Dad to Alaska!

Dad wrote this synopsis of his trip to Alaska - jeez, Dad, moving us and a trip to Alaska - no wonder I haven't had any blog posts in forever!!

Flying back to Seattle this morning from an epic trip to the far
north.  It started two and a half weeks ago and with only one shower
between then and now, nearly everyone on the plane would agree I am
epic :-)

I met my brother, Will, in Fairbanks to start the journey to the
Brooks Range.  We piled backing gear and fuel into his 91' F150 for
the 300-mile trip north.  The weather was beautiful, the Dalton
Highway was unusually easy, and we made record time to the Brooks
Range.  Our plan was to backpack in 5 miles with 14 days of food.  We
left the truck with heavy packs and soaring spirits.

We made 3 1/2 miles before dark and set camp just in time to glass
several groups of Dall Sheep on the hillsides.  Mission one
accomplished - spot some sheep!

Day two we trekked up and over the first mountain range - a grueling
uphill ordeal followed by an almost immediate loss of all elevation
gain.  We spotted even more sheep and rams too, but none that met the
full-curl or 8-years of age restrictions for this area.

Day three weather was spectacular again.  We glassed 31 different
rams, but none of them quite made the cut. Soon the days started to
meld together - grueling hikes into new drainages punctuated by
glassing new rams and judging size/age brackets.  Our diet of Mountain
House meals, pilot bread, and trail mix, kept us constantly hungry,
but was just enough calories to keep going.

Day 4 was some more close encounters and a grizzly bear spotting that
got Will excited about the prospects of bear hunting and me concerned
about our food storage procedures

By day 5, the weather had begun changing in the high country.  Highs
that had been in the 50's started to drop.  Mid-morning we got caught
in a rainstorm and hunkered down under a tarp as the rain changed to
sleet.  Will, the epitome of discomfort management, soundly started
sawing logs after 30-minutes of sitting on a jagged scree rock-pile
and holding a plastic tarp in place to block the sideways sleet.  My
Serta-pampered back couldn't take that abuse, so I woke Will after
20-minutes to set the tent and ride it out. After 4 hours, we were
back on our way.

At this point in the trip, we were already tired, extremely hungry
(did you know one chili-Mac Mountain House a day only has 580
calories?), and getting discouraged on finding a legal ram.  But, we
pressed on, navigating the scree slopes and rock fields.  It was
already 8:30 pm, but that far north, sunset was still an hour and a
half off.  We rounded a mountain top and spotted three sheep in the
distance.  Through the binoculars I guessed one might be a ram.

So went the procedure, crest a mountain, spot with binoculars, drop
the heavy packs, drag out the spotting scope, and count annual rings
on sheep horns.  Except this time, there wasn't any counting....

"That's the one!"  Will exclaimed.  I looked back over with the
binoculars, but at 1/2 mile away, I still couldn't even discern horns
for sure. But the spotting scope revealed three bedded rams with the
third dwarfing the prior two.

It was getting late and we weren't sure how to get closer or if we
should wait until the morning.  The rams weren't waiting and stood up
to feed and disappeared out of sight.

"Let's go!"  Will hollered as he shouldered his pack and set-off down
the mountain.  The acre slope down was as treacherous as we'd been on.
Adrenaline was flowing as we hit the bottom and looked for a route up
into the ram's basin.  We found a chute that looked more like a rock
waterfall than a trail and scampered up a sheer face that should have
warranted climbing gear.  No time to look down at this point!

About halfway up into the next basin the hour of scrambling was eating
into the adrenaline surge.  It was time to dig deeper and pull to the
top.  The packs drug downward, the sweat beaded, lungs burned, legs
screamed, and determination pushed the entire entourage still upward.
  We made the top at 10 pm and dropped the packs in favor of just the
rifle and spotting scope.

We eased over the top and Will spotted the ram bedded below us.  We
didn't have a good position, so we eased/slid/belly crawled down
another 150 yards to find a better vantage.  At this point, light was
starting to fade and things were going to have to happen fast.

I got into position with the rifle.  We knew the range was within 200
yards and I was really confident with the shot.  The problem was, the
ram was bedded facing us on a quartering towards angle with his
left-facing horn blocking a vital chest shot.  After waiting another
10 minutes, he still hadn't moved and the light conditions were
deteriorating.

I zeroed the cross hairs just a 1/4 inch below the left horn and
squeezed into the trigger - I was confident the bullet could be
squeaked through there. At the shot, the ram fell, but then stood up
wobbling.  A follow-up shot anchored the monarch only 5 feet from his
bedding spot.  It was 10:23 pm and the shot was 176 yards.

At that point, a flood of emotions hit - the grief of taking a life,
the exhaustion from 5-days of grueling backpacking, and the
exhilaration of standing in the Brooks Range immense on the adventure
of a lifetime.

The ram was everything I dreamed of.  He was a battered veteran of the
far north.  Both horns were brommed (broken) from years of battles and
digging for food.  Will counted over 12 annual growth rings and
numerous battle scars marred the old ram's face.  We had done it!  A
do it yourself, backpack-in, Dall sheep adventure!

That night I slept on a cloud - despite the boulders and 30 degree
angle we set the tent on - absolutely awesome!   The next morning we
finished boning out the meat and started the long pack back up the
mountain to stash the meat and horns.  The weather had turned lousy
again - rain mixed with sleet and snow.  Sometimes downward, but
mostly driving sideways.  The hike was steep uphill through a quagmire
of tundra tussocks - after all-day it had burned some of our
enthusiasm!

We made camp that night hoping the weather would break and dry out our
boots and gear.  When we awoke the next morning, we were greeted by 3
inches if fresh snow and temps that had dropped to 12 F!  Our boots
had frozen into snow encapsulated ice blocks - not much consolation
for our still soaking socks.

We broke camp and headed back to some familiar drainages to see if the
snow had pushed any new rams in for Will's tag.   On the way, we
spotted another hunter and realized it was Nick, Will's hunting buddy
who had left word he might come out.  The new set of legs and some
fresh rations buoyed out efforts to find another ram.

We spent the next 7 days searching and surviving the Brooks Range.
The snow accumulation got to around 8 inches on the flats, and the
drifts went to 6 feet.  The temps never came back up above freezing
and our wet gear from day 5 stayed wet for the remainder if the trip.
We had several more close encounters including a grizzly bear stalk
that ended in two terrifying cliff-outs and an almost shot
opportunity.

We made it out alive, had to chip our frozen meat stash off a rock
with tent stakes, watched some of the best northern lights I've ever
seen, chased some grayling and moose on the way back towards
Fairbanks, and stopped for one the best burgers of my life in
Coldfoot, Alaska.  I'm still trying to regain feeling in my
finger-tips that took the brunt of sub-freezing temps in endlessly wet
gloves.  The ram-sealing technician aged the ram at 14-years old.  The
oldest they had checked all year - a true monarch of the north!  It
was an epic adventure that won't soon be forgotten!

Nate

PS - I've been "off the grid" for awhile  and missed putting my out of
office agent to work - I'll be on leave still the rest of this week to
hang with my brother-in-law and family, and then Amber, Harley,
Emersyn, and I will be packing for New Mexico next week (moving truck
leaves Sep 19). Shoot me an email if you need anything and I'll try to
get on it in the next couple of days. Hope all is well and life is
full of adventures!!!!!!!