North to the Alaska "Haul Road" Day Two

The camper worked out well other than the battery draining for an unknown reason thus causing the low battery beep to start chiming around 4am. And since we were without a trailer towing our supplies, much of our gear was now stored in the camper bath. So with the fact that the bathroom was right next to Doug's bed and it was not easily accessible or roomy, I decided to make use of the big wild wide outdoors for the elimination of personal excess from the night and day before.
Originally, I whined enough before we left on the hunt about the use of the toilet facilities. It was brought to my attention that "the guys" never before on these hunts used the camper toilet because it wasted good use of storage area to take more things. This of course was a surprise to me. I was sure that if you have a workable toilet, it surely is a good thing to use and not expose yourself to the elements of the wilderness. Googling the "haul road" even allowed me to see that there weren't a lot of trees to hide behind. It is a tundra and there are wild things out there. Well, Chris agreed after talking to the camper owner, that the restroom would be usable and functionally. Plans changed.
Shovel in one hand and tissue roll in other, I made my way into the foggy morning to experience the ultimate in "haul road" lessons. Find coverage, dig a hole, and hope that a creature in nature doesn't disturb you. Okay, okay, so I'm not really a princess.....

For several hours we sat and watched Caribou several hundred yards away across the river from our camp site. We managed to even see many up on the hills beyond slowly making their way down to the river. Large and small grazing without concern. Their front white manes showed up so well against the Fall colors of the tundra and the grays of the mountains. Tips of red flashed occasionally letting all know the rut season was near. Waiting was long. You could feel energy uprising as the tall creatures made their way across the "Sag" or the Sagavanirktok. Without reason, as soon as they crossed, they headed for the highway in a total different direction than what we anticipated. By no fault of ours. The wind was towards us, we sat so quietly, and no other hunter seemed to be stalking them. They just knew. The river was crossed and it was time for them to cross the most dangerous areas. The Haul road. Truckers, hunters, and wide open spaces......

Day Three

I slept really well in that camper! The mattress was great. I begged Chris to use flannel sheet and blankets instead of sleeping bags. So I stayed warmmmmmm. He thinks I have a built in furnace but I think it is him. Snuggling is so much better in blankets than in Sleeping bags.

This day we saw a few more Ptarmigans, Foxes, and a lot of Musk Ox. It was very cool seeing all the wild life.

North to the Alaska "Haul Road"

Day one

Road trip to the "haul road" started about 830pm Tuesday night September 8th. Chris and Doug loaded the camper totally full. Everything nice and packed tightly for the bumpy road. Doug's Costco trailer crammed with empty coolers, extra gas, several tires for the truck and trailers in case of flats, and fire wood. All I could think was "WOW", I was going to be safe and sound. These guys thought of everything. My only concern was how well I could perform in what I always thought (before I met Chris) was the Man's world up north.

To prepare myself, I had a drink before we left. I was thinking my nerves were a little shot. How was I to know what to REALLY expect. I mean, men tell stories about hunting and I know they elaborate, but I was very aware at 830pm on Tuesday night that there would be no turning around. Once we get there...we are there. If I didn't like it, I couldn't do anything but trudge through. My experience was going to be what I made it, ultimately.

Trouble # 1

My martini with olives and onions was just the ticket to a nice sleeping mode the first three hours on the road. Doug drove first and I could hear him and Chris talking a little but soon I was relaxed enough to not care where we were going. Chris slept a little but since I had the back seat with pillows, he slept sitting up in the front. Then it happened. Three hours into the drive, in the dark, loaded down with all the gear we could ever think we might need.....the truck stops. Now, remember I had had a drink so I am not sure the full story of what happened to make it poop out, but we were in the dark sitting on the side of the Parks Highway and the truck would not turned over. I think I heard them say "ut oh". For some reason, that didn't sound good in the dark. It seems that when you switch to the second tank of gas on Doug's diesel truck, you are not suppose to wait until it is completely empty.

Remember this girls when you drive a diesel with two gas tanks.


After waiting, going through all the fuses because that is what guys do, and attempting to wave down a tow drive that already had a vehicle with man loaded for a fix it place somewhere in the dark; Doug tried again to crank the switch when it worked. Thank you to the angels watching over me. Of course, I was still in a stupor and at that point wasn't sure that it was okay that it cranked due to us pushing forward down to the destination.

