Easy Nav
- Background
- Day 1 – Arriving to Algonquin Park
- Day 2 – Searching for Moose
- Day 3 – A Wolf on the Highway
- Day 4 – My First Moose Sighting of the Trip
- Day 5 – A Frosty Morning with the Bull Moose
- Day 6 – Moose in the Morning, Moose in the Evening
- Day 7 – A Cow and Calf Moose Together
- Day 8 – The Best Moose Photos of the Entire Trip
- Day 9 – Another Photoshoot with the Bull Moose
- Day 10 – The Final Moose Sighting
- The Aftermath
Background
I had just finished my last backcountry trip of the season, but I still had one final hoorah in me for 2025. I wanted to have a relaxing trip at a campground and dedicate this trip to searching for wildlife. But there were two small issues. First, campsite availability. I had 10 days to work with, but no campsites were available for a continuous 10-day stretch, especially since Thanksgiving long weekend was part of those 10 days. This wasn’t a deal breaker though, I just split my booking into two; the first half of the trip would be at the Pog Lake campground, then I’d move to the Canisbay Lake campground.
The second issue was work. You know, that thing we all have to do in real life to put food on the table. I’m self-employed, so I have lots of flexibility, but this trip was at the very end of my camping season. I had been gone quite a bit in the past few months! I might get some eye-rolls and sighs of disappointment with what I’m about to say… but I decided to bring my computer with me for the first time ever. My choice was either spend 10 days in Algonquin Park, doing a small amount of work when needed, or do a shorter trip and spend less time in the park. To me, the decision was obvious.
Day 1 — Arriving to Algonquin Park
Day 1 was a short one. I arrived at 5:30 PM and quickly pitched my tent before going to search for wildlife. Quick note, this was my first time using a Flextail pump for my EXPED Megamat, and I hated it (the pump, not the air mattress; I love my Megamat). The pump was so slow and ran out of batteries before it even finished inflating the pad. Total waste of money, in my opinion.
Anyways, I didn’t have any luck searching for wildlife. But I did get to watch the moon rise shortly after it got dark outside, at roughly 7:00 PM. I pulled over and snapped a few photos. It was pretty epic.
I continued driving in the dark and went to Whitney to get some gas and firewood. It was too hot outside to make a fire (20+ degrees in October, pretty crazy!), but I figured I’d stock up on firewood anyways.
After making myself dinner, I walked all the way from my campsite—Site 415 in Section C—through Section B, and over to Section A to visit a friend. If you read my last Trip Report “The Trip of Everything”, it was the same friend from that trip. This trip was only a few days later, so him and his wife were still at the same campsite. I spent the evening hanging out with them before walking back to my campsite at 11:30 PM.
Day 2 — Searching for Moose
After an unsuccessful wildlife search on Day 1, I got on the road bright and early on the morning of Day 2. Well actually, it wasn’t bright and early, because it was still pitch black outside. I saw a car pulled over on the highway; they flashed their lights at me once, then drove away. I think I might have just missed a moose. It was too dark for photos anyways, but it would have been cool nonetheless.
I continued my search and stumbled upon a few beavers swimming. They weren’t in a position for me to get good photos, so I kept moving. It was a warm morning so I left my car and went for a long walk with Elo. We checked a few different moose hotspots. Still, no luck.
I feel guilty that we’re already on Day 2 and I still haven’t seen any moose, so here’s a sneak peak of some of the encounters from later in the trip (yes, this is my way to try and convince you to keep reading).
And if those moose photos aren’t convincing enough, here are some photos of Elo. Elo says she wants you to read the full trip report. How can you say no to that face?
Ok, let’s get back to the trip report.
I had to make a few work calls, so I went back to my campsite. Judge me if you want, but it aint that bad taking work calls while staring at the beautiful forest surrounding the Pog Lake campground. It was also a super hot day outside, 26-degrees and pure sunshine. Yes, in October!
I wasn’t in the mood to do anything strenuous, so I continued to relax at my campsite and drive around Highway 60. The park was moderately busy; the hiking trails had full parking lots, but they weren’t overflowing like they do during the busiest weekends. The fall colours were only slightly past-peak, but they were still very colourful and pretty. There was tons of leaf fall already; way more than last year at this same time.
Remember that moonrise from Day 1? On Day 2 it was the full moon, the Harvest Moon (I’ll wait a second while you turn on Harvest Moon by Neil Young). It caught me by surprise while I was driving, so I immediately pulled over to get some photos. It was extremely pretty.
