Moose in the road

How do I manage to cross paths with giant, dangerous animals while on standard, boring bike rides? I’ve encountered a cougar, a bear, and now a moose no further than 10 miles from my work.

This bike ride started like just about every other one. Dennis (a co-worker whom often rides with me) and I chatted about which route we were going to punish ourselves with and when we will leave. We decided to head up Squaw Peak road, a steep hillclimb that isn’t too far from the mouth of Provo canyon. It’s a paved road, and not at all remote.

Dennis and I rode together up the paved Provo River trail, and then Dennis pulled ahead once we started climbing up Squaw Peak road. After about a mile, I turned a corner and saw Dennis. For a split second, I thought that my climbing skills had really improved since I usually can’t catch Dennis until the top or until he turns around. Then, I noticed he had stopped completely. For about a second, I thought he had a mechanical issue — his chain had fallen off or something.

Then, I saw it. A big moose just off the road. Eating something, but eying us suspiciously.

I stopped. Dennis and I warily watched the moose for a few moments. After a while, we had ourselves a standoff. We wanted to go up the road, but wanted the moose to leave first. The moose wasn’t moving.

I hollered, trying to spook it. It huffed into the dirt, sending up a cloud of dust as a warning. Then, it started pawing the ground. I thought, “I’m going to get trampled by this angry moose, because it’ll catch me before it catches Dennis.”

(Note to self: always invite along a slower rider, just in case.)

The moose made no move, but still kept staring right at us.

I asked Dennis, “So, how does a quick ride up South fork sound instead?”

We quickly turned around and had a nice ride up South fork, totally unaffected by any wildlife.