October 23, 2009
At 5:00 AM we met Justin, Dawn and Clancy down at the barn to get saddles on the animals and get all the gear packed into the vehicles. We had a bit of a problem with the fuel filter on the truck but got it straightened out when we stopped for gas. We left the North Fork trailhead with all the mules loaded at 8:20. We rode into the Danaher (a 7 1/2 hr /21+ mile trip) in the Bob Marshall Wilderness, RD has a moose tag for this area. We will also be hunting for elk and deer. I am only 7 weeks post-op (back in Germany they looked at me like I was crazy when I told them I was going to do this but I feel fine so I’m doing it anyway)!
The ride is a familiar one, I’ve been to this area at least four times before and to Cabin Creek (the turn off is about half way) at least three or four times. This time we set up camp at “Hooker’s” camp (an outfitter who is not using this particular site this Fall) because with the corals it makes it much easier to manage the animals, plus there are plenty of flat sites ready for tents. When we were setting up the main tent I tried to help and managed to trip over a log and jar my neck. Once that happened I took a pain pill and got out of the way until there was “little” stuff to do (unroll sleeping bags, fold tarps, set up the “kitchen”, etc.).
RD had pre-cooked a meatloaf so dinner was easy…meatloaf, mashed potatoes and Barb’s cinnamon rolls for dessert.
October 24, 2009
We awakened to 30°, a skiff of new snow and a beautiful sunrise. After a breakfast of sausage and biscuits we finished setting up camp (chop wood/carry water) then took an afternoon hike up the west side of the swamp looking for sign of moose…nothing.
October 25, 2009
Clear sky and 22°. Everyone was up bright and early this morning for a morning hunt. Clancy rode the lower Danaher Meadows, Justin and Dawn went up Calf Creek, and RD and I rode around the entire Danaher Basin. Almost no “sign” (sign = tracks, droppings, “beds”) at all! Where are all the animals? We found a trappers camp on the East side of the Basin but no one was home. We then stopped at the USFS cabin where we found a bear had gotten into the alfalfa pellets and hay that had been left there. They had also left out a battery that they were recharging with a solar panel…totally destroyed…is that supposed to be covered by tax payer money? So much for the “no bear attractant” policy they are always trying to enforce on everyone else. RD put what was left of the pellets in the outhouse while Jackson (RD’s mule) and Lynna (my Arabian) snacked on what was spilled on the ground
October 26, 2009
A Chinook was blowing last night so we awakened to 38° and a drizzly rain. Since we all had sore knee’s, butt’s and backs we decided it was a perfect day to just hang out in camp. RD cut down a standing dead for firewood but it didn’t fall exactly where he had planned so part of the day was spent mending the coral along with cutting firewood.
October 27, 2009
This morning it was clear, frosty and 25°, the ground sparkled like diamonds. After breakfast the kids headed for the Dry Fork, while RD and I rode north to an area he calls the “meanders” because the creek meanders back and forth through this area just north of the meadows. We went by the other camp again and met “Bob”. He hasn’t seen much game either.
We got back to camp before the kids so I busied myself getting dinner ready while RD sawed three logs into firewood. They were several hours past when we expected them so we started to get a little worried. When it was almost dark they finally rode into camp. Since we had several hours to go over possible “scenario’s” of why they were late they got a little safety “pop quiz” as soon as they sat down and we were sure they were OK. Turns out the trail they had tried to go up and over was closed to stock (but they tried to do it anyway…luckily they didn’t make it or it would have been midnight before they got back to camp).
Question: If someone gets seriously injured what do you do?
Answer: Get them warm and comfortable (i.e. light a fire), then someone needs to ride out to a phone and activate the EMS.
They failed miserably...they all thought they should ride back to camp and get RD. Total waste of time since if someone was seriously injured he couldn’t do anything more than ride out for help either.
October 28, 2009
Awoke this morning to 22° and an inch of new snow…great for tracking if there are any animals up here!
RD and I rode north again to the meanders and came across a yearling moose. He was only about 100 yards away but we looked at him through our scopes and decided he was awful small. Since we have decided to come back in next week we let him go in the hope that we will find something bigger later. We rode up Rapid Creek, around Sentinel Mt. and back down Agnes Creek before finally heading back to camp. In 16 miles we didn’t see one deer or elk track!