It was still too warm outside to make a fire. Instead, I went for a long walk with Elo at the campground, under the strong glow of the full moon. I only saw one campsite occupied while walking. I guess most people don’t want to camp at a non-electric site at this time of year. It was a small perk for me, I got to enjoy peace and quiet at the campground.
Did I really have two failed days in a row trying to find moose? You’re going to think the title of this trip report is a lie! But don’t worry, things start to get exciting very soon.
Day 3 — A Wolf on the Highway
I don’t mind rain. I actually find it quite soothing. But when it’s pouring outside with loud thunder and lightning… well, I was wide awake inside my tent at 3:00 AM. I checked my phone and saw a message from Jamie (the friend camping in Section A) saying he had a wolf come right into his campsite last night!
I dozed in-and-out of sleep until 6:30 AM and then started my wildlife search. It was still raining outside. After roughly one hour of driving, I saw a wolf cross the highway! Was it the same wolf that visited Jamie last night?
The wolf ran into the bush before I was able to get good photos. Bad for me (I didn’t get good photos), but good for the wolf (it scared easily and wasn’t habituated). I waited for 45 minutes but the wolf didn’t come back out. I did hear howling in the distance though.
I drove down a nearby side road, and to my surprise, I saw the same wolf again. I guess I know why he didn’t come back onto the highway. But the same thing happened, it scared into the bush before I was able to get any photos. The photographer in me was disappointed, but the wildlife enthusiast in me was happy that the wolf wasn’t habituated. I had countless wolf sightings in 2024, but this was my first wolf sighting of 2025. Even though I didn’t get good photos, it was still pretty exciting.
Next, I went to the Canisbay Lake campground road to do some fall colour photography. The campground road has such a beautiful entrance at this time of the year. Driving down the road that leads to the backcountry access point is particularly pretty too. Even the outhouse looked beautiful surrounded by the fall foliage. Come on, tell me you wouldn’t want to take a poop here? (see photo below)
I spent most of the day relaxing in my tent, hanging around the campsite, and driving along Highway 60. It was raining on-and-off throughout the day, but it was actually a nice change from the scorcher the previous day.
I went for one last evening drive to search for wildlife and refill on gas. The moonrise was blocked by the heavy overcast, but I was treated to a bright pink sunset instead. I made my first campfire that evening since the temperature was starting to drop into the single digits. I took Elo for another late-night walk around the campground and then went to bed at 11:00 PM.
Another day without seeing any moose. But at least I saw the wolf! And I promise, the moose excitement starts right now.
Day 4 — My First Moose Sighting of the Trip
I went back to the same spot that I saw the wolf, hoping it would make another appearance. Unfortunately, it did not, and my morning wildlife search was a complete failure. I took Elo for a quick walk and then went back to my campsite for a nap.
I spent the bulk of Day 4 in Huntsville and made it back to Algonquin Park in the late-afternoon, in time to hit the road for my evening wildlife search at 5:30 PM. I went to a spot that I often have good luck spotting moose. There were no moose there, so I used it as a turnaround point and headed back in the other direction. No more than 100m after turning around, I saw a car pulled over and a bull moose standing on the highway. What the heck? I literally drove here 30 seconds ago and the moose wasn’t there!
I quickly pulled over and made it just in time to snap a few photos before the moose went inland. They weren’t the best photos, but I was happy to finally see a moose.
Another photographer showed up a few seconds after the moose went inland, so we stuck around and chatted for a bit. We didn’t realize it, but we were being big dummies. The moose came back out of the bush, but just around the corner from where we were standing. It was literally 20m away, but totally out of sight from where we were. Since I’m telling you this story, we obviously figured it out eventually and moved to the new spot.
This is when the crowd started to form. There were at least 10 cars pulled over at the side of the highway, with around double that number of people watching the moose. The moose was far away from the actual road, which meant everyone was forced to keep a safe distance.
The bull stayed comfortably in the same spot, enjoying its dinner. This was a better angle and composition than the previous vantage point, but the photos still weren’t amazing. He was far away and there were lots of branches and shrubs in the way. The photos weren’t bad, they just weren’t going to get framed and hung on my wall or anything like that.
After around one our, the moose went inland. We listened to the crunching branches get quieter as he made his way deeper into the bush. I was hoping he settled down for the evening; I was planning to come back in the morning and check up on him.
