10 Moose-Engadine

Stop and smell the roses. That is something I have had to learn how to do in my mountaineering exploits. It is easy for some of us to be totally focused on the athletic aspect of the climb and lose sight of what we are really seeking, to be one with nature for a period of time. The approach to Mount Smuts takes you by Engadine Lodge and thus one of the most ideal moose habitats in the Canadian Rockies. It is a large marsh created by the overflow of Commonwealth Creek. The moose have dug out a large mud flat area which serves as their primary defense against ticks and mosquitoes. Moose don’t typically die of starvation, but more so from blood loss due to ticks. An adult moose can carry as many as 200,000 ticks at one time. On my approach to Mount Smuts this early summer morning, I caught 10 female moose in the mud flats, some even laying down. As I came out from my climb via my bike, I almost ran into two additional bull moose on the old logging road. Mount Smuts Ascent, July 5, 2006, Kananaskis Country, Canadian Rockies.