The kids rode up Limestone Pass and found elk tracks in about 6-10” of snow but they thought they were at least a day old and heading north. It must be too early still because they are obviously staying way up high.
October 29, 2009
Skiff of new snow and 22°. All of us slept in except RD who was up at the crack of dawn and hiked west up the hill behind camp. He found fresh cow elk and calf tracks about ¼ mile from camp but after hiking Pinnacle Park and Calf Creek that was all the sign he saw.
At about 11 the boys set off on foot in search of rabbit and grouse. They said they would be back in 2 hours…6 hours later RD saddled up Jackson and went to look for them. Neither of them had taken a rifle (Justin had a little 22 hand gun…useless if they ran into a wolf or a bear), and neither of them had taken any survival gear with them and were dressed for hiking…not a cold night lost out in the woods.
RD found their tracks about ¼ mile from camp. They had walked past camp and were back-tracking when he found them (or they found him…depends on who is telling the story). Before he found them RD spooked a moose that was laying down, which in turn spooked Jackson when he jumped up. He didn’t get a good look at him because he was trying to keep from hitting the ground. Maybe we will get a moose…or maybe it was just the yearling again.
October 30, 2009
In their travels yesterday the boys claimed they had seen “sign” of 6 moose on the East side of the swamp. So after breakfast RD and I saddled up and went in search of moose. We got over there and did see sign but it was from a group of cow and calf elk, not moose. We rode North up to the USFS cabin and sat on a log there eating our sandwiches. Just as we were getting back on the horses the yearling moose we have been spotting ran out of the tree’s and up across the hill behind the cabin. We watched him for several minutes and were amazed at the ground he covered with hardly any effort.
The boys chopped and sawed firewood and produced a formidable stack. Since I am unable to help with sawing wood it was a huge help for them to do that. We now have plenty of wood to last us through our next trip in.
Once back in camp I made an inventory of what food we have left (not much with Clancy in camp, man can that guy eat!) so I would know what we need to buy to restock for next week.
October 31, 2009
Happy Halloween!
We were all up early to get packed up to leave today. The kids had to break down their tent, stuff sleeping bags, pack clothes and extra boots, RD and I “buckled up” the main tent which meant cooking breakfast and washing dishes, stuffing our sleeping bags, packing up our clothes to take out for washing and hanging what food was left in a near-by tree. Once all the packing was done it was packed on the mules and we were out of camp by about 10:00. It was pouring rain all day so it was a miserable ride out. About 4 ½ hours into the 6 ½ hour ride out I caught my hat on a tree branch and it dropped into a mud puddle. Not that it wasn’t wet already mind you, but most puddles on the trail are heavily laced with horse manure and urine…no way was it going back on my head. Those last two hours were especially miserable.
Once out we drove to Trixie’s…a hunting trip tradition. “Trixie” used to do trick riding on horses in the 30’s and when she got too old for that she had a bar with “houses” out front for her “girls” to use. Trixie is long gone and the little houses are boarded up but it’s in a perfect location to stop in after a week in the woods, get a drink and have someone else cook dinner and wash the dishes.
November 1-3, 2009
One day of rest, one day of shopping and one day of cooking. Along the way we made phone calls, answered e-mails, ran a few errands, washed and repacked our clothes and RD made up the packs to go on the mules for our trip back in. I enjoyed the 4 nights in a real bed. We also found out that the little house we are moving into has been vacated so we will be able to start working on it as soon as we get out. We thought we were going to have to wait until Dec. 1.
November 4, 2009
We were up, had breakfast warmed up and at the barn by 5:00, horse/mules saddled and packs in the truck by 5:45. Unfortunately that fuel filter problem we thought had been fixed showed up again and it was blowing diesel all over the engine. We had to stop 4x to re-position the thing to get to the trailhead so it was later than we wanted when we finally got the animals loaded up and on the trail. We made good time going in, only 6 ½ hours (smaller packs, fewer people) and it was sure nice to see the tent still standing. You never know when a curious grizzly or a heavy snow will make your work load double. RD packed in cots! I had heard about them but had never seen them (he’s been telling me for the past 10 years they are too heavy to pack in).