I had some exceptionally warm weather during my first few days of this trip, but Day 4 was the turning point. When I got back to my campsite at 7:30 PM, it was already approaching zero degrees. Before the trip started, this night was supposed to be 2 degrees… then it changed to minus 1 degree… then it changed to minus 4 degrees… and now it was calling for minus 7 degrees. It was going to be a COLD night. A big campfire was a necessity to stay warm.
Now seems like a good time for a quick overview on the gear that I use in these cold temperatures. I had my MEC Ohm 4-person tent, a very spacious accommodation for just me and Elo. On the floor of the tent, I had my EXPED Megamat Duo, which both Elo and I sleep on. I put an unzipped sleeping bag on top of the Megamat, as a bottom layer, and then both Elo and myself had our own sleeping bags on top of that. Elo likes to sleep on top of her bag, not inside, so I also put a Hurtta Extreme Warmer jacket on her. For my clothes, I was wearing double-layered wool socks, three bottom layers (two long underwear, one sweatpants), three top layers (merino wool base layer, cotton long sleeve, and a sweatshirt), along with a toque and gloves. The toque and gloves make a big difference in these temperatures, don’t forget about them!
Day 5 — A Frosty Morning with the Bull Moose
It ended up being minus 8 degrees overnight. I was surprisingly comfortable though. The EXPED Megamat is such a key piece of gear to insulate from the cold ground. I was more worried about Elo throughout the night; she did seem slightly bothered, but we both survived.
My morning wildlife search started with a quick fox encounter. It was at the side of the highway, but it was still pitch black outside. The headlights of my car allowed me to grab a quick photo, but then I kept moving. I went back to the wolf spot from a few days ago and I saw a car pulled over. Was the wolf back!?
No, it was not. But a moose was there!
It was the same moose from last night, roughly 1km from where I left him. He was on a side road, tucked away from the main traffic on Highway 60. Eventually people took notice and a crowd started to form. Most people were respectful, other than one lady who parked in the middle of a turning lane and walked to the group yelling “all of you guys with your fancy cameras, I’m just here with my iPhone!”. She was trying to be funny, but lady calm down, read the room, we were all standing in silence watching the moose and she came in yelling at the top of her lungs.
The moose photos were really pretty with the fall colours in the background. The sun hadn’t crossed the shoreline yet and it was still well-below zero degrees outside, so there was lots of morning frost on the ground. There was even morning frost along the moose’s back! It was frigid, but well worth it.
The moose went into the forest and then came out the other side, towards the highway. Of course, once he was visible from the highway, the crowd got 5x bigger. And with a crowd 5x bigger, it means 5x more clueless people, pulling over in dangerous spots, and getting WAY too close to the moose. Without any exaggeration, people were within 10 feet of the moose. Shockingly, the moose wasn’t bothered and kept walking slowly along the bushes, feeding contently, while the paparazzi did their thing. I know I might sound hypocritical since I was also there taking photos, but I kept a safe distance.
A thick fog started rolling through the area. I stopped taking photos. There was no point with all the fog. But if the moose decided to cross the highway, it could become an epic photo opportunity.
Lo and behold, the moose crossed the highway in the middle of the fog. As exciting as this was, I needed to prioritize my safety, and the safety of the moose. The thick fog created zero visibility, and this is an active highway with cars driving by. It’s not exactly safe to stand in the middle of the road. There were also so many people still crowding around. All things considered, it was very difficult to (safely) frame and compose a shot during the three seconds it took the moose to walk across the highway.
Somehow, I still managed to get a few keepers. It wasn’t the money shot that I wanted—me standing in the middle of the highway, camera low to the ground, looking up to the moose centred in frame in the middle of the road—but I was still VERY happy with the shots that I did get.
Then the moose went into the bush. The event was over.
The sun was only now starting to cross the shoreline, as the fog began to clear. The harsh sunlight would be terrible for moose photos, but it helped create dramatic landscape photos. I was able to get a few nice photos from where I was already standing, but then I had a lightbulb moment and thought to myself “I should probably go drive down a few side roads to find an even more dramatic landscape”.
The photos below are what I was able to capture in the few minutes that the sun was hanging low in the sky.
Later in the morning I had a few work meetings, so I parked in a spot where I knew a bear had been seen recently. If I was going to be sitting in my car for two hours, I might as well do it at a good wildlife spot, right?
