A Morning Stroll With a Moose

This weekend Robyn's parents rented a cabin in Park City and invited us to come spend the weekend with them.  We've had a lot of fun so far.  I just want to share a small experience with you from this morning.

I woke up this morning about 6:30.  I tried with all my might to go back to sleep.  Unfortunately, might doesn't really do much toward sleeping, so I utterly failed.  Since I was awake and no one else was, I thought it would be fun to go take a walk.

I found a little walking trail that wound around and lead me to the street leading up to Olympic Park.  I didn't really have any destination in mind, but I started to climb the hill toward the fancy ski jump ramp.

I was getting pretty close to the Park but I was also getting tired and debating when I should turn around and go participate in important activities like breakfast.

As I pondered many thoughts of breakfast in my heart, I saw off in the distance what I thought was a cow.  All I could see was the animal's backside sticking out from behind a tree.

I decided to walk closer to get a better look.  As I got closer, I noticed a smaller animal with big pointy ears near the alleged cow.  The smaller animal was about the size of a donkey, and the big pointy ears convinced me it was definitely a donkey.

As I got closer, my phone decided to announce my presence.  I had Runkeeper going, and it always tells me how far I've walked every ten minutes.  When run keeper made its announcement the larger animal stood up to its full height and turned to look at me.  It was definitely not a cow.  It was a mommy moose.  The "donkey" was a baby moose.  They both looked me straight in the eye.

I was in awe.  I have always wanted to see a moose in the wild.  I travelled all the way to Alaska, and really hoped to see a moose, but never did.  It turns out I just needed to be within an hour of my own house to see this guy.

Of course, I was aware that if the mommy decided to charge me, I could be badly injured.  Yet, I couldn't walk away.  I just stood and looked her in the eye while she stared right back at me.  The baby quickly lost interest in me and continued eating.  I was close enough that I could hear the sound of the baby pulling up weeds and chewing them.

Eventually, mom decided that she didn't like me this close to baby.  She decided to lead him away.  But, rather than take him into the woods, the two of them crossed the road in front of me.  Naturally, I took a video.

I was a little nervous as they were crossing the road. It actually felt like they were even closer than before. You can see in the video, that the mommy turns to look at me for a second, but she decided I wasn't a threat (luckily).

Aren't they just the cutest little family?

Of course, if you follow me on instagram you've already seen this picture.

After they walked off on the other side, I began to make my way back to the cabin.  Seeing a moose family seemed as good a final destination as any, and it was clearly breakfast time.

The only question I have is, "Who was the athlete?  Me or the moose?"

I called my wife and told her how cool it was, and that I get to cross "See a moose in the wild" off my bucket list.  Her first question was whether I got too close.  I told her I probably did, but I was still alive.  Besides, you only live once.