It was mid afternoon and I had spent the majority of the morning lost in the forest. I was still searching for moose, and had come up short. If I’m going to be honest, I had essentially given up. I had been searching for a glimpse of one for about five days to no avail and after driving around since 5am, I had decided it was over. My plan was to eat and then take off so I headed over to Wilson’s, where I had heard the view with a meal was not to miss.
When I sat down and ordered my food, I decided I should take a quick look at the pictures I had accumulated. As I searched through my camera, the waiter inquired about it and commented that he wish he had one for when he went on a “Moose Cruise” later that afternoon.
“Moose Cruise?!” I exclaimed. “I’ve been searching for moose for days.”
He told me to go pick up a ticket and meet him at the dock at 4:00 when they would go out into the depths of the lake to search for moose.
“Finally,” I thought to myself. “I’ll get the picture that I want.”
So at 4:00 we set off on a pontoon in search for moose. The lake was absolutely magnificent, with small islands popping up all around. the further we went, the more shallow it got and all of a sudden we were in shallow lagoons.
“This is where the moose will be.” the guide said assuringly.
As we trolled around, he pointed out multiple different birds. Eagles flew above and ducks landed on the water. Along the coast a couple of otters played around to their hearts content, splashing all around.
But no moose.
By this time, it was almost 7:00 and the sun had all but disappeared below the horizon.
“I’m sorry,” he said “but it’s time to head in.”
As I drove away later that evening, my heart felt like it weighed a ton. I knew that the next morning I would be leaving Maine and I hadn’t seen my moose. I thought to myself about how a watched pot never boils, and that because my expectations were so high, that was the reason that I probably hadn’t accomplished my goal. I just thought there were way more moose out here. I set my Autopilot to 70 mph, turned up my audiotape, and zoned out as much was safe.
All of the sudden as I came speeding around a curve there they were. Three huge moose staring at me. I slammed on my breaks, my tires screeching to a halt. I was so excited I couldn’t contain myself. I screamed out in excitement. That scared them away and they took off. It had all happened in the blink of an eye. I didn’t get my picture. I didn’t have a drive set up for the dash cam. But I saw my moose. I could leave Maine happy.
Closest Supercharger: Jackman ME
407 Walton St, Jackman, ME 04945
Wilsons on Moosehead
66 Wilsons Rd, Greenville Junction, ME 04442