I didn’t end up seeing a bear, but I did see another fox. It was 5 minutes after the meeting started. I said to the team “Hey guys, sorry, I need to step out for 2 minutes, I’ll be back in a sec” and then got out of my car to photograph the fox.
Priorities.
My friend on the call messaged me privately “So, what did you see?” lol
Elo had been very patient with me all morning, so I took her for a long walk at the Mew Lake airfield. It’s her favourite place to poop. It was still single-digit temperatures, but the sun was in the sky, making it very pleasant walking conditions.
I went back to my campsite to relax for a bit, take a nap, process some firewood… the usual stuff. The moment I finished, I got a text from a friend. The same bull moose was back. He was in a parking lot, nearby to where we saw him earlier that morning. It would take me roughly 20 minutes just to get there, so I quickly headed over.
By the time I arrived, the moose had left the parking lot and went to the opposite shore, across a small body of water. He walked to the shoreline, slowly feeding on the grass and lily pads, while occasionally stopping to wash it down with gulps of lake water. The late-afternoon sunlight was harsh, but I was able to capture some great reflection photos of the moose leaning into the water.
The crowd was much smaller than the encounter earlier that morning, and everyone was being very quiet and respectful. I stayed in the same spot for close to two hours watching the moose. He was so chill. I had Elo by my side, tethered to my waist. She loves watching moose just as much as I do. She behaves better than most humans do around wildlife; she sits silently and watches with intrigue.
One of the photographers that I was shooting with, Marc, told me about a trail nearby that would catch some nice golden hour sunlight. It was also where the moose went inland, so we were going to kill two birds with one stone; look for the moose, and maybe get some nice portrait shots.
We didn’t have any luck finding where the moose went, but Marc did a quick photoshoot of me with Elo. He showed me the photos on the back of his camera screen and I was blown away.
Marc’s photos are probably my favourite photos ever, of me and Elo, taken by someone else. A little while after the trip ended, Marc was kind enough to send me the original RAW files for me to edit myself. When I saw them on my big computer screen, they were even more beautiful than I expected. Marc doesn’t use Instagram or else I’d link to his profile, but if you happen to know Marc and/or see him in the park, make sure you tell him how awesome his photos are!
After my second moose encounter of the day, I went back to my campsite to get a fire going. It was already zero degrees by 8:00 PM, and it was calling for another minus 7 degree night. If Elo and I survived it once, we can do it again.
Day 6 — Moose in the Morning, Moose in the Evening
I set my alarm for a 6:15 AM wakeup. I typically don’t like setting alarms, but hey, when wildlife calls. I continued looking for the wolf, and continued failing miserably. He was a sneaky little bugger.
But the same bull moose was back again.
The moose encounter that morning was an interesting one. It wasn’t a great photo opportunity, with the moose tucked away in the bushes. But I was with a handful of photographers that were all friends with one another. It’s a lot more fun shooting with a small group of people you know, rather than a large group of random people like the previous days. We also had to do some searching through the forest in order to find the moose, so it added some suspense to the encounter. The overall experience was pretty fun.
This was now the fourth time I had seen this same bull moose. Believe it or not, Algonquin Park doesn’t just have one moose though, and while we were all in the middle of the not-so-great-photo-opportunity with this moose, we got a message that a bigger bull moose was spotted nearby. We all quickly headed over to the new location, but unfortunately, we arrived a few seconds too late. The moose was gone.
I relaxed at my campsite for a bit and then went back to one of the moose-sighting locations. I followed the trail where it settled down the previous night, the same place that Marc got those beautiful photos of me and Elo. I didn’t see the moose, but I did see where it took its massive morning poop. How do I know? Well, I stepped right in it. I was wearing my Crocs, so they were easy to clean. Thank goodness Elo didn’t step in it, that would have been a lot less fun to clean.
I gave up and went back to my campsite to relax for a few hours.
I hit the highway one more time in the evening to search for wildlife. The bull moose was back, again, at the same spot I was checking just a few hours earlier. So many cars were pulled over in the worst spot possible on the highway, right in the middle of a narrow section that had no proper shoulder. I can’t say I was surprised. It was Friday, and I knew this was one of the downsides of staying in the park during the Thanksgiving long weekend… there was going to be a lot of crazy drivers, that don’t know proper etiquette, and don’t know how to behave around wildlife. It was going to be a crazy weekend.
