So, by now most everyone knows about our hunt/camp trip. I finally have the time to put some story behind the pictures, so here it goes.
Meg and I hiked to the top of a mountain to try to find some caribou sheds. When we got up there, we found this patch of snow and two caribou. One was actually laying down in it. You can see the tracks and bed. I think they like it up here for a few reasons. There were no bugs, it was nice. They lay in the snow to cool off. And there are no bushes or trees, so you can see for a long ways in all directions. So no predator is gonna sneak up on them.
Here you can see the two caribou. This picture will open up and you can see them better.
We took this picture on top of the same mountain. That's the Susitna River and the Alaska Mountain Range in the back ground.
11:30 at night on the Denali Highway.
This was the morning we were driving out. We're looking north towards the Alaska Mountain Range. Those are trumpeter swans in the lake.
I had some time off and I want to go hunting. Chase was going to go with me but previous commitments wouldn't allow it. So Cathy asked me to take Megan so I wouldn't be alone. I had my reservations, but decided to take her on this 3 day 2 night trip.
By the end of the first day we had seen 12 moose and some small game.
Nothing else. When we returned to my truck I found that I had a flat
tire. I decided to wait until a.m. to change the tire and evaluate
whether we stay or not. When I got up and changed the tire, my spare (original 8 yr old tire) was a bit low and I decided to try to limp it back to Cantwell with as much air as I could put in it with my little ATV pump. On the way back I pulled into The Gracious House at mile 82 and Butch took great care of us. He could have easily taken advantage of
my lack of planning out in the middle of nowhere, but he didn't. He fixed my tire and aired my spare for a cost I doubt I could have found
in Los Anchorage. With my faith renewed in my ability to get home, I asked what she wanted to do, and to my surprise and delight, she wanted to finish our trip. So we headed back to camp and unloaded
the ATV and went back to hunting.
We put another 15 miles on the trails and hiked to the top of the mountain
to look for caribou sheds. By 9 p.m. we returned to camp with no sheds,
but we saw 5 caribou for the day, and not a single moose!
As the day was winding down, I set up the tent and we were getting ready
for bed. I was brushing my teeth and walking toward my truck after
looking for the object that had flattened my tire. Meg was
walking toward the other side of the truck after emptying her bladder
when a cow moose came trotting towards camp not 30 ft from where she had just been. The cows head was raised high, eyes as big as
saucers, and I think you could have fit a softball in her nostrils. She
had a calf in tow and she was the definition of aggitated. I told Meg to get in the truck and I pulled my pistol and that's when I
saw the blonde fur trailing along behind the moose. I started for my
back seat to get my rifle and the griz stood up in the bushes and looked
at us. It dropped back down, trotted back in the direction it had come
from and stood again. I raised my gun with adrenaline pumping and the
scope cover was still on! The bear started running again and after I
removed my blinder, brought my gun to my shoulder and bleated, it
stopped and stood again and Barnes Triple Shock did fly.
By now Meg is standing on top of my truck as wide eyed as that
mother moose, smiling and clapping. So that's the story. It's not a big bear, but a killer none the less. And I couldn't have dreamed up a better experience to share with Meg.
tire. I decided to wait until a.m. to change the tire and evaluate
whether we stay or not. When I got up and changed the tire, my spare (original 8 yr old tire) was a bit low and I decided to try to limp it back to Cantwell with as much air as I could put in it with my little ATV pump. On the way back I pulled into The Gracious House at mile 82 and Butch took great care of us. He could have easily taken advantage of
my lack of planning out in the middle of nowhere, but he didn't. He fixed my tire and aired my spare for a cost I doubt I could have found
in Los Anchorage. With my faith renewed in my ability to get home, I asked what she wanted to do, and to my surprise and delight, she wanted to finish our trip. So we headed back to camp and unloaded
the ATV and went back to hunting.
We put another 15 miles on the trails and hiked to the top of the mountain
to look for caribou sheds. By 9 p.m. we returned to camp with no sheds,
but we saw 5 caribou for the day, and not a single moose!
As the day was winding down, I set up the tent and we were getting ready
for bed. I was brushing my teeth and walking toward my truck after
looking for the object that had flattened my tire. Meg was
walking toward the other side of the truck after emptying her bladder
when a cow moose came trotting towards camp not 30 ft from where she had just been. The cows head was raised high, eyes as big as
saucers, and I think you could have fit a softball in her nostrils. She
had a calf in tow and she was the definition of aggitated. I told Meg to get in the truck and I pulled my pistol and that's when I
saw the blonde fur trailing along behind the moose. I started for my
back seat to get my rifle and the griz stood up in the bushes and looked
at us. It dropped back down, trotted back in the direction it had come
from and stood again. I raised my gun with adrenaline pumping and the
scope cover was still on! The bear started running again and after I
removed my blinder, brought my gun to my shoulder and bleated, it
stopped and stood again and Barnes Triple Shock did fly.
By now Meg is standing on top of my truck as wide eyed as that
mother moose, smiling and clapping. So that's the story. It's not a big bear, but a killer none the less. And I couldn't have dreamed up a better experience to share with Meg.
1 comment:
dude, great story. i have spent the last couple hours reading your blog!
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