Braking for moose in the Northern wilds

Bird song was just beginning, and the sun was turning the mist from silver to gold. Then, a whisper from my son Kevin, “Shhhhhhhhh ... Stop paddling. Look.”

Thirty yards ahead, backlighted by the dawn, was a bull moose, water dripping from his velvety rack. He was in the shoulder-deep water of northern New Hampshire’s East Inlet. We sat motionless. This was why we were here: to stalk, as unobtrusively as possible, one of North America’s largest mammals. We would see eight moose on our weekend trip last summer, but this was the most dramatic sighting of all.

Moose can be found in many areas of the northern U.S. and Canada, but New Hampshire -- with about 7,000 moose rambling through its woods -- is our favorite place to see them. In the words of Robert Frost, the Granite State’s favorite poet, “She’s one of the two best states in the Union. Vermont’s the other.”

New Hampshire is a state that takes great pleasure in its size and character: compact, rugged, laconic, independent, skeptical.

Ruggedly beautiful, the “Live free or die” state was the home of the Old Man of the Mountain, that stern rock profile in Franconia Notch that symbolized New Hampshire’s character and appeared on its license plates, road signs and quarter.

But sometime during the night of May 3, 2003 -- after 12,000 years of looking out over Profile Lake and the land beyond -- the granite face gave way to gravity and the elements and collapsed. State officials wisely refused proposals to rebuild it in plastic.

New Hampshire is also home to Mt. Washington, 6,288 feet high and with “the worst weather in the world.” (In April 1934, it experienced the world’s highest recorded wind speed: 231 mph.)

Winters in the state can be frosty, but summer is a fine time to climb into a canoe or kayak and stalk Alces alces -- the moose -- the largest member of the deer family.

An adult moose stands about 6 feet at the shoulders and weighs about 1,000 pounds. They can be found throughout New Hampshire and are not uncommon in the state capital of Concord, whose woodsy outskirts Kevin calls home.

The greatest concentration, however, is in a region of Coos County between the White Mountains and the Canadian border called the Great North Woods. In this moose heartland, the best chance of seeing the huge creatures is in “Moose Alley,” the 20-mile stretch of U.S. 3 north of Pittsburg.

This was the second year I had driven to Concord from my home on the Jersey Shore to meet my son and go north for a weekend of moose watching. Both times we found them as close as the highway.

“Brake for Moose” signs abound here: Each year, there are about 200 to 250 moose-vehicle accidents in the state, with some causing serious injuries and fatalities.

The key is to be cautious and use common sense when driving, especially in the poor light at dawn and dusk. Although moose are big, their dark coloring is excellent camouflage, making them nearly invisible against a forest background even a few feet off the roadway.

Our experiences last summer in Moose Alley, where we saw four of the animals along the road in two days, convinced us that the safest course was to drive as though you expected to encounter one over the next rise or around the next bend.

Visitors can reach Moose Alley from Boston or Hartford on a day trip; Manchester’s airport is the best bet for those flying into the state. We took the route most traffic follows, Interstate 93 to U.S. 3 at Exit 35; it’s a direct, relaxing drive, with attractions to enjoy along the way.

Franconia Notch State Park, in the heart of White Mountain National Forest, is the best of these. At the southern end of the park is the Flume Gorge, a mysteriously beautiful 800-foot-long canyon, worn down by eons of ice and water. It’s a good place to spend an hour, have a snack and visit the gift shop.

When we left the interstate to pick up U.S. 3, we felt at once that we were on Frost’s road “less traveled.” The 86-mile drive to Pittsburg is a series of quiet pleasures: towns and people who move more in unison with the sun than the clock. For the most part, the two-lane road parallels the Connecticut River, meandering by covered bridges, waterfalls and soft hills.

There is Lancaster, where you can stop for lunch and see a covered bridge; Colebrook, home of the North Country Moose Festival; and West Stewartstown, where you can pose for a photo next to a marker stating that you are on the 45th Parallel, exactly halfway between the equator and the north pole.

But Pittsburg (population 867), a friendly town that sits at the beginning of Moose Alley, was our goal. We stayed at Tall Timber Lodge, a handsome, rustic inn on the shore of Back Lake that has good food and affordable rates.

