An encounter with a mother

So as some of you know, I am now back in Alaska. The trip was good and we saw lots of bears. As others of you know when in Alaska, I spend my Tuesday nights doing this:

Or in other pictures, this:

For those of you that have no idea what this and this are, I go hiking. It is one of the things that I look forward to most each week. This last Tuesday a group of us went up Wishbone (in Sutton). My mom and I were the first up what is known as the chute and so due to the narrowness of the trail we continued on ahead while the rest of the group headed up. We were on a ridge-line of sorts, and were not really talking. I was going down the trail first when I came upon one of these:

I immediately pointed it out to my mom, and we both started talking. She to me, and me to the moose. Here moose, moose, moose...in a very conversational polite tone. I asked the moose to please let us past as we were not going to hurt it in any way and we were almost at our destination. While talking to the moose, we kept walking. The moose just looked at me. Then the moose started to paw the ground and huff and puff at me. She put her head down and was giving every sign of unhappiness at my position.

I turned around and said to my Mom, we should go that way, and we should do it fast. I pointed to where we had just come from, and then proceeded to help her along with my running into her. The moose just watched. We got a safe distance away (aka I could keep my eye on the moose and she could do the same for me) and waited for the group. They caught up, and I again walked toward the moose, and got the same results. Then I saw one of these:

That explained all. We ended up bushwhacking our way around, giving her plenty of room, and then continuing on our way. An adventure worth having, and one more thing that I can now say I did.

By the way, the 360 degree picture at the top was worth every huff and puff from both me and the moose. Oh and my Mom is coming with me again next week.