Old Pete's Cabin and Moose

I was worried before we left for the hike. A thick blanket of smoke seeped into the valley and the temperature soared to ninety-seven degrees, which was incredibly hot for here. Alex told us that the smoke blew in from a fire in Idaho. 

That didn't deter us. We pushed forward with our plans and the four of us drove up the mountain road from Mantua. I was hiking today with my daughter, Jenna, and two nephews, Benjamin and Nathan. They were both from Texas and hadn't experienced much of this mountain stuff. 

We parked on the side of a graveled road and began hiking a trail I had found a year earlier. No signs. Nothing marked. That was how I liked it! 

The trail climbed steeply through scrub oak. Now shaded in thick vegetation, the smoke seemed to dissipate and the summer heat nearly disappeared. We gained elevation quickly. The graveled road where we parked became smaller with each switchback. 

Soon we entered a steep mountain canyon. Pine trees now grew around us and a quick flowing stream lay hidden at the bottom of the ravine which we could only hear. 

We came to a fork in the trail where we met another hiker wearing a Safari hat and using trekking poles. He told us to watch for moose. I was excited to hear that. I saw a couple of moose here twenty years ago, but nothing since. Moose are gigantic animals with palmate antlers who prefer dense, swampy areas. I've only seen a handful in my life. 

From here the trail really got steep and rocky. We moved away from the canyon and water, and toward the upper slopes. In all we climbed roughly 1500 feet. That's not bad for only an hour of hiking. 

By now we were high above almost everything else, standing on the shoulders of the mountains. Nestled on a small saddle are the remnants of an old structure. According to maps, this is known as Old Pete's Cabin. 

It is estimated that this old sheepherder's cabin was built in the early 1900's. Who was Old Pete? Well, that's a mystery (to me, at least). But he lived in a beautiful place, far from anyone else and high enough in elevation to make summers comfortable and winters brutal. 

At one time the roof was still standing, but heavy snows have since caused it to collapse. Four walls are still intact, with the door on the east side and one window on the west. Inside are the remnants of a wood-burning stove. 

We walked up a knoll and Jenna spotted on another hillside what looked like a moose. We had no binoculars and it was a couple hundred yards away, so we weren't sure. It was big and it was black, but it wasn't moving! After watching it for a couple minutes without it moving a foot, we decided it must be a bush. 

The rest of us gave up, but Jenna was determined to investigate further. We decided to walk closer and sneak up on it, coming around a hill just below. 

We zipped our mouths and snuck along the trail like four Indians tip-toeing in moccasins. But by the time we rounded the hill, there was nothing to be seen. I guess we were right. There were no moose after all. 

—But . . . there was no big black bush, either. Jennna was still determined that something was out there. She retraced her steps back to the knoll and sure enough, the big black spot we had seen earlier had now disappeared! 

The rest of us, once again in our defeated spirit, acknowledged that there must have been a moose, but it somehow slipped away. Jenna, however, kept her eyes pealed. 

We returned to Old Pete's Cabin and took some final photos. The remaining walls stood about four feet high, but the door frame was much higher. I could still see one rusty hinge on the window frame.

Then, Jenna spotted them. 

High on the slope above us—silhouetted perfectly on the crest of the summit—walked out two massive bull moose from the pine trees! We watched them for several minutes, barely discerning antlers on one of them. The sun was beginning to set, causing their black bodies to appear like shadows on the hilltop. This was the first time Nathan or Benjamin had ever seen a moose. They were pretty excited. 

By the time the two distant animals had disappeared over the side of the mountain, it was time for us to head back down. We all wore a smile on our face. We had found a beautiful place with a couple of moose to boot. What else could we ask for! ♠