PHOTOS: Moose on the loose

CASEY KREIDER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 7 months AGO

A young bull moose chases a cow along the shoreline of Two Medicine Lake in Glacier National Park on Sunday, Sept. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

A young bull moose walks along the shoreline of Two Medicine Lake in Glacier National Park on Sunday, Sept. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

Josh Schmidt, from Cowlesville, New York, stands along the stream between Pray and Two Medicine lakes in Glacier National Park watching moose at sunset on Sunday, Sept. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

A cow moose leads her two calves across the stream between Two Medicine and Pray lakes in Glacier National Park on Sunday, Sept. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

A young bull moose crosses the stream between Two Medicine and Pray lakes in Glacier National Park on Sunday, Sept. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

A cow moose at Two Medicine Campground in Glacier National Park on Sunday, Sept. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

A young bull moose at Two Medicine Campground in Glacier National Park on Sunday, Sept. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

A cow moose at Two Medicine Campground in Glacier National Park on Sunday, Sept. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

A moose calf at Two Medicine Campground in Glacier National Park on Sunday, Sept. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

We were camping for a night at the Two Medicine Campground in Glacier National Park when I decided to take an after-dinner walk in search of a sunset composition along the flow of water between Pray and Two Medicine lakes.

I passed a gentleman with a camera heading in the opposite direction who nodded and said “good evening” as we passed. I paused. Something rustled in the bushes up ahead, a smallish, dark brown shape. I didn’t get a good look in the fading light as it disappeared deeper into the brush. I took a few steps backward and as I turned around to my left, I noticed the outline of a cow moose towering in the bushes.

I retreated back along the shoreline about 30 yards and waited, camera in hand to see if the cow and her calf were going to step out onto the shoreline for a better photographic moment. The cow took a few steps out toward the water but remained in the shadows of the brush. I stood there with my camera to my eye in anticipation when the bushes rustled again and branches snapped. A young bull moose came charging out of the brush, chasing the cow down the rocky shoreline straight toward me. I snapped a few photos before diving or falling, yes, let’s say diving, up the rocky incline to my left and into a void in the bushes and trees. The bull lumbered right past before giving up on his chase and heading back into the trees.

I stepped out of the bushes and found a trail through the trees just up the shoreline that meets up with an overflow parking lot. I made a left and started walking back to the campground’s A loop when both bull and cow moseyed through the parking lot behind me. The gentleman I originally passed was standing along the water so I headed down to chat, my heart still thumping in my chest. As we were talking, the cow led her two calves across the steam that joins Pray and Two Medicine lakes. Soon after the young bull followed and plodded through the stream as well. These are the resulting photos.

A young bull moose walks along the shoreline of Two Medicine Lake in Glacier National Park on Sunday, Sept. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

A cow moose leads her two calves across the stream between Two Medicine and Pray lakes in Glacier National Park on Sunday, Sept. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider

A young bull moose crosses the stream between Two Medicine and Pray lakes in Glacier National Park on Sunday, Sept. 22. (Casey Kreider/Daily Inter Lake)
Casey Kreider