick, chocolate-brown
undercoat protected by long, glossy black
guard hairs. His horse-like frame stood ap-
proximately 17 hands tall (about six feet) at
the withers: a gentle giant of the forest. We
figured he was probably a two or three-
year-old bull. We were lucky to spot him,
but I had the wrong lens on my camera to
capture a close-up photo!
As soon as the moose passed us and went
around the bend, he once again was
stopped in his tracks. Another group of
hikers was heading directly towards him
with bear bells clanging, unaware that they
were on a collision course with a bull
moose. Not wanting to startle the moose,
we reluctantly began shouting at the other
hikers to get their attention. They stopped
upon seeing the moose, which was now
trapped between us and them. We did not
advance, and they backed up the trail to
give the moose some space. The moose
found a gentle slope off the trail and gave
way to the hikers. He was passively grazing
on tree branches as we continued up the
mountain to enjoy our day.
Nearing the end of our day, when we
were almost back at the trailhead, a park
officer met us on his way up. Stopping, he
said, “I hear some hikers had an encounter
with a bull moose.“ We recounted the tense
but trusting moment that four strangers
shared, the gentle demeanour of the moose
and how lucky we were, in so many ways, to
have experienced it. We also added, “We
never made it to Bertha Lake, but the
moose might have!”nHolly captured
these shots of
the bull moose
that she and her
partner Brian
(pictured above)
encountered on
their hike.23