Wonder in the Wild

A hiker goes looking for animals in their wild habitat, but is led to the unexpected.

"Beep-beep! Beep-beep! Beep-beep!"

I rolled over and searched for my phone to turn off the alarm before it woke the entire campground. I reached my arms above my head out of my sleeping bag and stretched my toes down to the bottom. The cold morning mountain air woke me up fully. The grey early morning light peaking through the pines over my tent.

I heard birds chirping. Those are not the same morning sounds I hear at home. I smiled and quickly slid out of my sleeping bag, grabbed my sweatshirt, and turned to go embrace the morning outside.

I grabbed my breakfast from the bear box. Today, I am hiking a loop from Cascade Canyon over Paintbrush Divide. I cannot wait. I know I have to get going early, so I have plenty of time. I'm hoping to see a moose and a bear, but not too close. I hope I can also see other plants and animals I can't normally see at home. On my map, when I checked my route last night, I noticed a river along part of the trail. If the moose and bear are on the opposite side of the river, that would be great!

Once parked at the trailhead, I grabbed my trekking poles, my hiking bag, my bear spray, and, with a giddy feeling in my stomach, headed off toward the trail around Jenny Lake. What a beautiful morning! The air is crisp, and there aren't many people out. I want to see animals, and worry that with too many people crowding around, I would miss them. But now, I know I'm going to see something so absolutely cool.

Soon, I turned away from the lake to head up the mountain. There was a stream along the trail. I kept looking over it, trying to see a moose. I've never seen one in the wild. I love seeing the animals in their natural habitat. I watched the new-to-me birds flitting from rock to tree to rock to branch as I walked. I was startled by a mule deer munching through the underbrush on my side of the trail, its hooves crunching softly over the rocky path, a bright green, oddly shaped leaf stuck on its fuzzy antlers. Then I heard a clicking and whistling sound, but I couldn't quite tell where it was coming from, the stream to my left or the boulders to my right. It seemed to come from all around me. I paused, looking over at the boulders, and saw a cute little pika sitting there with a bright, green leaf wadded up next to it.

"Oh!" I breathed. I haven't seen one of these yet. It was so cute. A little, brown ball of fuzz with big, round ears. I paused at the side of the trail to just watch.

I noticed the clicking continued, but it wasn't coming from the pika. The sound coming from that little guy was the whistle. I looked around for the source of the clicking sound. I saw the bright green leaves on the bushes between me and the stream. I looked across the stream and saw... a moose! A real live moose!

My mouth dropped open in wonder. I've been wanting to see a moose in the wild. There weren't any antlers, though. Then I noticed movement next to the moose's belly. A calf! And it was nursing! I looked around for someone to share this with. The pika was the only one there. The one time I wished I were hiking with someone!

I leaned toward the pika, "It's a mother moose, pika. Do you see it?"

It looked back at me, shifting its whiskers in response. The leaf shifted.

I sighed, "You probably see that every day, but for me, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event. May I sit on that rock and watch?" I gently sat on the rock next to the pika's boulder and continued to watch the moose, brushing a couple of stray leaves off the rock. They were firmer than I thought.

I noticed the clicking continued. I watched the moose in awe, but the clicking was annoying.

I leaned toward my pika friend again, "What is that incessant clicking? Does it ever stop?"

The pika blinked back at me. I think in agreement.

"Well, do you think your sighing and whispering isn't annoying?" A voice responded from next to the rock.

I jumped up from my rock seat, "Excuse me?"

Did someone come up the trail while I was animal watching that I didn't notice?

"Yeah, your living and moving is louder than anything out here," scolded a different voice.

I followed the voice but only saw the leaves that I moved from my rock seat. Looking closer, the leaves looked like a tiny Thumbelina-sized humans.

"What?!" I yelped, stepping away from the rock. I forgot all about the mother moose. "I've been trying to be quiet and not disturb anyone, but you.. What are you?"

"Step toward that tree, and we'll show you," the voices singsonged.

Against my better judgment, I complied and stepped under the branch over the trail and looked up. The next thing I knew, I felt myself falling straight down through the ground. I landed on a soft pile of greenery with an umph.

I stood up and looked around. I was in an underground network of tunnels, and I was surrounded by little mouse-sized people dressed like green leaves. Some carried sticks. Some hid behind others.

"Who are you?" I breathed.

The tallest one stepped forward and looked up at me, "We are the people of the green. We live and work here, taking care of all of the special flora and fauna in this area. We save them all for the future. That's why we're here. Join us."

"Wait. Is this really why the parks are here, to protect those who care for the plants and animals?"

"Yes, we make sure that everything continues."