There are certain things that need to be done every day. Starting and maintaining a fire, carrying water from the creek, filtering water for drinking, picketing Lynna in the pasture, hobbling Jackson in the pasture, (the pack mules will stay around as long as the lead mare (Lynna) is here), cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner, doing dishes from breakfast, lunch and dinner, bringing Lynna and Jackson back from the pasture and putting them in the coral for the night and feeding them hay and pellets. When we are out riding the pack mules (Bruce, Gunner and April) are penned up in the coral with a bucket of pellets to keep them happy.
November 5, 2009
It’s the 2 month anniversary of my surgery…I can officially lift more than 5#’s now.
After breakfast we tried riding across the swamp. I ended up wet clear to my right knee after Lynna refused to go across a 2 foot patch of ice and I got off to lead her. She bumped into me and I stepped in the water, once I was across she jumped over it not even getting her feet wet…why couldn’t she have just done that with me on her? Once on the other side we checked out the USFS cabin. They had obviously come and gone in the 3 days we had been out. The pellets were out of the outhouse and the battery/broken solar panel was gone…there was still plenty of alfalfa cubes on the ground for the animals to snack on. We did see some fresh elk sign but no moose.
Once back at camp we walked up the trail we had come in on and cleared some of the downfall that we had needed to maneuver around on the way in. Then went back to camp and made pizza…a first in hunting camp history!
November 6, 2009
RD forgot about daylight savings, then got sidetracked while reading a book and woke me up 20 minutes later than he was supposed, and I cooked a breakfast that was too time consuming…bottom line, our morning hunt was a bust but we rode for 3 hours anyway. I spotted a moose shed horn on our way out of camp and we picked it up on our way back so I guess it wasn’t a total bust.
I spent the afternoon reading while RD went in search of a trail that he knew of but isn’t on any map. He will hunt it tomorrow. I’ve decided Lynna needs a day off (she’s 23 which in horse years is like 70) so I’ve decided to stay in camp tomorrow.
November 7, 2009
RD left at 7:20 for his morning hunt, popped in about noon for lunch and a quick nap then went out for an afternoon hunt. He spotted some elk sign this morning, but really nothing compared to what we are used to seeing up here. It is really obvious that the re-introduction of wolves has had a detrimental effect on the “prey” animal population.
November 8, 2009
RD and I left the tent at 6:30 heading up the “found” trail to the area where he had seen elk sign yesterday morning. The trail was not much of a trail, very steep, lot’s of bushwahacking, and if you blinked you lost it. It didn’t help that as we got further up it was covered with 4-16” of snow and still snowing. We did find a few fresh tracks but they were all full of about an hour’s worth of new snow. We went clear to the top of Pinnacle Peak. On the way back down I rode Jackson part of the way (RD wanted to walk and my saddle didn’t have a crouper – a leather strap that attaches to the saddles and goes under the horses tail to keep the saddle from riding forward when going down steep hills). It was the first time I had ridden him…RD is always saying how smooth he is…I found him gawd-awful uncomfortable!
After lunch RD went for a ride to look for moose tracks around the swamp…nothing. Looks like we’re gonna get skunked.
November 9, 2009
We left camp late today, about 9:00. I was riding April because Lynna had a saddle sore from all the steep riding we did yesterday. It is only the 4th time April’s been ridden so she doesn’t quite get the whole “bit in the mouth” stuff but she’ll follow Jackson…at her own pace of course. Within ¼ mile of camp RD spotted fresh bull elk tracks so he went after them on foot and told me to wait 15 minutes then take Jackson and ride back to camp. I was amazed at how well April did with me leading Jackson…I think it was the first time she had ever been the “lead” animal. No elk.
After lunch we took off across the swamp, me riding April again, in hopes of spotting a moose. About an hour into the “hunt” RD realized he had left his rifle in camp. Still nothing.
November 10, 2009
Aside from the before mentioned list of daily chores, we had a lazy day in camp. We have decided to leave on the 12th instead of the 13th because there are no animals up here.