I went to a proper parking area—not in the middle of the highway—and met up with some friends. We saw the bull moose in the distance, but he was too far away and hidden. I didn’t even turn on my camera.
I couldn’t believe how many people were standing around, waiving their cell phones in the air, trying to zoom through the branches to see an inch of the moose. Some not-so-smart people were walking through the grassy bog directly towards the moose. Thankfully, the moose didn’t come onto the road where everyone was standing. That could have quickly turned into a dangerous situation.
I spent the entire time standing at a distance, chatting with friends, admiring the hordes of people that were probably seeing a moose for their first time. I didn’t take a single photo all night.
Two of my friends invited me to join them for a fire at their campsite at Lake of Two Rivers. I was mostly packed up (since I was moving from Pog Lake to Canisbay Lake the next morning) and I wasn’t planning to make a fire at my site, so I took them up on the offer. Elo and I sat with them until 10:00 PM before heading back to our own campground. I saw another fox on the highway during my drive back, but it was too dark to get any photos.
By the end of Day 6, I had seen the same bull moose five times already.
Five more to go.
Day 7 — A Cow and Calf Moose Together
I spent all morning driving up and down Highway 60. The moose spot was quiet. Apparently he had enough of the paparazzi and wanted some privacy this morning.
Later in the morning I did end up seeing moose. But it wasn’t the same bull moose. It was a cow and calf, feeding in a pond beside the highway. Well, it was mainly the cow eating and drinking, the calf was a little bit shy and was hiding behind some trees in the forest.
Remember, this is now Saturday of the Thanksgiving long weekend. Inevitably, tons of cars stopped on the highway to see the moose. Like 20+ cars. Also inevitably, tons of people whipped out their cell phones and got WAY too close to the moose.
The cow and calf were making clear attempts to try and cross the road. They would approach the highway, then get spooked by the people in front of them and retreat back inland. This happened three times. I walked over to the group and told them they were directly impeding the moose trying to cross the highway, not to mention how incredibly stupid it was to stand a few feet in front of the moose. I didn’t want to be “that guy” but it was such a dangerous situation, and so disrespectful to the moose.
The moose eventually went inland for good. They never got to cross the highway.
Instead of going to Elo’s usual poop spot—the Mew Lake airfield—instead, we hiked the first 100 metres of the new Fork Lake Trail. I snagged some blue jay photos while I was there, along with a nice photo of my car dwarfed by the tall birch, maple, and pine trees. The fall colours were holding on by a thread. The colours were becoming duller, with lots of leaf fall on the ground.
I went back to my campsite and packed up. Today was moving day. My campsite for the remainder of the trip was Site 115 at Canisbay Lake. My tent and tarp were soaking wet from the overnight rain, but I just needed to get everything into my car for a short ten-minute drive.
For a last-minute booking, I was pleasantly surprised with Site 115. It had a long entrance driveway, the fire pit was tucked away at the back, and there was a perfectly flat area for my tent. The campsite is nestled among the hydro campground, so I was expecting lots of noise in the area, but it was actually very quiet. The campsite also backs onto the open field beside the campground office, which I knew would come in handy for late-night stargazing.
As usual, I went for an evening wildlife search. After a lot of driving, I saw a few cars pulled over. They were at the same terrible spot on the highway with no shoulder. I wasn’t in the mood to get hit by a car, so I went to a proper parking lot and walked over to that area. It took around 5 minutes of walking to get there, and then I realized the moose was actually closer to where I parked my car! I quickly ran back, but it was too late. There was barely any light left in the sky, and the moose had just gone inland. I heard him crashing around, but he didn’t come back out again. It was the same spot where I stepped in his massive pile of poop.
I didn’t get any photos this evening, but I did see him, so I’m still going to count this as a sighting. With the cow and calf earlier in the morning (I’ll count that as one sighting), I was now at 7 sightings total. And I knew where the bull moose bedded down for the night, which meant I knew where I was going to check first thing in the morning.
I went for a long walk with Elo through the Canisbay Lake campground under the faint moonlight. It was kind of spooky walking all alone in the dark. It was also very cool though. Definitely more cool than spooky. I heard wolves howling in the distance while I was getting into my tent, and then woke up in the middle of the night and heard them howling again. Spooky, but again, more cool than spooky.
Day 8 — The Best Moose Photos of the Entire Trip
Guess what? The moose was back at the same spot. Go figure!
