Our Second Act-Fogo - Hoofprints and Antlers…

Back to Fogo…

Clem (I went out with him last year as well) picked me up at 4:30 AM. We made our way to Tilting to see the early dawn light over the Atlantic - while looking towards Ireland. The temps were in the high 50’s - just perfect. But wow, the bugs - they sure were plentiful and big! I set up … and, of course, it took my breath away.

The night before I had talked with a couple who had seen a caribou! They told me the name of the trail - it was one that I had not been on yet. I asked Clem if we could head to that trail and try our luck - he graciously said, of course we can, but the bugs will be ferocious! I said - got it - ok, mind over matter let’s go!! We decided to pack up and leave Tilting before the sun came up and hustle to get over to the trail and see the sun come up from that vantage point. Since I have had never been on this trail I really couldn’t wait to see what this was going to be like - I knew that I would love it. As we were driving down the dirt road I looked to the right and saw a little inlet, - the tide was out and there were Greater Yellow Legs and Spotted Sandpipers having an early morning feast in the early morning light - stunning and so peaceful. We kept bumping along the road until we could go no further. As soon as we got out of the car the bugs were absolutely swarming us. We quickly got ready and I followed Clem along the start of the trail. In no distance at all we had this scene unfold in front of us - how could I care about swarms of bugs when we saw this?

We continued on and then.Clem said - why don’t you go ahead of me around the next corner… and this is why…

With the sun now above the horizon we came over a rise in order to follow the trail - I had to keep stopping briefly in order to be able to look left, right, and everywhere in between - no matter where I looked it was stunning.

A little further along we looked down in the mud of the narrow single file path that we were on… fresh Caribou hoof prints! We had already been on high alert, now we were on super high alert. We continued on. The spectacular Atlantic Ocean was on our right and a beautiful marsh was to our left - the marsh was exploding with wild flowers and every shade of green that is possible to imagine. In the middle of the marsh were multiple little ponds of water so blue that I just couldn’t stop looking at them. We continued on.

There was a steep rocky section and Clem carried my big tripod and camera with my zoom for me - I sincerely appreciate him doing that for me. I kept my landscape camera out and my day pack on. The winds were picking up as we got closer to the top of the ridge - which meant the bugs were pushed away from us - bliss!

Looking back over our left shoulders behind us…. Tilting…

Continuing on…

We made it to the top of the ridge. Clem knew exactly where he wanted to stand to survey the marsh below us. I set up. Almost immediately Clem pointed and I followed where he was looking - OMG a Caribou was right down below us just on the other side of the trees!

The sun was now hitting our backs and as we watched this dark brown blob down below us - he looked right up at us! We were upwind from him so he was not smelling us - he was just eating the lichen and whatever else he was finding to fill his belly. I locked on to him with my Zoom and could not believe what I was seeing - such a spectacular animal! Clem and I looked at each other to acknowledge this truly majestic and beautiful creature. From my first shot to my last we watched him for approximately. 56 minutes - at times he would be out of sight and we would either stay put or decide to walk a little further - we followed our gut instincts. We spotted him again and again until he was finally out of our view for good….