02/27/2026
In what is becoming an annual tradition, I kicked off 2026 with a full day trip to Algonquin Park. Waking up at an ungodly hour to put on all my outdoor clothes, pack all my camera gear into a couple bags, and loading into the car to drive 2 and a half hours in the pitch dark, hoping this year would be less blizzard-y than last year. It was, but my wipers kept skipping/streaking the whole section of windshield directly in front of me, so that was fun…
I got to the park safely and with perfect timing to be able to maximize shooting time with good light (assuming I could find something to shoot). I entered the park at the east gate, and started by cruising the corridor. As I was approaching the west gate, I noticed a couple of cars pulled over and up ahead of them was a moose!
I got out of my car and got into the position I wanted, and then in the 5 seconds it took for me to look down at my camera to check my settings, the moose disappeared. Apparently leaped over the guard rail, down the steep hill, and off into the trees. Bummer.
I then waited a little bit, the other cars drove off, and I walked over to the edge of the road where the moose had been, to see if I could spot it through the trees. And I did! And then I saw more movement. A second moose! They walked together up the hill and further away from the road, but as they got higher, I noticed another large dark figure. A third moose! All 3 obstructed by branches, I couldn’t get a clear shot at any of them. Then, as I shifted my angle and moved a round a little, looking though the viewfinder, I noticed yet another dark figure, and just like that, my lifetime moose count had doubled in a single morning!
Here is the one, heavily cropped, semi-clear photo I managed of any of those 4 moose before spending the rest of the day driving/hiking around the park without seeing any wildlife other than the chickadees and the ravens that visited me at every parking lot and trail head. So a bit of a bust photographically, but a good day nonetheless. Looking forward to next year!
Swipe for settings and a shot of all 4 (you kinda have to trust me lol).
