We
are taking bookings for
June & July
Overnight Greenville Trips 2011
Our Greenville Trip, Concluded!
Day Three: The salt shed before breakfast & Baxter State Park
in the afternoon!
I found myself awake at quarter of three. It was turning out
to be a restless night. I decided to go to the salt shed and
watch for moose. Dressing quietly, I picked up my keys and
camera, and slipped out the door. I sat in the car for a few
minutes,
letting my eyes adjust to the darkness and waited for a few last
cobwebs to clear from my brain. I eased downhill away from
the motel before turning on the car lights. It seemed eerie
that time of day, quiet, no traffic and very dark.
The trip to the salt shed only took a few minutes in reality, but at
the time it seemed to be a never-ending journey to the twilight
zone.
The D.O.T. sign and roadside reflectors assured me I was in the right
place. A single street light dimly lit the road
halfway across the flats. The large boggy area between the
road and the D.O.T. lot lay in darkness, but the small light on the end
of the D.O.T. garage provided silhouettes as moose cautiously walked
down past the shed and into the bog.
When I first arrived, slightly before 4 am, I shut the car lights off
and tried to get a grip on the nearly total darkness... and the
desolate feeling I got sitting there alone beside the highway, (doors
locked of course). The dash lights were too bright (the clock
stays lit even when the others are turned off). I eliminated
them by throwing my sweater on the dash. But the noise of the
car made it impossible for me to hear anything and I like to know when
anything or anyone is creeping up on me, so I shut the car off and
actually opened the window on the passenger's side so I could hear.
I sat there wondering "what on earth as I doing here?" but the moose
always win out. A cow and calf were in the bog when I drove
up. They climbed out onto the road and stood
staring toward me, before walking ghost-like across the road and
melting into the night. Within minutes a second cow and
smaller baby approached the bog, passing the D.O.T. garage, moving dark
shadows that blended and disappeared.
As daylight approached I had seen nine moose, one of which was a large
bull. Five of them including the bull were finally visible
through the mist. Traffic was picking up and our friends who
were also staying at the motel arrived and parked behind me.
Other cars slowed or stopped and although it was barely six a.m., one
by one the moose exited the bog through the woods.
I left my friends there, telling them they might still see more moose
and I drove toward Rockwood. On the way I saw a cow moose
just after the Squaw Mountain Road. (I think the
mountain was recently renamed "Moose Mountain")
Halfway to Rockwood I turned back, checking out the public boat access
road and saw another moose on the right going back.
My friend Clara was sleeping in. She had said she was getting
up at 8 or 8:30, so I still had time to kill. I stopped to
have coffee and ended up eating breakfast. Then I barely made it back
in time. Clara was just coming back from the breakfast room
so I thought "I'm golden!" She loaded her bags and camera in
the car while I grabbed my bags. We checked out and headed
for Greenville.
(Clara likes to shop so I figured she would poke around the
shops while I napped in the car.) We ended up back
at the same restaurant I had left barely a half hour ago. 
She just had coffee it turned out. She was waiting for me to
have breakfast! I waved my hand at the waitresses and mouthed
the words, "I was never here...", but they just looked surprised and as
they placed menus and water on the table one asked "are you going to
eat again?"
Busted! I had coffee while my friend ate and set our plans
for the day.
Her
shopping and my nap turned into a trip to
Baxter State Park, in a light
rain and considerable fog! Somehow I must have overlooked
this part of our itinerary. Resignation set in as we started
off, the day half over almost... but, as always,
new adventures were around every corner and finding the
mountain in the low clouds, heavy mist and fog was a challenge I
couldn't resist. (I did nap every time the car stopped, and
Clara does like to take pictures.)
By the time we returned to Greenville it was 6:30pm and we were still a
long way from home. I filled the gas tank and put in
windshield washer fluid while Clara bought sandwiches and
coffee. We were underway by 7, but in spite of the hour or
just "because" I stopped at the salt shed and spent a few
last minutes watching moose.
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Brenda Marcotte www.mooselandtours.com
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