Write-up: Lu Blanchard
Leader: Lu Blanchard
Co-leader: Deb Roberts

They say if you work hard you will be rewarded and boy, on Sunday, we were.  Six hikers met at Mapledale on a morning when the temps were in the teens.  We carpooled to the back side of Auger Falls, off Rt. 8, and did a crunchy, squeaky hike into the falls.  Auger Falls was roaring and the trees below the falls were fully ice-encrusted forming a perfect backdrop for a couple of group pictures.  We poked around the ledges, trying to get a good view of the twisting, tumbling torrent, but couldn’t get too close to the edge because we were not sure where the edge was!  It may have been just snow-covered ice shelves and no one wanted to find out – thankfully.

The temps never got above 15 with a “feels like” factor bringing them to just above zero by the time we returned to the trail and continued to the flats.  Here the sun was shining and somewhat ameliorated the effects of the wind.  After a short stop to drink and grab a snack we returned to our cars.  Meg decided to head North to pick up some items at camp she needed for their upcoming cruise so Joan moved her gear to our car.  Deb, Gail, Joan and I walked to the end of the plowed road (at least to the big Private Property end) and then turned back.  We left the parking area and headed down Rt 8 to get lunch at the Oxbow Inn.  About 2 miles down the road Deb called out from the back seat, “Moose, Moose, Moose. Stop the Car! Stop the Car!”  I think if Dick hadn’t been able to pull over right then, she would have jumped out-maybe I would have followed!  We ran back up the road, leaving car doors open and phones/cameras in the car, and just as we got to the wooded area a moose poked her head out of the trees and looked us square in the face for about 10 seconds before stepping over the guardrails and taking off on the road in the other direction!  By now Joan had her phone on and we were able to get a couple of shots just before it rounded a bend in the road and went out of sight!

Woohoo!  This was the first ADK moose for all of us and we had much to celebrate about when we stopped for lunch.  We all reflected how if we hadn’t taken that walk down the road, the moose would not have started across the West Branch of the Sacandaga River and Deb would not have seen it at all.  How is that for timing!  So don’t be afraid to brave the elements; you never know what you may see!