Moose Mountain June 18, 2017

If I were a true painter, this is what my water color version of Moose Mountain may look like.  With today's weather and scenery, this was a day to be painted, to be framed, and thoroughly enjoyed.  You never know what will hit you when you do the Moose, it has it's very own weather systems that pass through.  You just go prepared and take what ever you get.   It certainly started out lovely.

We started early yet we were not the first hikers in the parking lot.  There is not much to see for the first while so it is a matter of just taking care of the business of reaching the openness.  When we exited the forest, the morning light made pretty views of all the green and wildflowers.

Those clouds that I like so much surrounded us.

We could see the switchbacks to the first hump.  

They looked so far off but in reality we came upon them quite quickly.  

Then the Moose Mountain Lookout came into sight.  We could see hikers along the bottom portion of the trail.  We could also see hikers in the meadow to our right as we passed by.  It was so calm & quiet.  We made our way to the steep slope to make our final attack.  Those ahead of us were retreating, too steep for them.

We reached the helipad and chatted with the Lookout Lady for a little while.  She asked us to be sure to sign the guest book.  Before doing anything, I took care of that business.  This was her first time working at this particular Lookout. We agreed this was a little piece of paradise.

my destination shot

My friend suggested we make an "H".  

loving the view

The Lookout Lady told us we were the first to arrive today.  That worked in our favour as we were able to have our chat with her, take our fun photos and then dine while it was quiet.  Being first, being early meant we also had the nicer weather conditions.  As others began to arrive, and as we were finishing our visit, the wind picked up and the temperature dropped.  We packed up and made our way down the steep slope.  You can see the Lookout in the top left corner.

getting ready to cross the hump

A couple of years ago I hiked up here on my own.  On the way back, I veered off to the left to check out the meadow area.  I didn't care to go too far but knew one day when I had company, I would like to go further down the meadow.  We did that today.  I called the area Moose's Meadows.  The area was carpeted with wildflowers.

We also got a different view of the Lookout.  It is in the center on the top of that little grey bump.

We added on more distance and elevation gain while we meandered throughout the meadows. The views remained pretty the entire time.  Before heading back out to the main trail and back into the forest we made one more stop to admire the scenery. Just like our first open view, this last open view would be what I would want my water color painting to look like if I were a true painter. 

This hike was an ideal send off to spring.  Today felt and looked like summer which we are on the verge off.  I had many things to reflect on today and I do my best reflecting when I am out in our mountain playground.  I felt extra thankful for today and took a little more time than usual to "remember to breathe".