Reader's Digest Australia August/September 2025

My photo evidence of our family’s unexpected moose encounter in Denali. a close encounter with an animal that our guide—someone who has also run into grizzly bears several times— seemed genuinely worried about. I call out to my family, my voice about one octave higher than usual. It’s less primal fear than a sudden, intense realization that I cannot con- trol what happens next, and the odds of an angry-moose incident are sud- denly greater than zero. My son and I retreat to the trail. Our massive moose friend comes out, too, and then turns down the trail, headed toward the four of us. It doesn’t seem angry, but it is clearly aware—and not the least bit intimidated. My older teenager, who went through a burst of worship for adventurer Bear Grylls a few years ago, urges everyone to back away slowly and quietly. I regret to inform you that I am less than great at the “slow” and “quiet” parts. We retreat a bit more, and the moose advances a bit more. Remembering the hide-behind-a-tree advice, we retreat into the woods. The mosquitoes are thrilled at the arrival of a four-person blood buffet. We peek out. The moose is still there, still moving slowly in our direction. Down at the visitor center, large signs had warned, “WARNING: MOOSE ARE EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT APPROACH.” They didn’t say anything about what to do if the moose keeps following you, like the party guest you’re trying to avoid. We retreat deeper into the woods, standing back to back, in case some other massive animal in the woods is approaching simultaneously. After a few minutes of the mosqui- toes dining like kings, our hearts pounding and adrenaline pumping, the moose loses interest and wanders off. We return to the trail, encountering some hikers coming down the way we were headed. Excited, we say, “Did you guys see the moose?” “What moose?” Good thing I took a photo; other- wise, no one would believe us. 113 READERSDIGEST.COM.AU