A moose on the loose

I went for a hike up to Mitchell/Blue Lake today and since I took a bazillion pictures and posted them last year I decided not to take my nice camera.  This way I could enjoy the hike without the nuisance of taking pictures.  Don't get me wrong, I like taking pictures but sometimes I'm not in the mood especially if I already have a bunch of pictures and today was one of those times.  But I decided I'd better at least take the smaller point and shoot because you know, I might see a moose or something.

Or something.  Or a moose.

Do you people know how long I've been trying to get a nice photo of a moose?  Of course the day I finally have a perfect clear shot of one I leave the nice camera and telephoto at home.  At least I had the point and shoot.  I would have said a lot of bad words if I hadn't at least had that.

Nuthin' up my sleeve

A blow up of one of the photos above

I know, they are not so very fabulous.  It kills me but oh well.  On the other hand, how cool to see such an enormous moose!  Strum's such a good boy, if he noticed it he wasn't the slightest bit bothered.  We watched him for a good while and he never appeared to notice us.  They're extremely near sighted so if you keep your distance they aren't bothered by you.  Also if one charges you you should hide behind a tree because that totally confuses them.  Not the brightest bulbs in the pack. 

An otherwise uneventful but beautiful hike.  I took some photos of Strum at Blue Lake but the camera was acting weird and I attributed it to having been dropped one too many times.  But when I got home and downloaded the photos it turns out I had a bunch of video.  The dial must have turned while the camera was getting tossed around my backpack.  It's pretty lame but it's short.  It's just like being there.

(The video above shows Blue Lake and Mt. Toll.)

Yeah, well, it's probably better than the majority of crap in the theaters right now, this being summer blockbuster season and all.

In total the hike was around 6-6 1/2 miles or so, not very long but steep and rocky and at a high elevation (starts at 10,480 ft. and ends at 11,300).  The trail is challenging and every time I opt to do this hike I forget about it until it's too late to change my mind.  But the views are worth it, you can follow the link above to the photos from last year.  Funny, we did this hike on the very same Sunday a year ago.  Am I really getting that predictable?  Getting old is a bitch.