Seeing My Mark AND a Moose!

We have determined that this 8 day separation is the longest we have been apart since we were married 34 years ago, and the circumstances made it a tough time.  But all of you that called, texted, or messaged us while we were going through it, reminded us that we weren't alone.  Even though she kept telling Mark that she would be fine and he should stay in Oklahoma as long as he needed, Denisa was pretty excited when he was able to get a flight back to Salt Lake!  Of course he hadn't slept in two days when he arrived home.  Two nights before he left, he stayed up all night in the hospital room, hoping his Mom could get better sleep.  The next night was spent driving to Dallas to get a direct flight to Salt Lake.  Two nights without sleep meant that he was really tired when Denisa picked him up.

He intended to take a nap, but didn't fall asleep, so we decided to do some quick exploring in the mountains close by.  Denisa googled, "Best hikes in Salt Lake City" and then we headed up Big Cottonwood Canyon to find the googled trail head at Brighton Ski Area.  Since it was smoky when he left 9 days ago, Mark really didn't even see the Wasatch Mountains that line the east side of the city.  He was surprised to see how big and pretty and close they are.  These are the mountains that have been taunting Denisa to come play for a week, and she was so glad to finally be in them!

Mark is standing in front of Martha Lake, one of four mountain lakes we would see on this 5-mile hike today.  We were around 10,000 feet in elevation and hadn't hiked in the last nine days, so we took this hike slower than usual.

 






We talked to another hiker that owns a cabin nearby, so he hikes this route often.  He mentioned that moose usually hang out at Dog Lake, which is a short detour off the trail.  Since we haven't ever seen a moose in the wild, we made the dog-leg to Dog Lake.  We were very disappointed to see that it was moose-less today.

Then we met another group of hikers that excitedly told us they saw a Moose cow and her calf when they got close to the farthest lake--Catherine Lake.  So now it was full steam ahead without breaks to find them.  However, we got all the way to that beautiful mountain lake nestled below Sunset Peak without finding a moose. 

We love to get local tips about wildlife, but again we felt disappointed instead of really enjoying the beauty of this place.  We found that hunting moose (with a camera) is a lot like hunting Easter eggs.  We got extra exercise thoroughly scouring the area around Lake Catherine looking for moose, but finally gave up and headed back towards the car.

Denisa wasn't sure why, but on the way back Mark decided to climb up a ridge to get a better view of the area.  When he started gesturing wildly for her to follow, she realized that he had found the Easter egg!

When he climbed over that hill, he almost walked right into the young moose.  Mark was worried that it would run away before Denisa got there, but it was perfectly content to stand quietly for pictures even though we were quite close.

Since it had been reported that there was a mother and calf together, Mark started looking for the Mom.  We were also a little worried that she might not be happy with how close we were to her offspring.  It wasn't until Denisa walked around a rock that we realized that the Mother had been right there all the time.  Look closely in the next picture, and you will see her ear right by the muzzle of her calf.

 From a new angle, we could see that she was placidly chewing her cud in the shade.

Hidden away on top of a ridge under the trees and behind the rocks, they are hard to see even knowing they are at the center of the following picture. We felt blessed to find them today.  It's as if God led us to yet another of His wonders.

We took a seat on one of the boulders on top of that ridge and just watched and enjoyed.  You can tell from his smile that Mark is enjoying being back in the mountains! At over 10,000 feet, we are enjoying the sunshine because it was cold at that altitude.

From on top of that boulder, the views back towards the lakes were very nice as well.

As we were so intent on watching the moose pair, we almost completely missed the three mule deer that wandered through the meadow right below us.  This was a special place to be this afternoon.

Bored with us by now, the moose calf wandered off and mother moose sprawled out on the grass.  We were obviously no threat to them, and they felt comfortable with us being close. 

It was such a beautiful hike with such a special moose encounter.  Denisa feels so blessed to get Mark back and seeing her first moose on the same day!  What a great day!  And all this happened the day before she had to move the motor home.  God is good!