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Author Topic: Four Day Trip Into The Alaska Range  (Read 849 times)

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Offline Sourdough

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Four Day Trip Into The Alaska Range
« on: April 06, 2007, 07:46:20 PM »
Just got back this evening.  Spent 4 days riding around looking for the Caribou Herd.  Did not find any Caribou, or Wolves that follow the herds.  Found several Moose, and saw three Lynx.  Those are beautiful animals, their movements are so fluid and smooth.  Yet it's so eeri to look them in the face.  At night could get the Wolves to answer my calls, but they would not come in.The local trapper had two wolves at his place that he had trapped.  One of them was the biggest wolf I had ever seen.  They were both grays.  Did see one Grizzly yesterday.  I was up on top of the ridge between Bonifield Creek and the Wood River.  I glassed the southern slopes looking for Wolves and spotted one Grizzly already out.  It's awsume to look down on glaciers, and to see mountains for hundreds of miles.  No roads, no sign of human habitation anywhere in sight.  Made a mistake and crossed the divide, went down a slope and got stuck.  Snow machine did not have enough power to climb back out.  Had to go on down to the Wood River, then run down the river. That trippled the distance back to the cabin.  Ran out of daylite and spent the night under a spruce tree, on the river bank.  Spruce needles and boughs make a good mattress, and it's dry under there.  Glad I keep that wool blanket strapped to the bottom of my pack.  Slept in till nine AM. then left after it warmed up some.  Made the run down river in the daylite pretty quick, my GPS said I was running a top speed of 61 MPH going down the river.  Did not know that machine would go that fast, no speedometer.  Took two hours to go down river to the intersection with the Rex trail.  Glad I had a GPS along, the riverbed is about a mile wide there and I would have missed the trail otherwise.  Then an hour and half back to the cabin.  Packed up, then two hours to the highway, then two hour drive to North Pole.
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Offline Sourdough

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Re: Four Day Trip Into The Alaska Range
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2007, 08:08:00 PM »
Forgot to mention, for the first time I felt uncomfortable with that single shot (NEF Handi in 30-06) last night.  Something came up the riverbed last night in the dark.  It was cloudy, so there was no moonlite.  I could just make out a faint movement out on the snow.  Could not tell if it was one or several animals.  Thought it was Wolves but was not sure.  Kept me awake for an hour or so.  This morning the wind had erased enough of the tracks that I could not tell what had made them.  And if it had been Wolves, they travel single file, stepping in the same tracks, you can't tell by their tracks how many there was in the group.
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Where is old Joe when we really need him?  Alaska Independence    Calling Illegal Immigrants "Undocumented Aliens" is like calling Drug Dealers "Unlicensed Pharmacists"
What Is A Veteran?
A 'Veteran' -- whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserve -- is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America,' for an amount of 'up to, and including his life.' That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country today who no longer understand that fact.

Offline magooch

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Re: Four Day Trip Into The Alaska Range
« Reply #2 on: April 07, 2007, 03:43:40 AM »
Were you alone?  If so, you must have to pack your's around in a wheelbarrow.
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Offline Sourdough

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Re: Four Day Trip Into The Alaska Range
« Reply #3 on: April 07, 2007, 08:15:57 AM »
magooch:  I'm almost always alone.  Everybody I know works.  Plus I have usually gone alone even when others could go.  They never seem to want to do what I do, or they are always wanting to leave early and go home.  I don't look at things as a disaster when they happen.  It's more of an annoyance, and go on.  Do what you got to do.

Yes, I've walked out many times by my self when I got my rig stuck.  I just hate wading across rivers, I usually fall and get wet.  Then I have to build a fire and dry my clothes.

Didn't mention that when I went over the divide, the slope was so steep that I was totally out of control for about 300 yards.  The angle was so steep that something stuck in the carborator or injection system and fouled the plug.  I fouled both of my spare plugs trying to get it restarted.  Built a fire and warmed and dryed the plugs.  Tapped on the carborator and kept pulling the starter rope till it quite spitting raw fuel out the spark plug hole.  Put the original plug back in, and she started right up.  If it had not have started, it would have taken me three days to walk back to the mine at Gold King.  Yea, a young man could have done it in one day by going over the top.  But I'm old and slow.  I'll take the longer easier way.

I had a wool blanket, my Leatherman, Matches, and a Rifle and Shells.  I was home.
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Where is old Joe when we really need him?  Alaska Independence    Calling Illegal Immigrants "Undocumented Aliens" is like calling Drug Dealers "Unlicensed Pharmacists"
What Is A Veteran?
A 'Veteran' -- whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserve -- is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America,' for an amount of 'up to, and including his life.' That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country today who no longer understand that fact.

Offline Skunk

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Re: Four Day Trip Into The Alaska Range
« Reply #4 on: April 07, 2007, 06:46:57 PM »
Sourdough, now that was an adventure and a half. Thanks for sharing it with us. I always enjoy your posts.