November 11, 2009
We got up this morning to 10” of new snow and it was still snowing. We rode to Rapid Creek and covered the whole East side of Danaher meadows…about 10 miles…nothing, not a single track (and with 10” of snow if anything was out there we’d see their tracks). As we were riding back into camp I glanced to my left and saw a black animal. My mind played a trick on me and I thought “how did Jackson get over there”, a half second later I recovered and realized RD was riding Jackson and that it was a moose…IN CAMP! I flung myself off Lynna and whispered to RD, “there’s a moose”. Of course being as deaf as he is, and probably thinking I fell off my horse he turns around in the saddle and says “WHAT?” With that the mules in the coral heard him and started to “talk” scaring the moose away. I finally got it across to him that there was a bull moose less than 100 yards away but by then he was gone. RD set off on foot and found the tracks of two! (I had only seen one). He came back and grabbed Jackson and set off after them, hoping to catch up to them at the edge of the swamp. Once Jackson sunk up to his belly in the swamp he realized he had to go after them on foot so he brought Jackson back and set off again. Those two moose ran him ragged for about an hour. As soon as they would go downhill and he’d follow, they’d go back uphill. By the time he got back to camp he had sweat completely through his long underwear. We discussed staying and hunting for them tomorrow but decided if there was 10” of snow and it was still snowing at the trailhead we could have problems getting out so we are sticking to our plan. Those moose will live to see another year.
November 12, 2009
Up at the crack of dawn, our plan was to be packed up and on the trail by 9:30…”best laid plans of mice and men.” Things were going along right on track, April and Gunner were fully loaded, Jackson and Lynna were saddled up and waiting for us, there was just one final top-pack to go on Bruce. That’s when all hell broke loose. The top pack was too heavy so RD was dragging it over to Bruce while I was saying “how are you going to get that up there?” “You’re going to help me”…right. RD didn’t get within 10 feet of Bruce before he started pulling back, the welded ring on his halter broke and off he went with the pack boxes flopping on his sides as he bucked and kicked. One of them went airborne, hit a tree and landed upside down at the foot of the tree. Now Bruce is our gentle giant, nothing ruffles his feathers, so he’s the one that packs the eggs and the glass lantern…the breakable stuff. We didn’t even open the boxes because we didn’t want to see the carnage…or deal with the egg yolk on everything. After readjusting Bruce’s saddle, fixing his halter and getting him to calm down RD set about re-doing the packs so he could redistribute the weight. The first thing he did was have me bring April over to where Gunner was tied up so he could move the ax and the saw off of Gunner’s packs onto April’s. That never happened. Within 3 steps April started bucking and one of the packs (weighing about 70 #’s and attached to 900 #’s of bucking mule) hit me in the low back. I was on my hands and knees in 10” of snow trying to breath, the pain was excruciating. At first RD scolded me for being on the ground with a loose animal but then he realized I was actually hurt. He got me up but I couldn’t weight bear through my left side so he hopped me over to the dry spot where the tent had been and laid me down on our coats. RD has been studying to take the “Advanced Trauma Life Support” course so he can work in an emergency room so the first thing he did was start unbuttoning my pants because they say to remove clothing to expose possible injuries. I looked up at him and said “this is not the best time to take advantage of me”…at least I hadn’t totally lost my sense of humor. I took a pain pill and hoped nothing was broken while RD redid the three packs. By the time he was done it was 11:00 and I wasn’t at all sure I would be able to sit in a saddle. We pulled Lynna over to a log for me to stand on and he held her while I got on. At first I thought no way, every muscle in both hips cramped instantaneously. I’m yelling that I’ve got to get off and he’s yelling at me to stay on. Eventually the cramping died down. I didn’t dare get off the whole ride out because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to get back on. We made it out in 5 hours and 40 minutes…the quickest trip ever. We were rushing to get out before dark, plus we ate lunch in the saddle.
Once we hit the trailhead, got the packs unloaded and the animals in the trailer I finally relaxed. I think the rocking motion of being in the saddle actually helped because once I sat down and was still for a few minutes I could feel things starting to stiffen up. As soon as we took off we realized the fuel filter problem was back with a vengeance. We went through a quarter tank of diesel just driving to Trixie‘s which is only 25 minutes away. We ended up having to call Justin to bring us another one because there is not a single gas station along the way back to Helena and at the rate we were going through the diesel we would never make it. When we finally hit Bob and Barb’s all I wanted was a hot shower and a warm, soft bed.
Despite the fact that we didn’t get any game, it was a great trip and a joy to be up in the wilderness of Montana. 
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