Grand County is supposed to be infested with moose.  I’ve lived here since September and haven’t seen a moose.  I’ve been hiking and snowshoeing many times, going places I think moose might hang out.  No moose.  My neighbor, Kathern, and her friend were going back country skiing because he hasn’t seen a moose either.  They invited me to go with them.  She had an extra pair of cross-country skis I could borrow.  I’ve been cross country skiing at the Nordic center once a week since December.  But I haven’t been on a regular trail yet.  Her feet are bigger than mine so her boots won’t fit right.  What could go wrong?

The trail they picked was beautiful, but it started with quite the impressive downhill.  Off to a good start, squealing as I fly way faster than I want down the hill in the largest, snow plow ever seen.  The trail mellowed out after that.  We passed many moose tracks crossing the trail.  There was moose poop on the trail and you could see where they had laid down to rest.  This had great promise for a moose sighting as they were probably here 5 minutes ago.

The trail got prettier, but a steeper uphill and I was struggling with boots that didn’t fit right.  I had to keep stopping to tie them tighter in an effort to keep my feet in them.  Kathern and Mark continued uphill and I turned around knowing they would probably still catch up later.  I’m sure to see a moose now.  The journey back to the trailhead was peaceful despite the 3 flailing ungraceful crashes.  It’s so awkward to try to stand up with long skinny slippery skis on the bottom of your feet.  I made it back up the giant hill near the trailhead with a bit of huffing and puffing and very little backwards sliding.  Over all, I’d call this a win in the ski department.  But, it’s definitely time to buy my own skis.

After they caught back up with me, we took the moose hunt from the trail to the road.  We drove through the National Park – everyone sees moose there – except me and Mark.  We drove through a Grand Lake neighborhood that has moose all the time.  Yep, you guessed it, no moose.  Mark and I must be wearing moose repellant.  With two of us, we really scared them off.

It was a beautiful day with new friends and the wonder of the gorgeous place I live in fills my heart.  Once again, my choice to move to Grand County is validated as a fabulous choice.  I’ll have to wait for another day for moose sightings.