The following is an account of day seven of our trip to the Arctic Circle. If you missed day six, you can catch up in quick fashion with a recap found here.
Day seven began with our now standard mochas – that Swiss Miss really hit the spot. After taking note of the grey sky, we shimmied into rain gear once again. Breakfast was granola bars, with an option of chewy or crunchy, and then we packed up for our last full day of hunting.
We made our way east along the lake and then up the valley where we knew the flat area thinned and created a funnel for the caribou to travel right by us. They were not so accommodating. Hour after hour we glassed and listened. We stopped for a snack with the wind at our backs, then moved on to cross a boggy “bottleneck” toward the Double Spire. When you look out over the land, it looks grassy, with scattered tussocks, and barren areas that look orange from the dirt beneath. But when you step, water shows up out of no where and oozes up over your boot. I nearly lost mine a few times when I sank deeper in the muck, but always managed to come out with it.
Afternoon came, and still it rained, and still no caribou. We hiked to the top of a ridge deeper into the valley. The thought was always, if we can’t see beyond that ridge, we should just go there. Maybe there are tons of caribou on the other side. But in this case there weren’t tons… just two small ones huddled up together. Edgar made a noise like a momma caribou, and they got up and came toward us for a moment, before spooking. They looked too young to be alone, and I hoped they would find their herd again soon.
We took the long way back toward camp, picking our way along the bend where we had seen the limping bull and the others the day before. The sun made a brief showing so we leaned against our packs and feasted on almonds and the rest of the beef jerky. No caribou appeared, but this rainbow made a lovely showing.
We slowly headed “home”… swapping stories and singing songs. Back at the tent we built a fire, and cooked over our little two-burner stove. Dinner was potatoes and onions, and fresh caribou. Not long after dinner we were ready to turn in. We had walked 8-10 miles in the rain and wind, and were looking forward to our warm, dry bags.
Day eight was our last day in the field, or so we’d planned. But our outfitter warned us we should be ready to stay longer based on the weather. Keeping that in mind… we drifted off to sleep.
I wouldn’t like to walk all that way in a rain that washed up over my boot……….but the rainbow is beautiful and that dinner cooked over the camp stove looks pretty good!
It was tasty!
Edgar can make noises like a momma caribou? Very impressive! You must have slept like rocks after all of that hiking!
Yes, his animal noises are very impressive… and apparently fool even the creatures. We did sleep really well. I only had trouble that first night when I wasn’t layered up enough.