I Moose Be Confused

It was near early morning when I heard a loud noise and awoke with a start. Ever so slowly I picked up my pistol, unzipped the door to the tent, and looked out. I felt my heart pounding loudly as I suddenly realized we were very remote and this could be a very serious situation. I think I honestly expected a large grizzly bear as I scanned the campsite for the source of the noise. I saw absolutely nothing. Finally, taking my pistol, and telling David to stay in the tent, I stepped out into the cool morning air. It was then I saw it, and I had been right about the size, it was huge!

At the same time I saw the animal, I heard John give a loud scream as his tent fell on him. In the process of exiting his tent, he had collapsed it! I turned once more to the animal and instructed David to stick his head out of the tent and take a look. There, slowly walking through our campsite, without a care in the world was a very majestic moose. I was surprised at how coordinated the movements of the large beast seemed to be. As the moose got farther away from our site, I had David come out and take some pictures. The noise I had heard must have been when the moose had accidentally brushed against our now cool cooking grill. The fire had long been out and the grill had been cleaned and placed leaning on a rock under a nearby tree.

One of the photos David took is of John as he is attempting to climb out from under his fallen pink tent. The moose is walking in the background, so it looks as if the moose had collapsed the tent on John. Later we had it enlarged and then presented to the man. He keeps it in his den as a memento of his trip. He constantly tells anyone who will listen how an angry moose attacked him. Funny, I don’t seem to remember that part of the trip.

After getting John cooled down, which took some time, we spent the remainder of the morning fishing without much luck. Though the fishing was poor we still had a good time, well, David and I did as we teased John about his tent and wild moose attack. It was a special time for the three of us and we all enjoyed it. Even John joined in with a few jokes and who took the ribbing better after I told him we would move the gear into the “pink house,” and he could move in with us.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. We continued to fish and each day we caught fish. We had great meals and even greater conversations. We told jokes at night and made up stories as we spent hours around the unneeded campfire. It was time of relaxation the days were quickly gone. On the morning of the eighth day the pilot returned and pick us up. As we took off from the lake, and turned toward Anchorage, I noticed my son looking back at that remote spot. I knew then, he would always remember the time he spent with his dad in the backwoods Alaska. It had been a time for the three of us to live by our own skills and we had enjoyed every moment of it. It was a time when David learned that nature is to be enjoyed and respected, not feared. It was the day my son grew up in the woods.

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