But this sighting was special. This is the moment I was waiting for. I had gotten lots of good photos during the previous 7 sightings, but this had potential to be the money shot. This was the photo that might be worthy of getting hung on a wall.
The distance was perfect. The lighting was perfect. The background was perfect. There were no cars in the shot, ho hydro wires, no roads. I couldn’t have asked for a better composition. And to top it off, the morning mist made the scenery even more dramatic.
There were a bunch of other photographers present, most of which I knew. Everyone was being very quiet and respectful. Especially Elo, she was tethered to my waist, being her usual awesome self. Elo and I got there early, so we were in the very best spot. We were crouched among the tall grass, right by the water. We had the front row seats; everyone else was behind us.
I spent 30 minutes taking photos before the moose started walking straight towards us. It forced us out of our prime spot as we retreated backwards. Everyone was scattered around, still keeping a safe distance, but trying to get a good angle on the moose as he slowly made his way through the thick bush.
The moose was moving very slowly, inching his way closer to the highway. Eventually, a garbage truck came into the nearby parking lot, which spooked the moose. In a split second, the moose sprinted across the road. I got one photo of him crossing, but it wasn’t that great.
The morning fog had cleared and the sunlight was harsh, so even if the moose did reappear, it wouldn’t make for good photos. But it turned into a beautiful day; 17 degrees and pure sunshine. It was crazy nice for mid-October. The fall colours were long past peak and most of the leaves had fallen, but the landscapes were stunning nonetheless.
Given that it was the long weekend, every single campground site was fully booked, and day passes were also sold out. The cell signal was legitimately jammed. I needed to make a few work calls, but everywhere that I stopped didn’t have strong enough service. I had to drive all the way to Whitney to escape the crowds and get a few bars of signal.
I made a big fire at my campsite and set up my camera for an astrophotography timelapse in the large open field adjacent to my site. At 10:30 PM I took Elo for a long walk through the campground and stopped by the beach. I unintentionally made it just in time for the half-moon rising across the shoreline. The northern lights were just barely visible above the horizon too. A thick fog started to cover the lake and it turned into a really dramatic and gorgeous scene. I stayed there for 15 minutes before walking back to my campsite and going to bed shortly before midnight.
Day 9 — Another Photoshoot with the Bull Moose
My wildlife adventures on Day 9 started with a mystery animal. It passed by my car so quickly, I couldn’t tell what it was. Based on its size and colour, I’m guessing it was a raccoon. That maybe-raccoon mystery animal was all the excitement I had that morning.
When I arrived back to my campsite, I found out a bull moose was just spotted walking through the campground. I got skunked at my own campground! I took Elo for a walk at the Mew Lake airfield, hoping to finally spot something exciting there. My expectations were low, but a man can hope.
You guessed it… I didn’t see anything. But it was another beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the double-digits. It was perfect walking weather and unbelievably warm for mid-October.
I continued driving along Highway 60, going all the way to Whitney to fill up on gas. When I got back to my campsite, I found out the bull moose was spotted AGAIN while I was gone. I got skunked twice now at my own campground! Should I stop searching for the wildlife and just wait for the wildlife to come to me!?
Nah, I kept searching. Searching for wildlife is also a good way to let Elo burn off energy. She stays tethered to my waist at all times, but taking short walks still helps. During one of our short walks, we stumbled upon a heron standing among tall grassy waters. These herons tend to fly away the moment I notice them, so I quickly froze in place and snapped a few photos before it realized I was there.
I continued bouncing between my campsite, and driving on Highway 60 to look for wildlife. It was getting late and the light was starting to fade, but my phone lit up with a message… the bull moose was spotted. Luckily, I was less than one kilometer away, so I quickly made my way over.
It was the same bull moose that I had seen seven times already. This was number eight (plus the cow and calf, to make the total count of nine). He was feeding peacefully at the side of the road. Given that it was still the long weekend, people quickly took notice of the situation. This was the busiest moose sighting of them all. Cars were pulled over in the worst spots, like, right in the middle of the turning lane. Once again, people got way too close to the moose to take photos with their phones. Disappointing, but expected. It was obvious that most people were tourists by the look of shock on their face, and the verbal excitement that they finally got to see a moose. Park staff were there to control the situation.
