Well I ended up getting a job at the local snowboard shop right down from my house, super stoked but it might hinder our hiking plans so we're trying to fit in hikes whenever possible.
Tony was let out of work a little early today so we got ready and headed to the shortest hike we could find, Mt. Hale. It was about forty minutes away from our house so we got there and on the trail by 5pm. Book time said it would be between 4-4.5 hours so we brought head lamps just in case. But seeing as how we'd been crushing book time I figured it would take us about 3 hours giving us 30 minutes before the sunset.
We assumed it was only 4.4 miles so it should be a fairly easy hike, but we forgot to factor in the elevation gain (2300') with such a short distance, so roughly a 1000 feet per mile; pretty steep. I did go buy new hiking poles (with the new job I had to splurge a little) and they helped soooo much! I didn't do as bad a zombie walk.
Anyway, it was uphill the entire way so we were getting our work done and sweating lots! Even though it was only 50 degrees or so. But we reached the summit in 1 hour and 16 minutes which we were stoked about because we were thinking probably 2 hours to the top and one down. There used to be an amazing view at the summit because there was a fire tower there at one point. But it was taken out and the trees have grown much taller. There was a clearing but with the trees all around you couldn't see unless you stood on the top of the cairn, which was rather large. After our SB&J (sunflower butter and jelly) we headed down. The decent was pretty steep so I was happy to have my hiking poles. We got down within an hour, which we thought was slow since the climb took us 1 hour and 16 minutes, but either way it was the perfect timing because right as we were coming to the parking lot I looked through the trees and saw a mother moose and her baby calf on the dirt road!! I was sooooo excited, I whispered/yelled to Tony to get the camera. As I started to walk away he asked for the keys...so he could get into the car for safety if need be :). Which I agree you don't mess with a moose when she has a baby around but they were pretty far away, saw us coming and just turned around and went into the woods. I got a pretty blurry picture though.
Anyway, as you can imagine I was soooo ecstatic and happy that I finally saw not only wildlife but a moose! We started the drive home and as I was typing into my facebook status update about my sighting we found another moose on the side of the highway eating! We were right below the silver flume falls in Crawford notch. It was even cooler seeing this guy because we pulled over and sat there for ten minutes while he ate. Most of the time moose don't care if you sit there and watch them for hours and this one definitely didn't mind. He seemed to be showing off too because each time we contemplated leaving, he'd walk up the shoulder of the road a little closer to us. Eventually he came within 3 or 4 feet of the car but then walked off. Tony was so funny each time the moose came closer and closer. If you don't know this about Tony but he doesn't like to be near wildlife. He loves to look at them but being up close and personal just ain't his thing. Which is pretty funny since I'm the complete opposite. I try to never be the idiot that gets killed by trying to feed a bear, but I probably would have pet that moose if he came up to the window. It's a good thing he didn't because he probably would have bit my fingers off and then Tony would have said, "I told you so" for life.
Anyway, we had an awesome awesome evening and I was so excited with all the moose I saw. We just love North Conway soooo much!!!
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