What an incredible moment! Today was one of those situations that I wouldn't believe if I hadn't been there personally to watch it unfold.

I headed out to a particular spot in Zirkel Wilderness in hopes of spotting moose, elk or anything else that might come my way. The valleys there are prime moose habitat – lush, marshy expanses with aspen, grasses, willows and a lot of visibility.

As I hiked back into the mountains, it looked like I was close behind a single elk – but tracks in the mud can be deceiving sometimes, so it was tough to tell. I could see evidence of moose and others, but so far I hadn't seen anything.

A Sandhill Crane appeared in the aspens, so I stopped to try and get some decent pics of him. Focusing on such a small face while moving through aspen groves is no easy task! I took a bunch of photos hoping to get a few clear shots of his eye, and luckily one or two turned out ok. While photographing the crane, a robin had perched on a branch very very close to me, so I also took advantage of the nice light.

Birds were not my main priority, so I continued on down the soggy trail. The elk prints continued and I eventually caught up to one female. She was not comfortable with me, and quickly trotted off into the woods.

After around 3 miles of hiking, I decided to stop somewhere and just wait to see what may come into the valley. I often debate whether or not I should stay in one spot or if I should hike around to try and find wildlife. Most of the time, I don't stay in one place but I told myself this time that I should give it a try. I picked a spot that felt very moose friendly, and waited to see what might happen.

The spot I picked was sort of like a natural deer blind – my location was well hidden by willows and some rocks. I could see up and down the valley a good ¼ mile. There was a little pond directly in front of me, and I sat my camera down, grabbed a snack and waited patiently.

After about 20 minutes, I heard moose vocalizations! Moose communicate to each other with quiet, low noises that are fairly rare – but I've heard them enough to know that it's a thing. I looked up the hillside toward the direction of the sound and caught a glimpse of a moose walking quickly downhill to the valley.

Things began to happen very quickly. I grabbed my camera and noticed the two moose were trotting down the hill at a pretty quick pace – AND they were headed straight for me! I mean, of all the places that I decided to stop, these moose were on a direct line for me and I was equal parts surprised, excited and a little nervous because this isn't how I like an encounter to go!

Typically, I like for moose to see me from a distance and they can decide how they want to proceed. In this situation with their speed, and my spot being so naturally camouflaged, there wasn't going to be a good opportunity to show myself from a distance. And, my telephoto lens is really meant for long distance shots. These moose were about to be so close that my main camera wouldn't be able to frame a decent shot.

So - I started video with my cell phone in one hand and had my main camera in the other. In an instant, the female was immediately in front of me about 12 feet away. The bull was to my right, but he couldn't see me through the dense willows.

I sat my phone aside for a second to get some shots with my main camera. Five shots later I see the dreaded message "MEMORY CARD FULL". All the sandhill crane shots earlier, and forgetting that I had a smaller memory card in my camera led to a very unfortunate situation where I couldn't use my camera at exactly the moment I needed it most.

The phone video was still rolling, and the bull could tell that something wasn't right based on the female's body language. She was staring right at me and he ran through the water at nearly full speed – and she followed.

I hurriedly swapped my memory card and was able to get a few more shots of the pair while they were still relatively close. They were, understandably, spooked by the encounter and decided to mosey off into the woods.

It was absolutely incredible to me that they were so close in that particular situation. Looking back at the images, I was struck by her ear injury. The scar was relatively fresh, and you can see the intensity in her eyes as she looks directly into the camera in that tense moment just a few feet away.

It was confirmation that I picked a good spot – and in this case, maybe too good of a spot. It was also an important reminder to be more aware of how many images I have left on my memory card. I'm really lucky that I had 5 images left when they arrived. My favorite shot was the last image I had on that first card.

Both moose were quite large, and the vocalizations are a real curiosity to me. Had I not interrupted them by being so accidentally close, perhaps I would have been able to hear them 'talking' to each other longer. Amazing encounter and one of my favorite images of the year so far.