Sunday was a spectacular moose viewing day (and Monday wasn’t too bad either). After the snow fall on Friday, running errands and doing chores around the house Saturday, Sunday was a day to play. We chose skiing. It was beautiful. The sun was out part of the time, no wind and temperatures in the low 20’s. As a bonus, we went at 9:00am and there was no crowd at all. They did have the Special Olympics downhill race starting at 10:00am which we watched a few races. I believe all of the participants finished the course and some of them flew down the mountain.
Back to skiing – I successfully stayed upright the entire 3 hours we were there. This is a new breakthrough for me. Of course, they took down the wires, poles, signs, etc. that kept tripping me up when I would exit from the chair lift. With the recent warm weather, downhill was very fast this weekend. I really enjoyed the speed as long as I didn’t have to turn or stop and there weren’t any obstacles such as moguls or other skiers in the way.
The unique thing about this trip besides the Special Olympics event was on the third time up the mountain on the lift, there were fresh tracks going perpendicular to the run from one side to the other. Sure enough as we swung over them we could tell they were moose tracks. The problem was we couldn’t tell which way they were going and because he/she was on a tougher hill, I wasn’t going to get to look at them up close. But don’t worry; I spent the next two runs going down the mountain looking for moose in the brush. (Probably not the smartest thing to do when traveling down a mountain at BLAZINGLY FAST speeds with boards strapped to my feet.)
Of course, all of this potential moose watching inspired me to keep going up the mountain to practice. Sure enough, on the very next ride to the top, there was the moose about one half way up near the edge of the ski run. Of course, I was on the wrong side of the lift and had to scrunch down and over to get a good view for part of the time (luckily I didn’t fall out or drop anything). By the time we got to where the moose was snacking, it had moved into the brush. We still got a great look at it from the lift, practically going right over the top of it. The moose was young enough we fully expected to see Momma near by but finally decided she was probably on her own run with a snowboard. One of the fun things to watch in situations like this is people and what they do. Many had no clue the moose was just off in the brush. Some are lucky they didn’t crash into its rump. Unfortunately after that sighting, the lift broke and we had to go home.
Later on Sunday, we went for a drive since the sun was out and saw three more moose in and around Anchorage by the streets and Highways. Not a record but definitely a high sighting day.
Monday’s moose event started when I decided to go get another cup of coffee. I happened to look out my office window and there was a moose across the street in downtown Anchorage munching on a tree. Over the next two hours or so, each time I looked out the window, she had moved. I saw her in several different places over a two block radius. Interestingly enough, after two hours had passed, she was right back where she started from coming full circle. Must have been the tastiest tree!
I love living in this state!
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