Bull Moose at Moxie Gore Outfitters

Hey there!

Just want to share a small part of my day with you... I had a delivery to Ken Christopher up to C. Moxie Gore Outfitters up in Moxie Gore Twp., (Go North of Caratunk on Rt. 201 to "The Forks", turn right...).

This area has to be one of my favorites. Any delivery North of Solon, Maine makes me a happy camper. Above Solon is Bingham...getting happier! Then, of course, is Caratunk! There, the A.T. passes through, and also crosses the Kennebec River (via canoe, it is the only official ferry on the whole trail!). Above Caratunk...The Forks. Turn right to get to Moxie Gore, Moxie Falls, and of course, C. Moxie Gore Outfitters.

During my forays North (lumber deliveries...), I am always on the lookout for moose. I hadn't seen one for awhile, and had my hopes up, as this was a prime area. Well, I was quite disappointed on the way up there...no moose. I did see a few signs of moose such as this one...




...but no moose.









However... while bringing the materials across the deck and into the camp, Ken stopped me... "Look, there's a moose.", he said, quietly. I didn't hear it moving, which is surprising, as it is such a huge animal. It was also VERY close... about twenty feet, or so, off the deck. A big Bull, it walked slowly, and quite gracefully, by us, through a short patch of woods between us and the stream. Then, Ken surprised me. He started calling the moose to try to coax it back to us. (No, he did NOT say "Here moose, here moose."!) To my delight, the moose turned from the stream, coming back a ways towards us, to meet the challenge. Ken explained that during "rut", the big fellas are competing for the affections of their favorite cows. It stopped, and Ken made a few more attempts... but Bullwinkle turned toward the stream, and slowly waded across. Ken surmised that he might have been too bold in his calling, portraying a dominant Bull, and chasing the poor fella off.

So, that was the highlight of my day. I am not able to share a photo with you, as I had no camera with me... On the other hand, I also enjoyed my time with Ken, and I did go online to their website. I found this nice picture of Ken with his wife, relaxing for a moment on the porch. I don't think he'll mind my sharing.




Thanks, Ken, for another great visit with you, and thanks to all of you that continue to share my blog. God Bless you.

Stickman

Phreak completes John Muir Trail...

Hi everyone!
Just came in from working on the last, straggling, vegetables in our garden, and found I had an e-mail from Brian (Phreak). He has completed the John Muir Trail! I will include his e-mail, as follows...


"From: brian@hikes247.com Sent: Tue Sep 30 15:55

Subject: John Muir Trail - COMPLETED

Hey everyone!
Just a quick note to let everyone know I'm safely back in Atlanta. The trip was awesome! We finished early in the morning on the 20th day of the trip.

Naturally, I'll be heading back out next year to see how fast I can speed hike it. Shooting for 7 days or less.

Weather was great... average high 65, average low 35, less than 2 hours of precipitation throughout the trip (all on day 6).

I took roughly 2300 photos and 60+ minutes of video clips. It'll take me a couple of weeks to get everything sorted, optimized, re-sized and published to the web. I'll send a link once everything is online and ready for viewing."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
As always, a hearty congratulations goes out to Phreak, for a safe and successful hike! I will be sure to post his link when he gets his pictures up for viewing...
So... back to the chores! 'Til later... God Bless!

Stickman