So hard to pick a favorite day, but this one might have been mine. One famous, but elusive, wild animal in Colorado is the majestic moose. Heather and Andrew have spotted them on hikes a few times in their short time living here, so expectations were high that we'd see one too. To help ensure we added moose to our CO/WY wildlife list, Heather took us waaaay up to over 10,000 feet in Cameron Pass where 600 wild moose are known to live.
The drive alone was totally beautiful! It was through a rocky canyon and hugged a river full of white water rapids most of the way. If we hadn't found moose, just the drive would have been worth it!
Moose are so known and loved in this area, there is a whole visitor center dedicated to them! We enjoyed learning all about the mighty moose and reading the board for where they had been sighted that very day.
So thus, after an informative stop at the moose visitor center, our Moose Tracking Mission commenced! Check out Dave, the moose hunter! It was actually Delia who spotted the first ones off the side of the road as we were driving to the reservoir where others said they saw them!
We pulled over and watched these two bulls munching for a good long time from a safe distance.
It seemed they were moving in a certain direction, which was confirmed by others we spoke with. A group of four bulls was steadily making their way to the pass. So, we made our way there too. We sighted them one more time, running. We stopped and ate lunch, then cautiously hopped on a hiking path that we felt pretty certain would intersect them if they continued traveling in the direction they were.
Success! Shocking success, actually! Out from the woods and right onto our hiking path popped a different moose! He was SO close that when he turned our direction and headed right for us, we actually had to run a bit and follow the guidelines we had learned at the visitor center to put a tree between us and the moose!! We kept teasing Delia that on this day her hiking caused her to be CHASED BY A MOOSE!
We know we saw moose three different times on this day trip and we believe we saw three different ones. Let us know if you need guides for your next moose finding expedition! Auntie Heather's Colorado Wildlife Safari Tours are definitely 5 star! ;)
We didn't just find moose on this day in the mountains, we found some pretty spectacular scenery too. Places where the road opened up to show the mountain range were breathtaking, as were the fields of wildflowers and alpine lakes!
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