When you say "snow machine," are you referring to a snowmobile like an Arctic Cat or Polaris, or do you mean one of those snow cat deals with the big twin iron tracks? From your description of fixing the fouled plugs, I'm betting on the regular, small, single track type like the Polaris, which must have made your trip even more interesting. You people who live up in Alaska are definitely the rugged types to say the least. ;) A 4 day trip into the wilderness in Northern Wisconsin where I live would probably be like going on a picnic for you. ;D

Sounds like you had some fun and a great adventure.

Skunk
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Offline Sourdough

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Re: Four Day Trip Into The Alaska Range
« Reply #5 on: April 07, 2007, 08:36:32 PM »
Skunk:  This time I was riding a Ski-Doo Tundra II.  A small single cylinder lightweight snowmachine.  It is my favorite, since it is almost impossiable to get it stuck. 
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Where is old Joe when we really need him?  Alaska Independence    Calling Illegal Immigrants "Undocumented Aliens" is like calling Drug Dealers "Unlicensed Pharmacists"
What Is A Veteran?
A 'Veteran' -- whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserve -- is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America,' for an amount of 'up to, and including his life.' That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country today who no longer understand that fact.

Offline williamlayton

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Re: Four Day Trip Into The Alaska Range
« Reply #6 on: April 08, 2007, 01:07:00 AM »
I enjoyed the story and admire your ability to remain calm in the face of adversity. Many would panic and create a more harsh dilemma than actually occurred.
I am unfamiliar with any type of snow machine but the light weight seems to hold many advantages and, from your post, it does not seem slow.
You seem well equipped to deal with the environment that you live in and I think that goes a long way in your being able too cope. You, obviously, have taken the time to get to know and learn all the things necessary to survive, not only survive but also enjoy this outdoors.
I agree with you on being a loner, too some extent. I also like to go when I want, where I want without feeling the need to have company. I like folks but don't depend on them being available too do what I want too do.
Blessings
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Offline powderman

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Re: Four Day Trip Into The Alaska Range
« Reply #7 on: April 08, 2007, 03:50:55 AM »
SOURDOUGH. My hats off to ya, I enjoyed your story. I have NO DESIRE to spend a night in the open in bear and wolf country, ESPECIALLY with a sgl shot rifle. POWDERMAN.  ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Offline Almtnman

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Re: Four Day Trip Into The Alaska Range
« Reply #8 on: April 08, 2007, 11:37:51 AM »
Sourdough, a very interesting story and you went in there alone and with a single shot rifle. I'd have to think about that one for a while especially with the single shot. Your story reminds me of something someone once told me when I bought my first four wheelers. They said, "try to always remember that you can drive one of these things farther in a couple of hours that it will take 2 or 3 days of walking back out in case something happens too far back in there".

Anyway, I admire your willingness on doing it all by yourself.
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Offline Sourdough

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Re: Four Day Trip Into The Alaska Range
« Reply #9 on: April 08, 2007, 01:38:23 PM »
Almtnman:  What you said is very true.  Several years ago the shop I worked in had a party down at Lake Louise.  There was a young hot shot that had one of those latest and greatest, hot and fast snow machines.  Top speed something like 130 or 140 MPH.  Out on the lake he could do that easily.  Well we were going inside to eat dinner that night.  He wanted to make one last trip across the lake so he took off, wide open.  We had dinner, sat around and talked for a while.  When he did not show up several of his buddies said "Oh he just decided to spend the night at his Dad's cabin about two miles down the lake shore."  So no one got concerned, and we all went to bed.  About 3AM when the moon came up, one of the older guys and I decided to go out on the lake and look around.  We found him sitting in the middle of the lake, about two miles out, hypothermic and delirious.  The temp had really dropped that night out on the lake and he was not dressed for temps that low.  We put him on a sled and took him back to the cabin and thawed him out.  He was really mad at his buddies the next morning for leaving him stranded out there on the lake.

He had cranked down on the throttle, and held it for about two minutes.  In those two minutes he had covered close to five miles.  When he let off the throttle, something went wrong with his machine and it quite.  He could not get it restarted, so he decided to walk back across the lake.  He should have went to the nearest shore and built a fire.  Instead he almost died.  We recovered his machine the next day, and it was close to five miles out.  Less than a quarter mile from shore.
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Where is old Joe when we really need him?  Alaska Independence    Calling Illegal Immigrants "Undocumented Aliens" is like calling Drug Dealers "Unlicensed Pharmacists"
What Is A Veteran?
A 'Veteran' -- whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserve -- is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America,' for an amount of 'up to, and including his life.' That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country today who no longer understand that fact.

Offline bljc27

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Re: Four Day Trip Into The Alaska Range
« Reply #10 on: April 10, 2007, 05:05:30 PM »
great story! :)  That is what I call the ultimate lifestyle!!! ;)
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