Va Moose, Bear

Hiking through nature reveals miracles every day.

Subtle and dramatic changes to water level on rivers and wildflowers blooming makes returning to favorite trails, as the old Love Boat theme used to say about cruising, exciting and new, but encountering a huge animal takes the excitement up a notch.  

This summer, a trail through what I'll call the Town Center Meadow not far from our home has become a new favorite, because it is not only beautiful but is also easy to reach.  On Sunday after church, I returned through that field and repeated the South Fork Loop Trail, which works nicely as an extension.

As clouds encroached on what had been a hot, sunny afternoon, I quickened my gait to avoid getting caught in a thunder storm.  Nature decided to slow me down by literally putting an obstacle in my path...an 800 pound animal.

A female moose stood calmly on the trail less than ten minutes walk from my home.  She might be the same one we've seen munching plants outside the window in our yard in prior years, a sighting that always excites us.

She was in no hurry, and I didn't want to rush her.

Eventually I pulled out my phone and snapped a few pictures.

As raindrops began to fall, she strolled casually away.

Condos in the background show how close this is to town.

This is the front side of condo complex seen behind the moose.

The far side of the Town Center Meadow near South Fork Loop.

At this point yesterday, I started to upload snapshots from the last few weeks, because for me this blog doubles as a personal photo album that helps me keep track of what I have been doing with my life.  I took a break from blogging to join Julie on a return to Ousel Falls, which you may recall had a high water level when we first arrived.  I had some photos from June 29 and was going to show those along with new ones I took yesterday on our hike to finish this post.  Nature had other plans.  As we drove home from Ousel Falls, we saw a big pickup truck stopped in the road ahead of us, right next to the field where I saw the moose yesterday.  I thought perhaps he spied the same moose, but instead, it was a bear!

In the sunlight, he looked more cinnamon color, but when Julie took her iPhone photos through the windshield, the images made him look more black.  After a few minutes, the truck drove off, and the bear saw that as his opportunity to run across the street back to the field where I had seen the moose.  What a great show nature is putting on for us this week!

Ousel Falls July 19, 2022

Flashback to Ousel Falls on June 29, 2022

Only Photo Taken July 9: a deer on right bank (look closely) from Bridge to Ousel Fall

Hummocks Trail

Uplands Trail