Chris drove from Cantwell to Fairbanks. I slept a little more but was now in the passenger front seat. Doug was out in the back. Then my turn came. I got the most exciting part of the drive. It was dark, I had never driven or seen the area above Fairbanks, and I got to enter the "Haul road" being the only one awake. I drove all the way to the Yukon. The sun was coming up over the mountains. Most of the time, I listened to some of the CDs already in the truck but still some of my favorite country music. The Yukon was gorgeous! I never knew it was as wild as it was. You could see land forever as you top the hill before the bridge. At this moment, I was glad to be along with guys and able to experience was they have seen before.

Trouble #2

Then it happened. I heard the "ut oh" again. Now we had another problem. The trailer had not only lost a tire but the rim was completely destroyed. I had driven the haul road alright. And I had driven the tire right off. The weird thing is I never felt the trailer messing up or teetering funny. In fact you couldn't even see the trailer from the cab due to the camper on the back of the trailer. The guys were great. They reassured me that I couldn't have known. We were just fortunate that the trailer didn't dump all our coolers and other supplies. Good thing they brought four extra tire for the trailer.


Ladies, would we have thought of that?

So the extra tires came in handy ....up to this point.

Next we drove into Coldfoot where I ate the biggest pancake ever placed before. Most of my friends know I love french toast from Snow City Cafe, but now I will forever be craving the drive to Coldfoot just to get my pancake!

After I engulfed this hefty breakfast with Chris shaking his head in disbelief, we headed on up the road to make it to the official hunting grounds. Namely where ever the caribou roamed.

Trouble #3

A few miles later, we pulled off the road to take what would be my first of many beside-the-road potty breaks. There we discovered that the advice of a friend to not pull the trailer was the correct advice we didn't heed. The bearing cap on the tire we changed had came off somewhere after Coldfoot. Dirt was on the bearings and grease was splattering out. So the trailer had to be ditched. There we had to choose the most important items from the trailer and what could be left behind. Firewood was important. So were the coolers because we were hoping to get meat. In the end, we stuffed the camper even tighter than we thought we could. It was impossible to walk inside without climbing over tires, supply boxes, and gas cans. Everyone kept their cool and I didn't whine.

Eventually, we headed more into the stomping grounds of tundra, caribou, and true Alaskan Big Sky. The sun was shining from every direction. Trucks, work equipment, and tons of hunting vehicles rambled up and down the dusty gravel road kicking up gray matter with a mission. Now, I was up in my seat. Chris had already made a stop for us to gather our bows, arrows, and release for the lucky chance we might see "something to shoot". The rules were clear. My education in bow hunting gave me insight into what I could shoot, when I could shoot, and when I should or shouldn't shoot. I felt ready and after almost two years of practicing with my Diamond bow, I was ready to be called a hunter and not just a shooter.

As Chris drove, all of a sudden he and Doug were all excited telling me "get your bow!" The next thing I knew, I was walking the tundra trying to sneak up on a few Ptarmigan or as I have always called them...."Snow Chickens". Their breast were white and their top feathers were mottled with gray, black and whites colors. They had long necks and only one could be seen at first as the sentry. Doug and I had to look for a few moments because we actually passed them in the truck and had to walk back and relocate them. Once we had them and I think Doug and I spotted the sentry at the same time, then we lifted our bows. Without as much as a thought, I pulled my string back, aimed and released. POP!! or as some bow hunters say...."thunk!" (small thunk since Ptarmigan are small). Finally, I was a hunter. Then I saw more and since the limit was 20, I went for it. My total was 3 for the day.

Forgot something. Once you kill it, you have to dress it. ........that is for tomorrow.

One more thing, I got kind of crazy with the first caribou I saw. I begged Chris to take me out and try to go after it. Fools choice but Chris indulged me. We scampered over 200 yards of tundra attempting to hide behind every little bush, with the caribou remaining always 200 yards away. Of course, I wasn't alone in the chase...4 other hunters were after him. It was a hoot to see the bunch of us running after it. The caribou probably thought it was usual for the day and made it a habit to humiliate a few hunters every day. But to make matters worse, my overly excited predator persona was really amuse when low and behold as we were driving away we saw a huge caribou standing all by itself. White beard and broad side. Chris put the brakes on. We all lifted our binoculars and then saw a man walking away from it. It was a decoy!.......Hunting is a hoot!

To end the day, we found a pull out, set up camp, and sat by the fire discussing our day.