I watched from a distance until it became dark outside and the crowd of people slowly dispersed. I put my camera away and stuck around, chatting with a friend until we were the last two people there. The park warden came back and started honking repeatedly, presumably to scare the moose away from the road now that it was dark out.
This was my last evening of the trip, and for some reason, I decided to be cheap and not buy firewood. Relative to the total cost of the trip, one more bundle of firewood would have been such a marginal expense. I definitely regretted that decision since it was a freezing cold night. To warm up, I went for a long walk with Elo through the campground. No one was at the campground beach, so I went back to my campsite, grabbed my camera gear, and drove back to the beach.
I took a few individual photos of the Milky Way and noticed some faint northern lights were present. A little bit of green and a touch of red, none of which were visible to the naked eye. The moon wasn’t rising until midnight, so I got to enjoy the magnificent starry skies for around one hour before I became too cold and drove back to my campsite.
Day 10 — The Final Moose Sighting
On my final day of the trip, I made one final attempt to find that wolf. As expected, I had one final failure.
I continued driving, scanning the shorelines for my moose friend. I saw a car pull up to a stop sign and then do a U-turn. Hmm. Either they forgot something at their campsite, or they spotted something in their rear-view mirror. Of course, I had to go check it out.
Yup. The bull moose was back. He was in the same spot as last night, off to the side of the campground road. I guess the honking warden didn’t scare him too far. It was still early in the morning and the lighting was really nice. The crowd was pleasantly small and appropriately quiet. It was the Tuesday after the long weekend, in mid-October, so the park was pretty quiet and mostly occupied by experienced campers.
I quietly watched the moose as he ate peacefully and slowly walked along the shoulder of the campground road. He went deep into the bush and I didn’t expect him to come back anytime soon, so I used that opportunity to take Elo for a walk. On my way back to my campsite I saw the moose again. It was only one hour later, and in the same spot, so I’ll just count this as one sighting. The big number 10.
This time it was just me and two other photographers that I’m friends with. No crowds. No noise. It was a perfectly quiet experience. We spent 20 minutes photographing the bull moose before he walked across the campground road and went deep into the forest.
We thought the encounter was over… but it was just getting started.
The bull poked his head out into an opening in the forest. It was a long, narrow strip of clear-cut trees with only stumps scattered throughout. It created a very unique landscape. The sunlight coming through the trees happened to be particularly beautiful too. I left Elo in the car for this encounter, which ended up being a good thing, because myself and the two other photographers went exploring.
The three of us brushed through the tall grass and entered the clear-cut area. We each hopped on a tree stump to get a direct line of sight with the bull. Slowly, carefully, and cautiously, we moved closer. We were tree-stump-hopping, inching our way closer to the bull moose. He was feeding in the distance; he noticed us, but he didn’t mind. I had seen this bull moose nine times already, which means he had seen me nine times too. We were basically BFFs.
This adventure was quite fun, and it was especially nice sharing it with a few friends, and not a huge crowd like most of the other encounters during this trip. The scenery, the lighting, the tree-stump-hopping… it was a perfect final moose sighting to end the trip. Afterwards, I packed up camp while the gusting wind blew down the remaining maple leaves surrounding my campsite, signifying the end of my trip, and the end of the fall colour season.
The Aftermath
I’ve seen a lot of moose in Algonquin Park, but 10 separate encounters in 10 days was pretty special. Yes, it was technically only three moose—one bull, one cow, and one calf—but the fact that I saw the same bull moose nine times almost made it even better. Following one moose for that length of time was an educational experience, as I learned his habits, his routines, and his body language. This was an older bull moose, with a deformed ear and some scars on his face. He’s been through some stuff. His age explained his calm demeanor, and if I was able to speak moose language, I’m sure he would have many wise words of wisdom to share with me.
The mid-October scenery was very lovely. Over the course of the ten days I watched the fall colours fade and the leaves fall to the ground. The weather was all over the place, with some nights as low as minus 8, and some days as high as 20 degrees. There was barely any rainfall though, and for mid-October, I’ll take that as a win.
My campsites at Pog Lake and Canisbay Lake were both great. For last-minute bookings, and only needing to change campsites one time in 10 days, I’ll take that as another win.
I also got to spend a lot of time with other photographers throughout the trip, seeing some people I already knew, and making a few new friends as well.
The moose sightings were obviously the highlight, but I also had luck with the foxes, the heron, blue jays, and more. For my final trip of the 2025 season, I’d say things ended pretty well.