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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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Pictures from our
Greenville trip.
©2002-2006
Brenda Marcotte www.mooselandtours.com
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