That was just a happy backdrop to our moose-watching quest. On the day we arrived, we stopped at Young’s Store in Pittsburg for a topographic map of the area, then continued past First and Second Connecticut Lakes and some canoe and kayak launches to East Inlet. There, we took a sharp right and followed a dirt road about a mile and a half to Norton Pool and Moose Meadow, where we launched our canoe into a banana-shaped pond.

A perfect moment

We paddled into the breeze, and at a bend in the pond saw our first moose: a youngster that stared at us incuriously for about five minutes, then ambled into the forest. We continued along the shore, checking out the flora (pitcher plants in clusters) and fauna (a sharp-shinned hawk and some loons) knowing that we had a good chance of seeing more moose.

Sure enough, after eating a couple of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the far end of the pond, we spotted a moose and her frisky calf splashing across our path about a quarter of a mile away.

As quietly as we could, we paddled to within 100 yards and sat motionless as the mother fed and the calf frolicked. Then, deciding we were too alien or too close, she urged the little one onto shore and followed, turning often to look in our direction. We maintained a whispery quiet.

When she reached land, her attention turned to the south, where we saw a bull moose, mid-pond, feeding in about 6 feet of water.

Still cautious, we paddled toward him at an angle that didn’t crowd him, yet at the same time moved us farther from the cow. Experience told us that we could get closer, 30 or 40 yards, if we used common sense, were cautious and avoided loud noise or sudden movements.

We were silent, living deep in the moment: the breeze from Canada sweeping through the pines, a splash from a rising trout, the distant call of a loon, the water running from the rack of a bull moose each time he dipped down for a mouthful of plants, the snuffing of his breath, the grinding of his teeth. We had reached our destination.

After a time, he gradually moved up the pond and away from us. We turned the canoe slowly back to the launch site. We were the only humans on the water or within earshot.

We pulled the canoe out of the water, put it back onto our car and started back to the lodge with a deep feeling of contentment and peace. We’d return tomorrow and next year and, we hoped, many years to come, quietly, reverently, thankfully.

Behind the granite facade, in places like this, New Hampshire has a peace and a harmony that civilization can’t match.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

‘Moose Alley’

GETTING THERE:

From LAX to Boston, direct flights (stop, no change of planes) are available on American, America West and US Airways; connecting flights (change of plane) are on Delta, Continental, United, Northwest and Midwest Express. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $258.

From LAX to Manchester, N.H., direct flights are available on Southwest; connecting flights are on Southwest, United, Northwest, Delta and Continental. Restricted round-trip fares begin at $238.

To reach Pittsburg and Moose Alley from Boston or Manchester, N.H., take Interstate 93 north through the White Mountains in New Hampshire. Take Exit 35 to U.S. 3 north to the Pittsburg area.

WHERE TO STAY

Tall Timber Lodge, 609 Beach Road, Pittsburg, NH 03592; (800) 835-6343 or (603) 538-6651, www.talltimber.com. Rustic and upscale cabins, comfortable rooms and fine dining. Canoe rentals available. Children 17 and younger, $15 per night. Doubles start at $56.

Lopstick Lodge, 45 Stewart Young Road, Pittsburg, NH 03592; (800) 538-6659, www.lopstick.com. Cabins on First Connecticut Lake with kitchens, porches, views. Motorboat, canoe and kayak rentals available. One-bedroom cabins average $100 a night.

The Colebrook House Inn, 132 Main St., Colebrook, NH 03576; (888) 237-5521, www.colebrookhouseinn.com. Comfortable, attractive rooms; lunch and dinner served. Weekend entertainment. Kids up to 10, free. Doubles, $52.

WHERE TO EAT:

Happy Corner Cafe, U.S. 3, Pittsburg, NH 03592; (603) 538-1144. Family-owned for 54 years. Serves three meals daily. Dinner entrees average $15.

Le Rendez-Vous Bakery, 146 Main St., Colebrook, NH 03576; (603) 237-5150. French cafe and bakery has delicious pastries, Belgian chocolate and fine coffee.

TO LEARN MORE:

New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development, P.O. Box 1856, Concord, NH 03302; (800) 386-4664, www.visitnh.gov.

-- James Flanagan